on October 25, 1993. The result was a disaster for
Campbell and her government. Not only did the
Conservatives lose the election to the Liberals under
the leadership of Jean Chrétien but also Campbell
lost her own seat in Parliament, and her party man-
aged to win only two seats, its worst defeat in history.
Campbell, now one of the shortest-serving Canadian
prime ministers ever, quickly resigned as party
leader and disappeared from political life.
Impact Campbell’s political success ultimately did
not have a lasting impact beyond the symbolism of
having achieved high political status as a woman, in-
cluding becoming Canada’s first female prime min-
ister. Although representing a first for women by be-
coming prime minister, even this legacy lacked
strength, as the only election she actually fought
while prime minister led to her party’s worst elec-
toral defeat in history. This was largely nothing to do
with Campbell but instead reflected continuing an-
ger toward former prime minister Brian Mulroney
as well as the rise of strong regional political parties
in Quebec and western Canada that took votes away
from the Conservatives.
Further Reading
Dobbin, Murray.The Politics of Kim Campbell: From
School Trustee to Prime Minister. Toronto: Lorimer,
1993.
Fife, Robert.Kim Campbell: The Making of a Politician.
Toronto: HarperCollins, 1993.
Steve Hewitt
See also Bloc Québécois; Chrétien, Jean; Elec-
tions in Canada; Mulroney, Brian; Women’s rights.
Canada and the British
Commonwealth
Definition Diplomatic, cultural, educational, and
economic relations among Canada, the United
Kingdom, and the other Commonwealth
countries
Canada continued to be a senior partner in the Common-
wealth as the latter moved from being a political force and
trading bloc to taking on a more cultural and educational
role, upholding and encouraging principles of democracy
and good governance in its member states.
Over the half century after World War II, the British
Empire devolved all its power back to the individual
states that it comprised. For a while, trade prefer-
ences and monetary systems held the Common-
wealth together, but this role ceased with Britain’s
membership in the European Union, and later, Can-
ada’s joining a free trade agreement with the United
States and then the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA). What remained has been de-
scribed as a “gentlemen’s club,” with regular meet-
ings of heads of states, a recognition of the British
queen as head of the Commonwealth, and the com-
mon language of English. Strong educational and
cultural ties and traditions have also remained. Can-
ada has traditionally seen the Commonwealth as a
cultural and political counterbalance to the influ-
ence of the United States, though with NAFTA, this
has inevitably weakened. Nevertheless, Canada re-
mains one of sixteen Commonwealth countries to
be a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Eliza-
beth II as its sovereign, represented by a governor-
general residing in the capital, Ottawa.CHOGMs Although the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meetings (CHOGMs) have no force in
law, the agreements of these biennial meetings have
considerable weight. In the 1980’s, Canada played a
considerable part in these meetings with Prime Min-
ister Pierre Trudeau’s seniority as a Commonwealth
statesman. His successor, Brian Mulroney, was an
equally keen supporter of the Commonwealth. Dur-
ing the 1980’s, CHOGMs had been deadlocked over
sanctions against South Africa, a former Common-
wealth member. Mulroney led strongly against the
apartheid system, which indeed collapsed at the
turn of the decade, leading to the rejoining of the
Republic of South Africa in 1994.
Probably the most significant CHOGM of the de-
cade was the 1991 meeting held in Harare, Zimba-
bwe, where “rules” for the democratic credentials of
its members were laid down, thus fixing the foci for
future political development and cooperation. Sig-
nificantly, Nigeria’s membership was suspended at
the 1995 meeting, as its military dictatorship exe-
cuted several civil rights activists during the confer-
ence itself. It was Nelson Mandela, the new South Af-
rican president, who led the call for this.
Besides meetings for heads of government, there
were regular meetings for education and finance
ministers of Commonwealth countries, in all ofThe Nineties in America Canada and the British Commonwealth 145