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Meet John Napier Turner

Broadcast Date: Jan. 1, 1967

Former Prime Minister John Turner began his career with the Liberal party in 1962 and later served as Minister of Justice and Finance before becoming Prime Minister in 1984. In this CBC Television clip, a young and charismatic Turner talks about his political apprenticeship, his ambition to reform the country and the fickle game of winning the public over.

Meet John Napier Turner

• John Napier Turner was born on June 7, 1929 in Surrey, England. Following the death of his father in 1932, Turner and his Canadian-born mother, Phyllis, immigrated to Canada.

• Turner graduated with a BA from the University of British Columbia in 1949. Turner also studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar where he received law degree. He completed his studies at the University of Paris where he received an MA.

• In 1957, Liberal cabinet minister C.D. Howe sought Turner's assistance with his 1957 election campaign. Enticed by the experience, Turner successfully ran in the 1962 election in the Quebec St-Laurent-St-Georges riding. In 1965, he was promoted to Prime Minister Pearson's cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio. Two years later, he was appointed to the new position of Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs.

• Turner married Geills McCrae Kilgour in 1963. They had three sons and one daughter.
• In the winter of 1965, the Turners sought some respite in the Barbados. On the beach, Mrs. Turner alerted her husband to a swimmer who was struggling in the surf. Turner swam out, rescued the man who turned out to be none other than former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.

• In 1968, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau appointed Turner appointed Minister of Justice. In this role, he oversaw Criminal Code reforms and directed the department during the FLQ crisis. Turner was subsequently promoted to the Minister of Finance role in 1972 before he resigned from politics and returned to practicing law in 1975.

• Turner re-entered politics and ascended to the position of Prime Minister when Pierre Trudeau handed over the reins of the Liberal leadership in 1984. Turner suffered a devastating loss, however, in the 1984 federal election to Conservative Brian Mulroney.
• Turner steered the Liberal party through 1990 as Leader of the Opposition. He then retired from politics for good and returned to practicing law in Toronto.

• Sir Charles Tupper holds the record for the shortest time of being the Prime Minister at two months and seven days in 1896. In the 20th century, Turner occupied the Prime Minister's office for the shortest span of time from June 30, 1984 to September 17, 1984.

Meet John Napier Turner

Medium: Television

Program: The Young Contenders

Broadcast Date: Jan. 1, 1967

Guest(s): John Turner

Duration: 10:13

Last updated:
Feb. 19, 2010