Sometime soon – maybe as early as this week, maybe as late as December – Jean CHRÉTIEN will throw in the towel, prorogue the House of Commons and effectively bring an end to his decade as PRIME MINISTER. He will still have the job title. He may keep it until February, or he may hand it abruptly to Paul MARTIN after next week’s Liberal leadership convention. The distance between an “early” and a “late” retirement is shrinking so rapidly it now obsesses only the two men concerned, a few bored press gallery hacks, and the odd Liberal backbencher with dreams of a ministerial promotion.
Article on The Canadian Encyclopedia