John Crosbie

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Image:John Crosbie.jpg John Carnell Crosbie, PC, OC , QC born January 30, 1931 in St. John's, Newfoundland, is a retired Canadian politician.

Crosbie first entered politics as a member of the St. John's city council until he was appointed to the provincial cabinet of Liberal Premier Joey Smallwood in 1966. He won a seat in the Newfoundland House of Assembly soon after. Smallwood's government had been in power since 1949, and the Premier was trying to rejuvenate his cabinet by bringing in new blood. Smallwood's authoritarian style and refusal to allow a younger generation to take power frustrated Crosbie and other young ministers such as Clyde Wells.

In 1969, Crosbie challenged Smallwood for the party leadership and lost. He crossed the floor to join the opposition Progressive Conservatives led by Frank Moores. Crosbie helped the Tories defeat Smallwood and come to power in 1972. After holding several senior portfolios in Moores' cabinet, Crosbie moved to federal politics, winning a seat in the Canadian House of Commons in a 1976 by-election.

When Joe Clark's Progressive Conservatives formed a minority government after the 1979 general election, Crosbie became Minister of Finance. He presented a tough budget that included tax increases in what Crosbie quipped was "short term pain for long term gain." A Motion of No Confidence on the budget brought the Clark government down on December 13, 1979, resulting in a new election which the Tories lost.

Crosbie was a candidate at the 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership convention, placing a strong third behind Brian Mulroney and Joe Clark. While Crosbie may have been the most popular of the candidates, he was hurt by his inability to speak French. Less notable was the failure of the "John Crosbie blimp" to operate properly during his campaign's demonstration on the floor of the convention.

When Mulroney led the Tories to power in the 1984 federal election, Crosbie became Minister of Justice. In 1985, while justice minister, he attracted attention when, in a heated moment during parliamentary debate, he told Liberal Member of Parliament Sheila Copps "Just quiet down, baby." This remark was the motivation for the choice of title for her autobiography, Nobody's Baby.

In 1986, he was named Minister of Transportation. He became Minister of International Trade in 1988, shortly after the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement was negotiated. Crosbie actively promioted that agreement in the that year's federal election, which was primarily fought on the free trade issue. At a fundraising dinner in Victoria, British Columbia in 1990, Crosbie took another dig at Sheila Copps by saying that she made him think of the song lyrics, "Pass the Tequila, Sheila, and lay down and love me again." Crosbie finished his career as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and did not run for re-election in 1993.

In 1997, he published his memoirs, entitled No Holds Barred: My Life in Politics (ISBN 0771024274). Around this time, the feud between him and Copps had also cooled. Crosbie had devoted an entire chapter in his autobiography to his confrontations wih Copps. In her second autobiography, Worth Fighting For, Copps had Crosbie write an introduction in which he says "I write this Introduction to her new book as a tribute to a feisty, sometimes ferocious, feminist protagonist, never shy or retiring but redoubtable political personality. She was a constant thorn in my side while she was in Opposition, but her marriage to my fellow Newfoundlander Austin Thorn has made her more serene and has calmed her sometimes volcanic and partisan excesses".

Crosbie remained in the Progressive Conservative Party until its dissolution in 2003. Despite his earlier opposition to the Canadian Alliance, he did not oppose the merger of the two parties and joined the new Conservative Party of Canada. In 2004, he served as an advisor to Tony Clement's campaign for the leadership of the new party. In the 2004 federal election, he publicly considered running for the Conservatives against Liberal incumbent John Efford in the Newfoundland riding of Avalon, but ultimately decided against doing so.

Since 1994, he has served as Chancellor of Memorial University of Newfoundland. In 1998, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Crosbie's father, Chesley A. Crosbie, was leader of the Party for Economic Union with the United States in the 1940s and a leading opponent of the campaign for Newfoundland to join Canadian Confederation. His grandfather, Sir John Chalker Crosbie was a prominent businessman and politician.

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