During his two-terms as CLC president, White was largely invisible. The mid-1990s saw a massive assault on public and social services as the federal Liberal, Ontario Conservative and Quebec PQ governments implemented the greatest social spending cuts in Canadian history. But White and the unions systematically suppressed worker opposition. In Quebec, with White’s blessing, the unions endorsed the PQ’s “zero-deficit campaign,” while in Ontario mass protests against the Harris government were quickly shut down and the unions, with the CAW in the lead, threw their support behind the Liberals.