Ex-PM Jean Chretien's memoirs

Jean Chrétien may be recuperating from heart surgery, but he's opening up old wounds with the release of his latest memoir, which chronicles his time as Canada's prime minister and his bitter rivalry with his successor.

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In Jean Chrétien: My Years as Prime Minister, Chrétien says that while he was prime minister - from 1993 to 2003 - it was he and not Paul Martin, then finance minister, who made the tough decisions on battling the deficit.

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Chrétien says when cabinet ministers were denied money for projects, Martin would foist the blame on him.

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"It was irresponsible behaviour on his part and it made the government increasingly difficult to manage," writes Chrétien.

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He says he should have fired Martin as finance minister in 2000, more than three years before Martin went on to replace him as Liberal leader and prime minister.

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He writes about feeling betrayed, then inspired to rise to the challenge, after learning of a meeting Martin and his supporters held in the spring of 2000 at a Toronto airport hotel. Chrétien saw the meeting as an attempt to push him out of the prime minister's office.

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"By trying to force me to go, they aroused my competitive spirit, ignited my anger, and inadvertently gave me the blessing I needed from [my wife] Aline to fight for a third term. For that, ironically, I owed Paul Martin a great deal of thanks," Chrétien says.

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"I was damned if I was going to let myself be shoved out the door by a gang of self-serving goons."

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He also takes on Martin over Afghanistan. Chrétien recounts that after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban government, he made arrangements to keep Canadian soldiers stationed near the relatively safe area of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

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Chrétien alleges that Martin's indecision when he took office led to troops being reassigned to a more volatile region of Afghanistan. "When my successor took too long to make up his mind about whether Canada should extend our term with the International Security Assistance Force, our soldiers were moved out of Kabul and sent south again to battle the Taliban in the killing fields around Kandahar," he writes.

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Jim Pimblett, a spokesperson for Martin, offered no comment from his boss on Saturday, saying the former prime minister hasn't had a chance to read the book.

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Pimblett said it's "disappointing to hear reports that old divisions are being revisited at a time when the Liberal Party needs to stand unified behind [Liberal Leader Stéphane] Dion."

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The CBC's Keith Boag said the Liberal party is struggling to pull itself together after the byelection defeat in Quebec in Outremont, and that the last thing Dion needs is for the book to open old wounds within the party with an election approaching.

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Chrétien was originally scheduled to launch his book in person in Ottawa on Monday, but is still recovering from heart bypass surgery he underwent earlier in October.

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Journalists with advance copies of the book had agreed not to reveal details until Sunday night, but the arrangement was derailed after at least one bookstore in Ottawa released it for sale on Saturday.

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Chrétien, who was born in 1934 in Shawinigan, Que., had published an autobiography covering the earlier years of his life, Straight from the Heart, in 1985.

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[supablackman]

One of the greatest prime ministers in Canadian history. I think history will do him well.

[xkavehx]

Chretien is the best Canada has seen in recent history

[mattsnow81]

He kept us out of war, he was awesome. He actually had a spine.

[The67rockstar]

@jeepdogpet I guess you wern't around then. He robbed the federal employee pension funds. He took all the surplus money from the U.I. fund. He cut transfer payments to the provinces. He decimated the Canadian military. Cut healthcare by millions and thats not even metioning any of the scandals he was involve in. And by the way. This is Canada. I can say any goddammed thing I want. With or without facts so kiss off.

[jeepdogpet]

@The67rockstar Lol how did he srewed Canada? By balancing the budget? You need to give facts you can't just say he sucks.

[The67rockstar]

They would be easy to write. Monday . Screwed Canada. Teusday. Screwed Canada. Wednesday. Screwed Canada. Thursday . Screwed Canada, Friday , Screwed Canada, Saturday , Screwed Canada.......... Liberal crook. If there was any justice in Canada he would be rotting in jail

[allenco0000]

he should be leader of canada for all his life ,

[PhilipJFry72]

@Bojaxs

No, they're still evil, incompetent, and petty. In that vein, they're following chretien's lead perfectly! Only ignorant fools think of chretien as anything other than a monster.

[PhilipJFry72]

@FlapwingPublisher

No "WE" won't. Canada won't - except the normal observed formalities, of course. chretien was an incompetent monster who's legacy of corruption has stained this country's very soul.

[PhilipJFry72]

@xkavehx

Bullshit.

[PhilipJFry72]

@supablackman

Bullshit!

[Apophis150]

Chretien was a thief who commited fraud against the Canadian government and stole out taxes for his personal wallet.