Editing John Turner (section)

==Opposition leader (1984–1990)==
[[File:Ronald Reagan and John Turner 1987 crop.jpg|thumb|Turner with President [[Ronald Reagan]] at [[Rideau Hall]], April 1987.]]
In 1984, Turner managed to defeat the Tory incumbent in Vancouver Quadra, Bill Clarke by 3,200 votes, a surprising result given the size of the Tory wave, and became [[Leader of the Opposition (Canada)|leader of the opposition]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Parti liberal du Canada (Quebec)|url=https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/eppp-archive/100/205/300/liberal-ef/05-05-24/www.qc.liberal.ca/en/histoire/pml03.aspx|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018133541/https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/eppp-archive/100/205/300/liberal-ef/05-05-24/www.qc.liberal.ca/en/histoire/pml03.aspx|archive-date=October 18, 2017|access-date=September 21, 2020|website=www.collectionscanada.gc.ca}}</ref> He was the only Liberal MP from British Columbia, and one of only two from west of Ontario. The Liberals, amid their worst showing in party history and led by an unpopular Turner, were said by some pundits to be following the [[Liberal Party (UK)|British Liberals]] into oblivion. Though the Liberals had not fared much better in the [[1958 Canadian federal election|1958 election]], they had clearly emerged as the main opposition party back then. After the [[1984 Canadian federal election|1984 election]], however, the NDP were not far behind with 30 seats.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Martin|first=Douglas|date=September 5, 1984|title=Tories in Canada Win a Big Victory Over the Liberals|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/05/world/tories-in-canada-win-a-big-victory-over-the-liberals.html|url-status=live|access-date=September 21, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=January 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130015341/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/05/world/tories-in-canada-win-a-big-victory-over-the-liberals.html}}</ref> Their leader [[Ed Broadbent]] consistently outpolled Turner and even Mulroney, except in Quebec.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Johnston|first=Richard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vA7e0ukSKe8C&pg=PA171|title=Letting the People Decide: Dynamics of a Canadian Election|date=1992|publisher=[[Stanford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-8047-2078-6|pages=171|language=en|access-date=September 21, 2020|archive-date=September 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922224954/https://books.google.ca/books?id=vA7e0ukSKe8C&pg=PA171|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Liberals responded by using their large [[Senate of Canada|Senate]] majority, built up over years of Liberal majorities in the Commons, to stall Mulroney's legislation. In addition, a group of young Liberal MPs, known as the "[[Liberal Party of Canada Rat Pack|Rat Pack]]", pestered Mulroney at every turn. The group included [[Sheila Copps]], [[Brian Tobin]], [[Don Boudria]], and [[John Nunziata]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Moscovitz|first=Jason|date=May 6, 1985|title=Liberal Rat Pack invades Parliament in 1985|url=https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/liberal-rat-pack-invades-parliament-in-1985|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401171617/http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/liberal-rat-pack-invades-parliament-in-1985|archive-date=April 1, 2018|access-date=September 20, 2020|website=CBC}}</ref>

Turner's leadership was frequently questioned, and in the lead up to the 1986 Liberal convention, a vote of confidence loomed large. The popular Jean Chrétien resigned his seat, creating a stir in caucus. [[Keith Davey]] publicly voiced his concerns with Turner's leadership,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Delacourt|first=Susan|date=January 17, 2011|title=Keith Davey, Liberal 'rainmaker,' dies|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2011/01/17/keith_davey_liberal_rainmaker_dies.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720044654/https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2011/01/17/keith_davey_liberal_rainmaker_dies.html|archive-date=July 20, 2019|access-date=September 21, 2020|website=[[Toronto Star]]|language=en}}</ref> which coincided with backroom struggles involving Chrétien's supporters. The public conflict is said to have influenced many Liberals to support Turner, and he ended up getting a little over 75% of the delegate vote.<ref>{{Cite news|date=December 1, 1986|title=AROUND THE WORLD; Liberal Leader Wins Party Vote in Canada|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/01/world/around-the-world-liberal-leader-wins-party-vote-in-canada.html|access-date=September 21, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=May 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524182609/http://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/01/world/around-the-world-liberal-leader-wins-party-vote-in-canada.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
The Liberals faced more internal conflict in the next few years, but polls frequently had them in front of the Progressive Conservatives (however, with Turner last in preferred prime minister categories). The upcoming [[Canada–US Free Trade Agreement]] (FTA) and [[Meech Lake Accord]] threatened to divide the party until Turner took the position of being pro-Meech Lake<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fournier|first=Pierre|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUQZBqCOQk8C&pg=PA60|title=A Meech Lake Post-Mortem: Is Quebec Sovereignty Inevitable?|date=1991|publisher=[[McGill–Queen's University Press]]|isbn=978-0-7735-0867-5|pages=60|language=en|access-date=September 21, 2020|archive-date=September 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922224954/https://books.google.ca/books?id=EUQZBqCOQk8C&pg=PA60|url-status=live}}</ref> and against the FTA. Turner asked the Liberal Senators to hold off on passing the legislation to implement the agreement until an election was held. It was later revealed that Mulroney planned to have an election called, anyway.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goar |first1=Carol |title=Down to the day of decision {{!}} Maclean's {{!}} September 3, 1984 |url=https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1984/9/3/down-to-the-day-of-decision |website=Maclean's {{!}} The Complete Archive |access-date=September 21, 2020 |archive-date=November 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107054717/https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1984/9/3/down-to-the-day-of-decision |url-status=live }}</ref>

===1988 federal election===
{{Main|1988 Canadian federal election}}
When the [[1988 Canadian federal election|election was called for November 21, 1988]], the Liberals had some early struggles, notably during one day in Montreal where 3 different costs were given for the proposed Liberal daycare program. The campaign was also hampered by a [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] report that stated there was a movement in the backroom to replace Turner with Chrétien.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Paul Tuns: 30 years of Liberal infighting|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/paul-tuns-30-years-of-liberal-infighting|access-date=September 21, 2020|website=Ottawa Citizen|language=en-CA|archive-date=August 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809185110/https://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/paul-tuns-30-years-of-liberal-infighting|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Azzi|first=Stephen|date=September 2, 2015|title=Election 1988|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/election-1988-feature|url-status=live|access-date=September 21, 2020|website=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]|archive-date=May 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200524075945/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/election-1988-feature}}</ref>

Turner campaigned rallying support against the proposed FTA, an agreement that he said would lead to the abandonment of Canada's political sovereignty to the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|title=John Turner|url=https://thecanadaguide.com/history/prime-ministers/john-turner/|access-date=September 21, 2020|website=The Canada Guide|language=en-US|archive-date=September 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918230430/https://thecanadaguide.com/history/prime-ministers/john-turner/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=December 1, 2011|first=Paul|last=Litt |others=Originally published on Policy Options|title=Elusive Destiny: The Political Vocation of John Napier Turner (book excerpt)|url=https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/the-year-in-review/elusive-destiny-the-political-vocation-of-john-napier-turner-book-excerpt/|access-date=September 21, 2020|website=Policy Options|archive-date=September 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922225001/https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/the-year-in-review/elusive-destiny-the-political-vocation-of-john-napier-turner-book-excerpt/|url-status=live}}</ref> His performance in the debate and his attacks on Mulroney and the FTA, where he accused the Progressive Conservative Prime Minister of selling Canada out with one signature of a pen,<ref name=":1" /> raised his poll numbers, and soon the Liberals were hoping for a majority. This prompted the Progressive Conservatives to stop the relatively calm campaign they had been running, and go with [[Allan Gregg]]'s suggestion of "bombing the bridge" that joined anti-FTA voters and the Liberals; Turner's backbone.<ref>{{Cite news|title=The great free-trade election of 1988|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/the-great-free-trade-election-of-1988/article4576124/|access-date=September 21, 2020|archive-date=February 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190208160648/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/the-great-free-trade-election-of-1988/article4576124/|url-status=live}}</ref> The ads focused on Turner's leadership struggles, and combined with over $6&nbsp;million in pro-FTA ads, stopped Turner's momentum. Also not helping the Liberals was that the NDP had opposed the FTA as well (though not as vocally); this likely resulted in vote-splitting between the opposition parties. Although most Canadians voted for parties opposed to [[free trade]], the Tories were returned with a majority government, and implemented the deal.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|last1=Burns|first1=John F.|date=November 22, 1988|title=Mulroney Wins a Majority in Canadian Vote, Assuring Passage of U.s. Trade Pact|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/22/world/mulroney-wins-a-majority-in-canadian-vote-assuring-passage-of-us-trade-pact.html|access-date=September 21, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=February 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180224195106/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/22/world/mulroney-wins-a-majority-in-canadian-vote-assuring-passage-of-us-trade-pact.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="darling" />

The Liberals more than doubled their representation to 83 seats, and kept their role as the [[Official Opposition (Canada)|Official Opposition]]; the NDP had also made gains but finished a distant third with 43 seats. The Progressive Conservatives won a reduced majority government with 169 seats.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="auto"/>

The election loss seemed to confirm Turner's fate; he announced he was standing down from the party leadership in May 1989,<ref>{{Cite web|first1=Bruce|last1=Wallace|first2=Theresa|last2=Tedesco|title=Stepping Down|date=May 15, 1989|url=https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1989/5/15/stepping-down|access-date=September 21, 2020|website=Maclean's|language=en-US|archive-date=September 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922225003/https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1989/5/15/stepping-down|url-status=live}}</ref> officially resigning in June 1990. Turner resigned as Official Opposition leader, while still holding the Liberal leadership, so [[Herb Gray]] became the [[parliamentary leader|caucus leader]] in the interim.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Party Leaders in the House of Commons Since 1867 - House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Third edition, 2017|url=https://www.ourcommons.ca/about/procedureandpractice3rdedition/App08-e.html|access-date=September 21, 2020|website=www.ourcommons.ca|archive-date=December 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214134518/https://www.ourcommons.ca/About/ProcedureAndPractice3rdEdition/App08-e.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Chrétien won that year's [[1990 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election|leadership convention]] over [[Paul Martin]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Harder|first1=Lois|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MSiZO2mBYuQC&q=Chr%C3%A9tien+%22leadership+convention%22+paul+martin&pg=PA332|title=The Chrétien Legacy: Politics and Public Policy in Canada|last2=Patten|first2=Steve|date=July 13, 2006|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP|isbn=978-0-7735-6011-6|language=en|access-date=November 28, 2020|archive-date=November 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107054715/https://books.google.com/books?id=MSiZO2mBYuQC&q=Chr%C3%A9tien+%22leadership+convention%22+paul+martin&pg=PA332|url-status=live}}</ref> Although not officially endorsed by Turner himself, Martin was widely the favourite of Turner's supporters.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Martin|first=Lawrence|url=https://archive.org/details/ironmandefiantre0000mart|title=Iron Man: The Defiant Reign of Jean Chrétien|date=2003|publisher=[[Viking Press|Viking Canada]]|isbn=0-670-04310-9|location=Toronto|pages=11|oclc=52877378|url-access=registration}}</ref>

Turner continued to represent Vancouver Quadra in the House of Commons before retiring from politics in the 1993 election.<ref name=":0" />