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At one point Trudeau mentioned to me that the National Gallery wanted to buy a masterpiece by the great Italian painter Lotto, and it needed a million dollars from the Treasury Board. Is that Lotto-Quebec or Lotto-Canada? I joked, but I got the message, and the National Gallery got the painting.

Jean Chretien

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Jean Chretien
Age: 90
Born: 1934
Born: January 11
Autobiographer
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Michigan
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Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien
Jean Chretien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chretien
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More quotes by Jean Chretien

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Obviously, I would have been happier if Canada had not been conquered in the past by the English, if this part of North America had remained French, but you can't rewrite history.
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President Bush is a friend of mine. He's not a moron at all.
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A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof. And when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven.
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Deficit reduction is not an end in itself. It is the means to an end. Canadians must now decide what kind of country they want to build with the hard-won dividend.
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Some information has to remain in the privy of the office of the Prime Minister and the ministers for the proper administration of government.
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I've never believed in seeking perfection at the risk of losing everything.
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Most Canadians don't understand the House of Commons. They turn on their televisions, see us yelling at one another, and dismiss us as a bunch of fools.
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There is nothing more nervous than a million dollars - it moves very fast, and it doesn't speak any language.
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You have to look at history as an evolution of society.
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I was proud to have been the anti-establishment candidate after more than twenty years in politics, a small town guy fighting for the ordinary Canadian.
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Ten years ago, in the aftermath of the referendum in Quebec, the very existence of Canada was on the line... I had a responsibility to ensure that Canada never again came close to the precipice.
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Economics has been called the dismal science. Once you get to understand it, you may not find it so dismal, but you don't find it much of a science either.
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The art of politics is learning to walk with your back to the wall, your elbows high, and a smile on your face. It's a survival game played under the glare of lights.
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To my mind losing is always better than never trying, because you can never tell what may happen.
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A leader has to know how the system functions - not just the system of government but the whole social and economic system, including business, the unions, and the universities.
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Three months later, on September 5, 2001, at a pro-am event preceding the Canadian Open at the Royal Montreal Golf Club, I was invited to play a round with Tiger Woods. Nothing in the game of politics had ever been as nerve-racking as that game of golf.
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Canadian federalism is more than a form of government. It's also a system of values that allows different people in diverse communities to live and work together in harmony for the good of all.
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But I accepted that because God gave me other qualities and I’m grateful.
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Politics is a game of friends.
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It is not the government's purpose to make a profit the way a company does, because a company doesn't have to give a damn about the unemployed poor or provide services that are non-commercial by definition.
Jean Chretien