ous. "That document relates to ... every facet of our life!"
"Please be serious," Mulroney snorted.
"Well, I am serious," Turner countered, "and I've never been more serious in my life." That moment transformed the campaign. Mulroney had appeared defensive and arrogant, while Turner had established free trade as the election's sole issue. The country's future was at stake, Turner had argued, and he would save it. For a week after the debate, the Liberals rose in the polls. By 1 November, they were six points ahead of the Tories.
Conservatives Fight Back
Senior Conservatives decided that they had to smash Turner's credibility, capitalizing on the low level of public confidence in the Liberal leader. Mulroney took on the role of street fighter, aggressively attacking Turner as shameful, deceitful and dishonest. "He wraps himself in the flag," Mulroney scoffed, "in the hope you won't notice he's naked underneath." In response to Turner's assertion that free trade would cost many Canadians their jobs, Mulroney quipped, "It's pretty clear that the only job John Turner is interested in protecting is his own."
Tory advertising reinforced the message. Ten days after the debate, the party responded to criticisms of free trade with a pamphlet entitled "Ten Big Lies." One Conservative television spot claimed that Turner "lied to us on free trade and is unable to lead his own party." Aimed at those most likely to respond to the negative message, Conservative ads were broadcast during daytime soap operas. Conservative party pollster Allan Gregg explained the tactic: "I say this without a hint of condescension or of attempting to be patronizing, but there's no other way to say it — we're trying to get the real dumb ones."
The Canadian business community, under an umbrella group called the Canadian Alliance for Free Trade and Job Opportunities, provided support to the Conservatives. More than $1 million was poured into an advertising campaign in support of free trade, including a four-page supplement that appeared in more than six million Canadian newspapers. At the same time, several large corporations urged their employees to support the agreement.
The Conservative assault convinced many Canadians that Turner opposed free trade because of political opportunism, not personal conviction. "Our numbers are starting to come back," Gregg told Mulroney on 6 November. Five days later, he reported that Mulroney was about to win a majority. On election day, 21 November, the Conservatives won 169 seats, compared with 83 for the Liberals and 43 for the New Democratic Party (NDP).
The result fundamentally altered Canadian politics. The free trade deal went ahead, coming into effect on the first day of 1989. In the words of historian Norman Hillmer, it marked "a final recognition of Canada's inevitable destiny as a North American nation."
In Ottawa, Mulroney reigned supreme, the first prime minister in 30 years to win two consecutive majorities. Within a few months, both Turner and NDP leader Ed Broadbent announced their resignations. Though the NDP had posted its best result in a federal election, many members were disappointed at not having overtaken the Liberals. From then on, the party would seem content with moral victories and electoral defeats. For his part, Turner had saved the Liberals from oblivion, but could no longer fend off the critics in his own party. He was replaced by Jean Chrétien, who would accept free trade with the United States as an inalterable part of Canada's economic life.