Former Prime Minister John Turner Dies

Photo: By Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66225033

The 17th Prime Minister of Canada John Turner has died. He was 91.

Turner served as Prime Minister from June 30, 1984, to September 17, 1984.

Throughout his political career, Turner held several prominent Cabinet posts, including Minister of Justice and Minister of Finance.

Turner held the office of Prime Minister for 79 days the second-shortest tenure in Canadian history as he advised the Governor General to dissolve Parliament immediately after being sworn in, and went on to lose the 1984 election in a landslide.

Turner stayed on as Liberal leader and led the Opposition for the next six years, leading his party to a modest recovery in the 1988 election; he resigned as Liberal leader in 1990 and stepped down as an MP at the 1993 election.