Brian Mulroney in office). By this time, his approval ratings had dipped into the teens, and were at 11% in a 1992 Gallup poll, making him one of the most unpopular prime ministers since opinion polling began in Canada in the 1940s. There was a consensus that Mulroney would be heavily defeated by Jean Chrétien and the Liberals if he led the Tories into the next election—ironically, the same situation that led to Trudeau's departure from the scene nine years earlier. He announced his retirement from politics in February and was replaced as Prime Minister by Defence Minister Kim Campbell in June.
Brian Mulroney failure of Meech, Bouchard convinced several other Tories to break with the party and join him to form the Bloc Québécois, a pro-sovereigntist (i.e. "independentist") party. Years later, Mulroney said that his biggest error as Prime Minister had been trusting his former university friend; indeed, he and Bouchard have not spoken to each other in over two decades. Mulroney entered 1993 facing a statutory general election (under Canadian law, federal governments can have a maximum duration of five years, but they often have lesser duration as they must enjoy the confidence of the House of Commons in order to continue