Relations between Chrétien and Martin were frequently strained, and Martin was reportedly angling to replace Chrétien as early as 1997. Martin had long hoped that Chrétien would just retire at the end of his second term, thereby allowing him to win the Liberal leadership, and were greatly disappointed in January 2000 when Chrétien's communications director Françoise Ducros had fired "a shot across the bow" by confirming what had been strongly hinted at since the summer of 1999 in an announcement to the caucus that Chrétien would seek a third term. Martin met with his supporters in what appeared to be a half-hearted attempt at a coup to discuss how best to replace Chrétien at the Regal Constellation Hotel near Toronto's Pearson airport in March 2000 during a Liberal convention, which Chrétien later cited as the 'breaking point' of their relationship. The secret meeting at the Constellation Hotel was called in response to Ducros's announcement with the aim of finding the best way of removing Chrétien, through Martin and his advisors were not quite sure about how best to do this, or if they even wanted to depose Chrétien at this point in time. Chrétien called another early election in the fall of 2000, again hoping to take advantage of the split in the Canadian right and catch the newly formed Canadian Alliance and its neophyte leader Stockwell Day off guard. At the funeral of Pierre Trudeau in September 2000, the Cuban president, Fidel Castro happened to meet with Day. Later that same day, Chrétien met with Castro, where Chrétien asked Castro about his assessment of Day and if he should call an early election or not. Castro advised Chrétien to dissolve Parliament early as he considered Day to be a lightweight, and as Castro was a leader whom Chrétien respected, his advice was an important reason for the election. Finance Minister Paul Martin released a 'mini-budget' just before the election call that included significant tax cuts, a move aimed at undermining the Alliance position going into the campaign. Chrétien formed a "war room" comprising his communications director Françoise Ducros, Warren Kinsella, Duncan Fulton and Kevin Bosch to gather material to attack Day as some sort of fascist who would plunge Canada into the Dark Ages, and to put forward the thesis to the Canadian people that Day had a "hidden agenda", which was so horrifying that Day dared not to reveal it to the people of Canada until after he won power. In the first weeks of the 2000 election, the Canadian Alliance gained in the polls while voters expressed a certain coolness to Chrétien, whom most voters complained had overstayed his time in office and had no agenda beyond staying in power for the sake of staying in power.