Below is a list of the major policy initiatives of Canadian federal governments over the past few decades. In most cases the success or failure of the policy is obvious in terms of whether it was implemented and whether it became an effective part of that government’s accomplishments. In other instances success or failure is still subject to debate.
Of course, you are free to agree or disagree with the assessments here and to develop your own evaluation of how successful these prime ministers were. As you go through these rankings, note how your assessment reflects your own ideological predisposition.
| Pierre Trudeau, 1968–79, 1980–84 |
Success |
Failure |
| Establishing official bilingualism |
√ |
|
| Patriating the constitution |
√ |
|
| Drawing up the Charter of Rights and Freedoms |
√ |
|
| Developing multicultural policy |
√ |
|
| Fostering national unity |
|
X |
| Controlling the deficit |
|
X |
| Promoting Canadian business |
? |
? |
| Promoting Crown corporations |
√ |
|
| Promoting regional development |
√ |
|
| Reducing poverty |
|
X |
| Improving living conditions for Indigenous peoples |
|
X |
| Promoting peacekeeping |
√ |
|
| Promotion multilateral foreign policy |
√ |
|
| Promotion closer relations with the United States |
? |
? |
| Jean Chrétien, 1993–2003 |
Success |
Failure |
| Implementing NAFTA |
√ |
|
| Introducing the Federal Clarity Act |
√ |
|
| Establishing a national child care system |
|
X |
| Instituting public service renewal policy |
√ |
|
| Improving government accountability |
|
X |
Fostering national unity |
|
X |
| Eliminating the deficit |
√ |
|
| Combating climate change |
√ |
|
| Promoting Canadian business |
? |
? |
| Privatizing Crown corporations |
√ |
|
| Cutting individual and corporate taxes |
√ |
|
| Reducing poverty |
|
X |
| Improving living conditions for Indigenous peoples |
|
X |
| Promoting peacekeeping |
√ |
|
| Promotion multilateral foreign policy |
? |
? |
| Promotion closer relations with the United States |
√ |
|
| Paul Martin, 2004–06 |
Success |
Failure |
| Implementing a national child care system |
√ |
|
| Instituting a federal-provincial health care accord |
√ |
|
| Implementing the Kelowna Accord |
√ |
|
| Promoting accountability |
? |
? |
| Promoting public service renewal policy |
√ |
|
| Fostering national unity |
? |
? |
| Eliminating the deficit |
√ |
|
| Combating climate change |
|
X |
| Promoting Canadian business |
? |
? |
| Cutting individual and corporate taxes |
√ |
|
| Reducing poverty |
|
X |
| Improving living conditions for Indigenous peoples |
|
X |
| Promoting peacekeeping |
√ |
|
| Promotion multilateral foreign policy |
? |
? |
| Promotion closer relations with the United States |
? |
? |
| Stephen Harper, 2006–15 |
Success |
Failure |
| Introducing the Federal Accountability Act |
√ |
|
| Cutting the GST |
√ |
|
| Recognizing Quebec as a distinct society |
√ |
|
| Cutting subsidies to political parties |
√ |
|
| Promoting accountability in government |
|
X |
| Promoting openness/transparency in government |
|
X |
| Promoting public service renewal policy |
|
X |
| Maintaining a balanced budget |
|
X |
| Promoting “tough on crime” legislation |
√ |
|
| Rescinding the national day care system |
√ |
|
| Rescinding the Kelowna Accord |
√ |
|
| Maintaining the federal-provincial health care accord |
√ |
|
| Fostering national unity |
? |
? |
| Promotion multilateral foreign policy |
? |
? |
| Combating climate change |
|
X |
| Promoting Canadian business |
√ |
|
| Cutting individual and corporate taxes |
√ |
|
| Reducing poverty |
|
X |
| Improving living conditions for Indigenous peoples |
|
X |
| Increasing funding to the Canadian military |
√ |
|
| Promoting peacekeeping |
|
X |
| Promoting a multilateral foreign policy |
|
X |
| Promoting close relations with the United States |
|
X |
| Promoting close federal–provincial relations |
|
X |
| Justin Trudeau, 2015– |
Success |
Failure |
| Middle class tax cuts |
√ |
|
| Increasing taxes on the wealthy |
√ |
|
| Establishing the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry |
√ |
|
| Improving living conditions for Indigenous peoples |
|
X |
| Promoting reconciliation with Indigenous peoples |
? |
? |
| Creating a gender-balanced cabinet |
√ |
|
| Increasing Canadian immigration numbers |
√ |
|
| Balancing the budget by 2019 |
|
X |
| Eliminating First-Past-the-Post electoral system |
|
X |
| More program spending on health care, social programs |
√ |
|
| Legalizing cannabis |
√ |
|
| Re-establishing significant Canadian peacekeeping initiatives |
? |
? |
| Renegotiating NAFTA |
√ |
|
| Promoting other free trade agreements |
√ |
|
| Implementing and maintaining a federal carbon tax |
√ |
|
| Reducing Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions |
|
X |
| Moving Canada to a carbon-neutral economic future |
? |
? |
| Building more oil and gas pipelines |
? |
? |
| Establishing a national daycare system |
√ |
|
| Establishing a national pharmacare system |
? |
? |
| Promoting a multilateral foreign policy |
√ |
|
| Reducing poverty |
? |
? |
| Fostering national unity |
? |
? |
| Promoting Canadian business |
√ |
|
| Increasing funding to the Canadian military |
√ |
|
| Promoting close relations with the United States |
? |
? |
| Standing up to Donald Trump’s bullying |
√ |
|
| Promoting close relations with China |
|
X |
| Beginning to stand up to China’s bullying |
√ |
|
| Beginning to stand up to Russia’s bullying |
√ |
|
| Promoting close federal–provincial relations |
? |
? |
| Enhancing Canada’s position on the world stage |
√ |
|
| Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic |
√ |
|
| Restoring fiscal health to the Canadian economy |
? |
? |
| Promoting liberal democracy abroad |
√ |
|
| Promoting liberal democracy at home |
√ |
|
