When Jean Chrétien wouldn't 'pass the torch' 20 years ago
PM faced public pressure from some vocal Liberal MPs to step down and allow for leadership renewal
If they'd seen the day's newspapers, they hadn't grasped the key message from Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.
Twenty years ago, Chrétien had gone public with his intention to lead his party through the next election and seek a third mandate for the Liberals. Front-page headlines, as well as the Liberal leader's public statements, made his intent clear.
"Of course [I'll run again]," Chrétien said, on one of the many times on March 14, 2000 when he was asked about his intentions — a day in which his election ambitions were also the lead story on The National that night.
Yet despite his attempts at sending out his message, a handful of Liberal MPs spoke out to the media about their desire to see Chrétien bow out.
'Maybe you should step aside'
Like Stan Keyes, the MP for Hamilton West, who said his constituents were telling him it was time for change at the top of the Liberal party.
"They're saying: 'You know what, Jean? Maybe you should step aside. You've been there twice for us now, you've done great things for us," said Keyes, speaking to the CBC's Susan Bonner.
"You're at the crescendo of your career — pass the torch."
Nick Discepola, the MP for the Montreal-area riding of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, pointed to possible strategic reasons to replace Chrétien.
"If the right is going to shift and support, let's say, Stockwell Day, for hypothetical reasons, then possibly we could lose quite a few seats in Ontario," he told The National.
"Seats that would be difficult to make up elsewhere and thereby having the risk of a minority government."
'Paul Martin deserves a chance'
Bonner said there was also "a whisper campaign" emerging that suggested Finance Minister Paul Martin could quit politics if he didn't get an immediate shot at the top job in the Liberal party.
Sudbury MP Diane Marleau said she believed "Paul Martin deserves a chance to be a prime minister."
Joe Fontana, the MP for Ontario's London North Centre riding, told reporters that the Liberals would support Chrétien in whatever path he took.
'His decision to make'
"It's his decision to make," said Fontana, who the Globe and Mail reported was among the Liberals expressing concern about Chrétien staying in his role as leader.
"If he wants to stay, we're with him and if he decides to go, we will understand."
Chrétien did not go. He led his party through a fall election and saw the Liberals win a third majority with the veteran Liberal leader at the helm.
Discepola, Fontana, Keyes and Marleau were all re-elected, but found themselves left out of cabinet.
When Chrétien left politics in late 2003, it was Martin who replaced him as Liberal leader and prime minister.