You had an option, sir

"You had an option, sir" (sometimes remembered as You had a choice, sir) was a phrase used by Brian Mulroney against John Turner during the English-language leaders debate in the 1984 Canadian federal election. The exchange is considered one of the only "knockout blows" in the history of Canadian political debate.

Background

After deciding to leave office in February 1984, Pierre Trudeau retired as Prime Minister of Canada in June of that year. Polls showed that he would almost certainly be defeated by Mulroney and the Progressive Conservatives in the next election. Trudeau's Liberals chose Turner, a former Cabinet minister under Trudeau and Lester B. Pearson, as their new leader in a bitterly contested leadership convention in which Turner defeated six rivals, most notably Trudeau's preferred successor Jean Chrétien.

Just four days after being sworn in as prime minister, Turner called a general election for September, persuaded by internal polls which showed the Liberals far ahead, even though he was not obligated to dissolve Parliament until 1985. This proved disastrous as Turner initially appeared rusty and old fashioned, using outmoded slang on several occasions that made voters see him as a relic from the past, causing the Liberals to fall far behind in polls. Most famously, he spoke of "make-work programs," a term that had long ago fallen into disfavour compared to the less-patronizing "job-creation programs."

The campaign is best remembered for Mulroney's attacks on a raft of Liberal patronage appointments. In his final days in office, Trudeau had controversially appointed a flurry of senators, judges, and executives on various governmental and crown corporation boards. This was widely seen as a way to offer "plum jobs" to long-time Liberals loyal to the Trudeau-Chrétien faction of the party.