John Turner took over as Prime Minister in 1984, after Trudeau took his famous "walk in the snow" and decided to retire. However, he was in the role for less than three months.
At the next election, the Conservatives took a majority and Brian Mulroney formed the government.
Born in England, John Turner came to Canada as a child and earned his undergraduate degree at UBC. He was a Rhodes Scholar who studied at Oxford and the University of Paris.
As a Liberal Member of Parliament, he represented ridings in St. Laurent, Quebec, then Ottawa-Carleton, and Vancouver-Quadra.
He entered Parliament in 1962 and served in Pearson's cabinet before losing his leadership bid to the glamorous, intelligent young Pierre Trudeau in 1968. He then served in the Trudeau cabinet as Minister of Justice and Minster of Finance.
In 1975 he resigned from his post and went back to practicing law, returning to lead the party only when Trudeau retired.
Though his party was defeated in the next election, he stayed on as Leader of the Opposition for another six years, then retired and returned once more to his law firm.
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