Laurentian University's first chancellor, and the wife of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Aline Chrétien died Sept. 12.
Aline Chrétien passed away surrounded by family at her home in Shawinigan, Que., a family spokesman said Sunday. She was 84. A cause of death was not specified.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement on her death:
“I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Aline Chrétien, wife of the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada. On behalf of all Canadians, Sophie and I offer our deepest condolences to Mr. Chrétien, their three children, France, Hubert, and Michel, as well as their extended family.
“Aline was born in Shawinigan, Quebec, and started in life with humble beginnings in a hard working family. She was a strong mother, and a devoted wife for over 60 years, who tirelessly supported one of Canada’s longest serving Prime Ministers during some of the country’s most pivotal moments.
“As one of Mr. Chrétien’s most influential advisors, Aline was known for her tenacity, sharp intellect, and acute sense of observation. The life that she and Jean shared together, including their service to Canadians, was built on a foundation of trust, hard work, and equal partnership.
“We owe a great debt to Aline, who faithfully served Quebecers and all Canadians, championed multiculturalism and bilingualism, and helped bring us closer together. Authentic and honest, she taught us the importance of persevering, even when things get tough.
“I offer my heartfelt condolences to my friend Jean, who has lost his partner and best friend, as well as all of Aline’s family and friends, and I join all Canadians in celebrating her life and mourning her passing.”
Aline was named chancellor of Laurentian University in 2010. She said at the time education had always been her goal.
As part of her duties, she presided over convocation ceremonies and conferred degrees, provided advice to the president and assisted with the university’s advocacy efforts.
“I’m very emotional and very, very humbled,” she said in the 2010 interview. “I think it’s a great honour and responsibility, too. I want to do my best.”
Aline was instrumental in all Chrétien's seminal political decisions: to stay in the federal arena despite appeals in the 1960s to run for a seat in Quebec's National Assembly; to quit politics in 1986 after losing the Liberal leadership to John Turner; to return to the fray in 1990; and to go for a third consecutive mandate in 2000.
She even arguably saved Chrétien's life on Nov. 5, 1995, when a jackknife-wielding, mentally unstable intruder broke into the prime minister's official residence in the middle of the night. After encountering him in the hall outside their bedroom, Aline Chrétien slammed and locked the door before calling the RCMP guardhouse and waking her husband, who then famously armed himself with a soapstone carving of a loon.
It was Aline who advised Chrétien to recruit academic and future Liberal leader Stephane Dion to his cabinet after Canada's near-death experience in the 1995 referendum on Quebec independence.
And throughout his 40 years in federal politics, it was Aline who warned him when she thought he was too loud or too aggressive or embarking on what she considered the wrong course of action.
"Those of us who worked for prime minister Chretien knew sometimes, if there was a problem, that she was, (as) I called it, the last court of appeal," recalls Goldenberg.
"We could call her and say, 'I'd like it if you could talk to your husband about something because he's not listening to anybody else.' And he sure listened to her — always."
Aline Chaine and Chrétien grew up in blue-collar families, just a few blocks apart in the Quebec pulp-and-paper town of Shawinigan. But their love affair began with a chance encounter on a bus when Aline Chaine was 16, two years younger than her eventual husband.
Chrétien credits Aline with restraining some of his more boisterous youthful impulses and instilling him with self-discipline.
Aline had dreamed of studying languages at university but went instead to secretarial school at 16 so she could help support the Chaine family.
She adopted a similar support role once married to Chrétien, staying home to raise daughter France and sons Hubert and Michel. During Jean Chrétien's early years in federal politics, she stayed in Shawinigan, where she was his eyes and ears in the riding.
But she never stopped her education. She became quadralingual, learning as an adult to speak English, Italian and Spanish in addition to French. She became an accomplished pianist, studying with the Royal Conservatory of Music.
And she did eventually make it to university in 2010 — as the first chancellor of Laurentian University in Sudbury.
In her autobiography, former U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton described Aline as "intelligent, sharply observant and elegant."
But despite travelling the world with her husband and rubbing shoulders with some of the planet's most powerful leaders, Aline always maintained close contact with family and lifelong friends in Shawinigan. The couple kept a home at nearby Lac des Piles, where Aline spent her final days.
In a rare interview with Maclean's magazine in 1994, Aline described herself as "Madame Tout le Monde" — Mrs. Everybody.
She recounted calling her husband in a fury in 1973 when the federal Liberal government of the day was debating a cut in family allowances.
“I said ‘Jean, if you touch that, you’ll be in trouble. This is the only money some women in Shawinigan have got for themselves.’ You can have, as I did, a Madame Tout le Monde point of view when you are at home, listening to the radio with your kids.”
Peter Donolo, who was communications director for Chrétien when he was Opposition leader and during his first term as prime minister, says Aline had refined taste in art and music but was totally unpretentious and never forgot her roots and, thus, kept her husband "grounded."
"She was never impressed by wealth or power," Donolo says. " She could see through phonies in like a nanosecond."
The first time he met Aline, Donolo says, she asked him about his young family and then advised him: "Remember, it's very important that you not ignore your family while you're working in politics because, after everything is done, all you have left is your family."
She was, Donolo says, the love and "mainstay" of Chrétien's life for almost 70 years.
"I can't think of a stronger bond between husband and wife that's lasted this long and is as intimate and close."
Aline and Jean Chrétien marked their 63rd wedding anniversary on Sept. 10, just days before she died.
-With files from The Canadian Press
