Kim Campbell

The Right Honourable Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, PC , LL.B (born March 10, 1947, Port Alberni, British Columbia) was the nineteenth Prime Minister of Canada from June 25 to November 4, 1993. She remains North America's only female head of a national government to date. She was also the second woman in history to sit at the table of the Group of Seven (now G8) leaders, the eight most industrialized countries in the world, after British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Political life

She was elected to the British Columbia legislature as a member of the Social Credit Party in 1986 and later unsuccessfully ran for the leadership of the party. A few years later she resigned from the legislature to run in the 1988 federal election as a Progressive Conservative. She won, becoming the Member of Parliament (MP) for Vancouver Centre, in downtown Vancouver.

Related Topics:
Social Credit Party - 1986 - 1988 federal election - Progressive Conservative - Member of Parliament - Vancouver Centre - Vancouver

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Upon her election to the Canadian House of Commons in 1988, Campbell became Canada's first female Minister of Justice (1990-1993). Then she briefly became the first female Minister of National Defence before running to succeed Prime Minister Brian Mulroney when he resigned as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1993. Campbell defeated Jean Charest at the Progressive Conservative leadership convention that June. As leader of the Conservatives Campbell automatically became Prime Minister of Canada.

Related Topics:
Canadian House of Commons - 1988 - Minister of Justice - 1990 - 1993 - Minister of National Defence - Brian Mulroney - Jean Charest - Progressive Conservative leadership convention

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Also in 1993, Campbell and Eddy were divorced, although the divorce was finalized before she was sworn in as Prime Minister.

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Campbell's quick rise to fame from a relatively unknown cabinet member to Prime Minister of Canada came as a bit of a shock to many Canadians. The fact that she was a woman, the first to become Prime Minister, initially made her very popular. For a while, it seemed that she might have a chance of repairing the Conservative party's reputation, which had been badly damaged after a number of scandals during the Mulroney government. When an election had to be called in the fall of 1993, the party had high hopes that they may be able to remain in government, and if not, would at least be a strong opposition to a Liberal minority government.

Related Topics:
Cabinet member - Prime Minister of Canada - Opposition - Minority government

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However, Campbell's initial popularity soon wore off. The prime minister appeared to have troubles relating to "regular" Canadians, and many felt that she had an overly condescending and pretentious tone. During the election campaign, she stated that discussing a complete overhaul of Canada's social policies in all their complexities could not be done in just 47 days (the time allotted to an election campaign), although her comment is widely remembered as suggesting that "an election is no time to discuss serious issues". In addition, she was criticized as carrying much the same attitudes and positions of her widely detested predecessor epitomised in the activist chant, "Kim, Kim, you're just like him."

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Campbell also had a habit of making public relations blunders. A Conservative election commercial in which Liberal leader Jean Chrétien's facial paralysis was mocked was largely regarded as the final nail in her campaign's coffin.

Related Topics:
Liberal - Jean Chrétien - Facial paralysis was mocked

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The Somalia Affair took place during her "watch" as Minister of National Defence and became a handicap during her subsequent period of public life. When the Liberal Party of Canada took power, the incident became the subject of a lengthy public inquiry, aimed at further embarrassing Campbell and the Conservative Party.

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Despite all of the above, Campbell's Tories remained competitive in most polls; however, they were swept from power in a massive Liberal landslide, in which they were cut down to only two seats. Campbell herself was defeated in Vancouver Centre by Liberal Hedy Fry, and all the members of the Cabinet except one (Jean Charest) lost their seats. This was despite the Conservatives having finished third in the popular vote, barely behind the Reform Party. The concentration of support for Reform in the west and the Bloc Québécois in Quebec prevented the Conservatives from winning seats under the first past the post electoral system.

Related Topics:
Landslide - Hedy Fry - Jean Charest - Reform Party - The west - Bloc Québécois - Quebec - First past the post electoral system

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Although many pundits saw the unprecedented scope of her defeat as a reflection of the unpopularity of her predecessor Mulroney rather than as a rejection of Campbell, she quickly resigned her position as party leader.

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