“I have never talked about it, and I am not going to start talking about it now”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
Figure timeline
John Turner
John Napier Wyndham Turner was the 17th prime minister of Canada, serving from June to September 1984. He served as leader of the Liberal Party and leader of the Opposition from 1984 to 1990.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
politics · Prime Minister of Canada in 1984 · politician · lawyer · athletics competitor · also John Turner, John Napier Turner, Turner
Born 7 June 1929 · Died 19 September 2020 · Q128568
40 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
Photos & media
6 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
In the news
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Recent highlights
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
- Quote
- Milestone
2026· 3 entries
WSFA: Albert Turner Jr. declared District 1 Perry County Commission Democratic nominee after state party intervention
- #news
- #headline
University of Minnesota Athletics: Turner Named to Watch List for 2026 Comeback Player of the Year Award - University of Minnesota Athletics
- #news
- #headline
2020· 2 entries
Died 2020-09-19.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #death
At age 91, from congestive heart failure
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2017· 1 entry
Was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2015· 1 entry
Written by Margaret to her friend Sharman Douglas and obtained by the Daily Mail, the relationship was more serious than previously thought with the princess writing in one letter, seven years later: "John Turner is here
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1990· 2 entries
And did not seek re-election as an MP in 1993
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Turner returned to practising law, this time working for Miller Thomson LLP, while he continued serving as an MP for another three years
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1988· 2 entries
Career landmark: member of the House of Commons of Canada (1988–1993).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
Campaign: 1988 federal election.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #election
- #campaign
1984· 7 entries
Triggered a leadership election, which Turner successfully contested
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Career landmark: Prime Minister of Canada (1984–1984).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
Career landmark: Leader of the Official Opposition (1984–1990).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
Career landmark: Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada (1984–1990).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
Career landmark: member of the House of Commons of Canada (1984–1988).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
Campaign: 1984 federal election.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #election
- #campaign
Turner managed to defeat the Tory incumbent in Vancouver Quadra, Bill Clarke by 3,200 votes, a surprising result given the size of the Tory wave, and became leader of the opposition
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1979· 1 entry
Following an election loss, Turner announced that he would not be a candidate for the Liberal leadership
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1975· 2 entries
Turner surprisingly resigned from cabinet
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Because he was tired of politics, after 13 years in Ottawa, and wanted to move on to a better-paying job as a lawyer in Toronto, to better support his family and to be with them more, as his children were growing up
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1974· 1 entry
Career landmark: member of the House of Commons of Canada (1974–1976).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
1972· 2 entries
Career landmark: Minister of Finance (1972–1975).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
Career landmark: member of the House of Commons of Canada (1972–1974).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
1968· 1 entry
Career landmark: member of the House of Commons of Canada (1968–1972).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
1965· 2 entries
While vacationing in Barbados, Turner noticed that former prime minister and Leader of the Opposition John Diefenbaker, staying at the same hotel, was struggling in the strong surf and undertow
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Career landmark: member of the House of Commons of Canada (1965–1968).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
1963· 1 entry
Career landmark: member of the House of Commons of Canada (1963–1965).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
1962· 2 entries
And was reelected there in every election until the riding's dissolution in 1968
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Career landmark: member of the House of Commons of Canada (1962–1963).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
1958· 1 entry
A ball was hosted by Turner's mother and stepfather (in the latter's role of Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia), in honour of Princess Margaret at HMCS Discovery, the Royal Canadian Navy's reserve station in Vanco
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1951· 1 entry
And a BCL in 1952; his BA was promoted to an MA per tradition in 1957
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1949· 1 entry
Awarded Rhodes Scholarship (1949).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1945· 2 entries
At age 16 where he was a member of the UBC chapter of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, and was among Canada's outstanding track sprinters in the late 1940s
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
To Frank Mackenzie Ross, who later served as Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, and the family relocated to Vancouver
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1932· 1 entry
And his sister moved to Canada with their Canadian-born mother
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1930· 1 entry
(who died shortly after birth), and a sister, Brenda, born in 1931
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1929· 2 entries
In Richmond, Surrey, England (now a part of London), to Leonard Hugh Turner, an English journalist with The Manchester Guardian, and Phyllis Gregory, a Canadian economist
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Born 1929-06-07.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #birth
1896· 1 entry
Canada's second shortest-serving prime minister behind Charles Tupper, and Canada's fifth longest-lived prime minister, living to the age of 91
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event