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Brian Mulroney

Brian Mulroney

Overview
Martin Brian Mulroney, (born March 20, 1939) was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

 from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

 from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and the Goods and Services Tax
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...

, and the rejection of constitutional reforms such as the Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...

 and the Charlottetown Accord
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 of that year, and was defeated.-Background:...

. Prior to his political career, he was a prominent lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and businessman in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

.
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Quotations

"You had an option, sir. You could have said, 'I am not going to do it. This is wrong for Canada, and I am not going to ask Canadians to pay the price.' You had an option, sir--to say 'no'--and you chose to say 'yes' to the old attitudes and the old stories of the Liberal Party. That sir, if I may say respectfully, that is not good enough for Canadians."

Speaking to John Turner|John Turner during the debate before the Canadian federal election, 1984|1984 federal election.

"Popularity's bad for you. I avoid it like the plague.

"Peter Newman: Go fuck yourself. Thank you. Good night."

(On one of his cabinet ministers) "Slit her throat."

"I look around this room and see a room full of senators, maybe one or two judges. A Conservative government will give jobs to people in other parties only after I've been prime minister for fifteen years and can't find a single living, breathing Tory to appoint." (1983), p.94

"It's pretty hard to tell somebody who won 211 seats the first time out, having started way behind, and then 169 the next time out, that he can't do it a third time against Jean Chrétien|Jean Chrétien, Preston Manning|Preston Manning and Audrey McLaughlin|Audrey McLaughlin. Give me a break.", p.159

"Go bang the window and see what happens -- just go test it. See that? Trudeau had the office bulletproofed. I always contended that the reason he did it was because the American embassy is right outside. They probably wanted to shoot him.", p.331

"All this nonsense going on, the guy [Jean Chrétien] just swallows himself whole on NAFTA, nobody says a word. It's just been an awful bloody piece of business. Only a mean, dirty bastard would do something like that, or a fucking stupid one. And you know what? He's both.", p.360-361

Encyclopedia
Martin Brian Mulroney, (born March 20, 1939) was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

 from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

 from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and the Goods and Services Tax
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...

, and the rejection of constitutional reforms such as the Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...

 and the Charlottetown Accord
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 of that year, and was defeated.-Background:...

. Prior to his political career, he was a prominent lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and businessman in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

.

Early life


Mulroney was born on March 20, 1939, in Baie-Comeau, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, a remote and isolated town in the eastern part of the province. He is the son of Irish Canadian
Irish Canadian
Irish Canadian are immigrants and descendants of immigrants who originated in Ireland. 1.2 million Irish immigrants arrived, 1825 to 1970, at least half of those in the period from 1831-1850. By 1867, they were the second largest ethnic group , and comprised 24% of Canada's population...

 Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 parents Mary Irene (née O'Shea) and Benedict Martin Mulroney, who was a paper mill electrician. The family had six children who survived infancy. Since there was no English Catholic high school in Baie-Comeau, Mulroney completed his high school education at a Roman Catholic boarding school in Chatham, New Brunswick
Chatham, New Brunswick
Chatham is a Canadian urban neighbourhood in the city of Miramichi, New Brunswick.Prior to municipal amalgamation in 1995, Chatham was an incorporated town in Northumberland County along the south bank of the Miramichi River opposite Douglastown...

 operated by St. Thomas University
St. Thomas University (New Brunswick)
St. Thomas University is jointly a public and Roman Catholic liberal arts university located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. It offers degrees exclusively at the undergraduate level for approximately 3,000 students in the liberal arts, humanities, journalism, education, and social work....

 (in 2001, St. Thomas University named its newest academic building in his honour). Benedict Mulroney worked overtime and ran a repair business to earn extra money for his children's education, and he encouraged his oldest son to attend university.

Mulroney would frequently tell stories about newspaper publisher Robert R. McCormick
Robert R. McCormick
Robert Rutherford "Colonel" McCormick was a member of the McCormick family of Chicago who became owner and publisher of the Chicago Tribune newspaper...

, whose company had founded Baie-Comeau. Mulroney would sing Irish songs for McCormick, and the publisher would slip him $50. He grew up speaking English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 fluently.

Family


On May 26, 1973, he married Mila Pivnički, the daughter of a Serbian
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...

 doctor, Dimitrije Mita Pivnički, from Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

. The Mulroneys have four children: Caroline, Benedict (Ben)
Ben Mulroney
Benedict Martin Paul "Ben" Mulroney is a Canadian television host, and is the son of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.-Early life:...

, Mark and Nicolas. Ben is a CTV media personality and the most recent host of Canadian Idol
Canadian Idol
Canadian Idol is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show Pop Idol. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore was the "roving reporter" for the first three seasons...

.


In 1991, Frank
Frank (magazine)
Frank is a bi-weekly Canadian scandal or satirical magazine published since 1987 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.A separate publication in Ottawa, Ontario, of the same name was published from 1989 to 2004 and then revived from 2005 to 2008...

magazine ran a satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

 ad for a contest inviting young Tories to "deflower Caroline Mulroney," the then-Prime Minister's oldest child. The magazine took the position that they were simply saying in a satirical fashion that Mulroney was using his daughter as a prop. Many groups and commentators joined Mulroney in denouncing the ad as an incitement to rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

.

On September 16, 2000, Caroline Mulroney married Andrew Lapham, the son of Harper's editor Lewis H. Lapham
Lewis H. Lapham
Lewis H. Lapham is an American writer. He was the editor of the American monthly Harper's Magazine from 1976 until 1981, and from 1983 until 2006. He also is the founder of the eponymous publication about history and literature entitled Lapham's Quarterly. He has written numerous books on...

. Among the 400 guests were many dignitaries and business leaders, including former US President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...

 and Barbara Bush
Barbara Bush
Barbara Pierce Bush is the wife of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush, and served as First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993. She is the mother of the 43rd President George W. Bush and of the 43rd Governor of Florida Jeb Bush...

, Queen Noor of Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

, Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia
Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia
Alexander II Karadjordjevic, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia , is the former crown prince of the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the head of the House of Karadjordjevic. Alexander is the only child of former King Peter II of Yugoslavia and Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark...

 and his Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

-born wife Katherine, Dino Goulandris, Galen Weston
Galen Weston
Willard Gordon Galen Weston, OC, OOnt , is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He is the Chairman and President of George Weston Limited...

 and Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 Lieutenant-Governor Hilary Weston
Hilary Weston
Hilary M. Weston , CM, O.Ont was the 26th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, serving from 1997 to 2002. During her five year tenure, Mrs...

, former talk show host Kathie Lee Gifford
Kathie Lee Gifford
Kathie Lee Gifford is an American television host, singer, songwriter and actress, best known for her 15-year run on the talk show Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, which she co-hosted with Regis Philbin...

, and media magnate Ted Rogers
Edward Samuel Rogers
Edward Samuel "Ted" Rogers, Jr., OC was the President and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., and the fifth richest person in Canada in terms of net worth. His father Edward S. Rogers, Sr...

. Caroline Mulroney is currently associate director of the NYU Center for Law and Business, having graduated from NYU with a law degree in 2001.

Mulroney is the grandfather of Lewis H. Lapham III, and twins Pierce Lapham and Elizabeth Theodora Lapham, and Miranda Brooke Lapham from daughter, Caroline, and twins Brian Gerald Alexander and John Benedict Dimitri from son Ben.

Education


Mulroney had not been involved in politics at any level prior to entering St. Francis Xavier University
St. Francis Xavier University
St. Francis Xavier University is a post-secondary institution located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The school was founded in 1853, but did not offer degrees until 1868. The university has approximately 5000 students.-History:...

 in the fall of 1955 as a 16-year-old freshman. His political life began when he was recruited to the campus Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

 group by Lowell Murray
Lowell Murray
Lowell Murray, PC is a former Canadian senator and long-time activist with the federal Progressive Conservative Party.-Education:...

 and others, early in his first year. Murray would become a close friend, mentor, and adviser who was appointed to the Canadian Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...

 in 1979. Other important, lasting friendships made there by Mulroney included Gerald Doucet
Gerald Doucet
Gerald Doucet is a former politician and lobbyist from Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented the electoral district of Richmond in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1963–1974, as a Progressive Conservative.He graduated from St...

, Fred Doucet
Fred Doucet
Jean Alfred "Fred" Doucet is a Canadian lobbyist, educator, university administrator, and political aide. He was Chief of Staff to Brian Mulroney, from 1983 to 1984, when he was Leader of the Opposition and was a Senior Adviser, from 1984 to 1987, after Mulroney was elected Prime Minister of...

, Sam Wakim
Sam Wakim
Samuel Wakim is a Canadian lawyer and former Progressive Conservative party member of the Canadian House of Commons. A member of the Queen's Counsel, he practices law in Toronto....

, and Patrick MacAdam
Patrick MacAdam
Patrick "Pat" MacAdam is a Canadian writer born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia.- Early and political life :MacAdam attended St. Francis Xavier University, in Antigonish, Nova Scotia from 1952 until 1956...

. Mulroney enthusiastically embraced political organization, and assisted the local PC candidate in his successful 1956 Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

 provincial election campaign; the PCs, led provincially by Robert Stanfield
Robert Stanfield
Robert Lorne Stanfield, PC, QC was the 17th Premier of Nova Scotia and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. He is sometimes referred to as "the greatest prime minister Canada never had", and earned the nickname "Honest Bob"...

, swept to a surprise victory.

Mulroney became a youth delegate and attended the 1956 leadership convention in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

. While initially undecided, Mulroney was captivated by John Diefenbaker
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...

's powerful oratory and easy approachability. Mulroney joined the "Youth for Diefenbaker" committee which was led by Ted Rogers
Edward Samuel Rogers
Edward Samuel "Ted" Rogers, Jr., OC was the President and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., and the fifth richest person in Canada in terms of net worth. His father Edward S. Rogers, Sr...

, a future scion
Kinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....

 of Canadian business. Mulroney struck an early friendship with Diefenbaker (who won the leadership) and received telephone calls from him.

Mulroney won several public speaking contests at St. Francis Xavier, was a star member of the school's debating team, and never lost an interuniversity debate. He was also very active in campus politics, serving with distinction in several Model Parliament
Model Parliament
The Model Parliament is the term, attributed to Frederic William Maitland, used for the 1295 Parliament of England of King Edward I. This assembly included members of the clergy and the aristocracy, as well as representatives from the various counties and boroughs. Each county returned two knights,...

s, and was campus prime minister in a grandiose Maritimes
Maritimes
The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...

-wide Model Parliament in 1958.

Mulroney also assisted with the 1958 national election campaign at the local level in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

; this led to the biggest majority in Canadian history.

After graduating from St. Francis Xavier with a degree in political science in 1959, Mulroney at first pursued a law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 degree from Dalhousie Law School
Dalhousie Law School
The Schulich School of Law is part of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Formerly called Dalhousie Law School, it was established in 1883, making it the oldest university-affiliated common law school in the Commonwealth. It is the primary law school in Atlantic Canada and...

 in Halifax. It was around this time that Mulroney also cultivated friendships with the Tory premier of Nova Scotia, Robert Stanfield
Robert Stanfield
Robert Lorne Stanfield, PC, QC was the 17th Premier of Nova Scotia and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. He is sometimes referred to as "the greatest prime minister Canada never had", and earned the nickname "Honest Bob"...

, and his chief adviser Dalton Camp
Dalton Camp
Dalton Kingsley Camp, PC, OC was a Canadian journalist, politician, political strategist and commentator and supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Despite having never been elected to a seat in the House of Commons, he was a prominent and influential politician and a popular...

. Mulroney significantly assisted with Stanfield's successful 1960 re-election campaign, in the role of an advance man. Mulroney neglected his studies, then fell seriously ill during the winter term, was hospitalized, and, despite getting extensions for several courses because of his illness, flunked out of Dalhousie his first year. He then applied to Université Laval
Université Laval
Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...

 in Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

, and restarted first-year law there the next year.

In Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

, Mulroney befriended future Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 Premier
Premier of Quebec
The Premier of Quebec is the first minister of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Premier is the province's head of government and his title is Premier and President of the Executive Council....

 Daniel Johnson, Sr
Daniel Johnson, Sr
Francis Daniel Johnson, Sr., PC was a Quebec politician and the 20th Premier of Quebec from 1966 until his death in 1968.-Background:...

, and frequented the provincial legislature, making connections with politicians, aides, and journalists. At Laval, Mulroney built a network of friends that would play a prominent role in Canadian politics for years to come, including Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard, is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat, politician and former Minister of the Environment of the Canadian Federal Government. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1996, and the 27th Premier of Quebec from January 29, 1996 to March 8, 2001...

, Bernard Roy
Bernard Roy
Bernard Roy , is an emeritus professor at the Université Paris-Dauphine. In 1974 he founded the "Laboratoire d'Analyse et de Modélisation des Systèmes pour l'Aide à la Décision" . He has worked on graph theory and on multi-criteria decision analysis , having created the ELECTRE family of methods...

, Michel Cogger
Michel Cogger
Michel Benoit Cogger is a Quebec businessman, lawyer and former Canadian Senator.Cogger was a senior political advisor to and fundraiser for Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and helped run the party's campaigns in Quebec in the 1984 and 1988 federal elections in which the...

, Michael Meighen
Michael Meighen
Michael Arthur Meighen, QC is a Canadian senator, lawyer and cultural patron. A litigation and commercial lawyer who has practiced in Montreal and Toronto, he is a member of the Bars of both Ontario and Quebec....

, Jean Bazin
Jean Bazin
Jean Bazin is a Canadian lawyer and former senator.Born in Quebec City, he received a B.Comm. and an LL.L. from Université Laval in 1964. He was elected president of the Canadian Union of Students for the 1964-65 school year. He was called to the Quebec Bar in 1965. He was appointed Queen's...

, and Peter White. During this time, Mulroney was still involved in the Conservative youth wing and was acquainted with the President of the Student Federation, Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...

.

Mulroney secured a plum temporary appointment in Ottawa during the summer of 1962, as the executive assistant to Alvin Hamilton, minister of agriculture. Then a federal election was called, and Prime Minister Diefenbaker appointed Hamilton as the acting prime minister for the rest of the campaign. Hamilton took Mulroney with him on the campaign trail, where the young organizer gained valuable experience.

Builds reputation, gains publicity


After graduating from Laval in 1964, Mulroney joined the Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 law firm now known as Ogilvy Renault
Ogilvy Renault
Ogilvy Renault LLP was a Canadian law firm with 450 members in offices in Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Toronto, Calgary and London, England. Ogilvy Renault offered services in the areas of business law, litigation and ADR, employment and labour law and intellectual property...

, which at the time was the largest law firm in the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

. Mulroney twice failed his bar exams, but the firm kept him due to his charming personality. After ultimately passing his bar exams, Mulroney was admitted to the Quebec bar in 1965, and became a labour lawyer, which was then a new and exciting field of law in Quebec. Mulroney's superb political skills of conciliation and negotiation, with opponents often polarized and at odds, proved ideal for this field. He was noted for ending several strikes along the Montreal waterfront where he met fellow lawyer W. David Angus
W. David Angus
W. David Angus, QC is a Canadian Senator and lawyer.-Career:Born in Toronto, Ontario in 1937, Angus moved to Montreal with his family at the age of nine and has been based there ever since. Educated at Lower Canada College, Princeton University and McGill University, Angus is a lawyer and senior...

, who would later become a valuable fundraiser for his campaigns.

It was in 1966 that Dalton Camp
Dalton Camp
Dalton Kingsley Camp, PC, OC was a Canadian journalist, politician, political strategist and commentator and supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Despite having never been elected to a seat in the House of Commons, he was a prominent and influential politician and a popular...

, who was by then President of the Progressive Conservative Party, ran for re-election in what was widely believed to be a referendum on Diefenbaker's leadership. Diefenbaker had reached his 70th birthday in 1965. Mulroney joined with most of his generation in supporting Camp and opposing Diefenbaker, but due to his past friendship with Diefenbaker, he attempted to stay out of the spotlight. With Camp's narrow victory, Diefenbaker called for a 1967 leadership convention
Progressive Conservative leadership convention, 1967
The 1967 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held to choose a leader for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. The convention was held at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 4th and 9th, 1967...

 in Toronto. Mulroney joined with Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...

 and others in supporting former Justice minister E. Davie Fulton. Once Fulton dropped off the ballot, Mulroney helped in swinging most of his organization over to Robert Stanfield
Robert Stanfield
Robert Lorne Stanfield, PC, QC was the 17th Premier of Nova Scotia and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. He is sometimes referred to as "the greatest prime minister Canada never had", and earned the nickname "Honest Bob"...

, who won. Mulroney, then 28, would soon become a chief adviser to the new leader in Quebec.

Mulroney's professional reputation was further enhanced when he ended a strike that was considered impossible to resolve at the Montreal newspaper La Presse. In doing so, Mulroney became friends with the paper's owner, Canadian business mogul Paul Desmarais
Paul Desmarais
Paul Desmarais, Sr., is a Canadian financier in Montreal. With an estimated net worth of $US 4.5 billion , Desmarais was ranked by Forbes as the 4th wealthiest person in Canada and 235th in the world.Desmarais also owns homes in Palm Beach, Florida and New York.He is CEO of the Power Corporation...

. After his initial difficulties, Mulroney's reputation in his firm steadily increased, and he was made a partner in 1971.

Mulroney's big break would come during the Cliche Commission
Robert Cliche
Robert was a Canadian judge, lawyer and politician, who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party of Quebec, as well as the Quebec lieutenant to federal New Democratic Party leader Tommy Douglas, from 1964 to 1968...

 in 1974, which was set up by Quebec premier Robert Bourassa
Robert Bourassa
Jean-Robert Bourassa, was a politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as the 22nd Premier of Quebec in two different mandates, first from May 12, 1970, to November 25, 1976, and then from December 12, 1985, to January 11, 1994, serving a total of just under 15 years as Provincial Premier.-Early...

 to investigate the situation at James Bay
James Bay
James Bay is a large body of water on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean. James Bay borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario; islands within the bay are part of Nunavut...

, Canada's largest hydroelectric project. Violence and dirty tactics had broken out as part of a union accreditation struggle. To ensure the commission was non-partisan, Bourassa, the Liberal premier, placed Robert Cliche
Robert Cliche
Robert was a Canadian judge, lawyer and politician, who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party of Quebec, as well as the Quebec lieutenant to federal New Democratic Party leader Tommy Douglas, from 1964 to 1968...

, a former leader of the provincial New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

 in charge. Cliche asked Mulroney, a Progressive Conservative and a former student of his, to join the commission. Mulroney would ask Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard, is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat, politician and former Minister of the Environment of the Canadian Federal Government. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1996, and the 27th Premier of Quebec from January 29, 1996 to March 8, 2001...

 to join as counsel. The committee's unravellings, which showed Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...

 infiltration of the unions, made Mulroney well known in Quebec, as the hearings were extensively covered in the media. The Cliche Commission's report was largely adopted by the Bourassa government. A notable incident included the revelation that the controversy may have involved the office of the Premier of Quebec. Although Bouchard favoured calling in Robert Bourassa as a witness, Mulroney refused, deeming it a violation of 'executive privilege'. Mulroney and Bourassa would later cultivate a friendship that would turn out to be extremely beneficial when Mulroney ran for re-election in 1988.

Loses first leadership race, 1975–76


The Stanfield-led Progressive Conservatives lost the 1974 election
Canadian federal election, 1974
The Canadian federal election of 1974 was held on July 8, 1974 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 30th Parliament of Canada. The governing Liberal Party won its first majority government since 1968, and gave Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau his third term...

 to the Pierre Trudeau-led Liberals. Following the party's third consecutive loss, Stanfield decided to resign the leadership. Mulroney, despite never having run for elected office, was encouraged to run in the leadership race to replace Stanfield, and entered the contest. Mulroney and provincial rival Claude Wagner
Claude Wagner
Claude Wagner, PC, QC was a judge and politician in the Province of Quebec, Canada. In his career, Wagner was a Crown prosecutor, professor of criminal law and judge...

 were both seen as potentially able to appeal to Quebec, which had supported the federal Liberals for decades. Ironically, it had been Mulroney who had played the lead role in recruiting Wagner to the PC party a few years earlier, and the two wound up as rivals for Quebec delegates, most of whom were snared by Wagner, who even blocked Mulroney from becoming a voting delegate. In the leadership race, Mulroney would spend an estimated $500,000, at that time an incredible sum, far more than the other candidates. He earned the nickname 'Cadillac candidate'. At the 1976 leadership convention
Progressive Conservative leadership convention, 1976
The 1976 leadership election of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was held in Ottawa on February 22, 1976, to elect a leader to replace Robert Stanfield, who had resigned after losing the 1968, 1972, and 1974 elections. It unexpectedly elected a 36-year-old, little-known PC Member of...

, Mulroney placed second on the first ballot behind Wagner. However, his expensive campaign, slick image, lack of parliamentary experience, and vague policy positions did not endear him to many delegates, and he was unable to build upon his base support, being overtaken by eventual winner Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...

 on the second ballot. Mulroney was the only one of the eleven leadership candidates who did not provide full financial disclosure on his campaign expenses, and his campaign finished deeply in debt. Following the convention, Mulroney turned down the offer of a shadow cabinet portfolio in Clark's caucus.

Successful business executive


Mulroney took the job of Executive Vice President of the Iron Ore Company of Canada
Iron Ore Company of Canada
Iron Ore Company of Canada is a Canadian-based producer of iron ore. The company was founded in 1949 from a partnership of Canadian and American M.A. Hanna Company...

, a joint subsidiary of three major U.S. steel corporations. Mulroney earned a lucrative salary, well into the six-figure range. In 1977, he was appointed company President. He instituted improved labour relations, drawing upon his labour law experience, and, with commodity prices on the rise, company profits soared during the next several years. Mulroney in 1983 successfully negotiated the closing of the Schefferville mine, winning a generous settlement for the affected workers. Under his leadership, the company was sold off to foreign interests. In the wake of his loss in the 1976 leadership race, Mulroney battled alcohol abuse and depression for several years; he credits his loyal wife Mila with helping him recover from that dark period. In 1979, he completely quit drinking. During his IOC term, he made liberal use of the company's executive jet, frequently flying business associates and friends on fishing trips. Mulroney also maintained and expanded his extensive political networking among business leaders and conservatives across the country. As his business reputation grew, he was invited onto several corporate boards. He turned down an offer to run in a Quebec by-election as a federal Liberal.

Party leader


By late 1982, Joe Clark's leadership of the Progressive Conservatives was being questioned in many party circles and among many Tory members of Parliament, despite his solid national lead over Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...

 in opinion polls, which stretched to 19 percent in summer 1982. Clark's reputation as a leader had taken a beating when, as Prime Minister, he carelessly lost a non-confidence motion over his minority government's budget in December 1979, leading to the fall of his government; the PCs subsequently lost the federal election held two months later when Trudeau rescinded his announced retirement, and returned to lead the Liberals to a majority. Many Tories were also annoyed with Clark over his slowness in dispensing patronage appointments after he became prime minister in June, 1979.

Mulroney, in spite of publicly endorsing Clark, organized behind the scenes to defeat Clark at the party's leadership review. Clark's key Quebec organizer Rodrigue Pageau was in fact a double agent, working for Mulroney, undermining Clark's support. When Clark received an endorsement by only 66.9 per cent of delegates at the party convention in January 1983 in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

, Clark resigned and ran to regain his post at the 1983 leadership convention
Progressive Conservative leadership convention, 1983
The 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held on June 11, 1983 in Ottawa, Ontario to elect a leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada...

. Mulroney, despite still not being a member of Parliament, ran against him again, and he campaigned more shrewdly than he had done seven years before. Mulroney had been criticized in 1976 for lacking policy depth and substance. He addressed that weakness by making several major speeches across the country in the early 1980s, and collected them into a book, Where I Stand, published in 1983. Mulroney also avoided most of the flash of his earlier campaign, for which he had been criticized. Mulroney was elected party leader on June 11, 1983, beating Clark on the fourth ballot. He attracted broad support from the many factions of the party and especially from representatives of his native Quebec. Two months later, Mulroney entered Parliament as the MP for Central Nova
Central Nova
Central Nova is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1997 and since 2004. Its population in 2001 was 73,722....

 in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, winning a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 in what was then considered a safe Tory seat after Elmer MacKay
Elmer MacKay
Elmer MacIntosh MacKay, PC, QC is a retired Canadian politician.-Life and career:MacKay was born in Hopewell, Nova Scotia. He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Central Nova through a 1971 by-election...

 stood down in his favour. This is standard practice in most parliamentary system
Parliamentary system
A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....

s.

Throughout his political career, Mulroney's fluency in English and French, with Quebec roots in both cultures, gave him two trumps which eventually proved decisive.

Because of health problems shortly after becoming party leader, Mulroney quit smoking in 1983.

By the start of 1984, the Tories had taken a substantial lead in opinion polling, as Mulroney began learning the realities of parliamentary life in the House of Commons. It was almost taken for granted that Trudeau would be heavily defeated by Mulroney in the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...

 due no later than 1985. Trudeau announced his retirement in February, and the Liberal Party chose John Turner
John Turner
John Napier Wyndham Turner, PC, CC, QC is an English Canadian lawyer and retired politician, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984....

, previously the Minister of Finance under Trudeau in the 1970s, as its new leader. The Liberals then surged in the polls, to take a lead, after trailing by more than 20 percentage points. Only four days after being sworn in as Prime Minister, Turner called a general election for September
Canadian federal election, 1984
The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...

. In doing so, he had to postpone a planned Canadian summer visit by Queen Elizabeth II, who makes it her policy to not travel abroad during foreign election campaigns. But the Liberal election campaign machinery was in disarray, leading to a weak campaign.

The campaign is best remembered for Mulroney's attacks of a raft of Liberal patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...

 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, widely seen as a way to offer "plum jobs" to loyal members of the Liberal Party. Upon assuming office, Turner, who had been out of politics for nine years while he earned a lucrative salary as a Toronto lawyer, showed that his political instincts had diminished. Turner had been under pressure to cancel the appointments, but chose not to, and instead proceeded to appoint several more Liberals to prominent political offices, per a signed, legal agreement with Trudeau.

Ironically, Turner had planned to attack Mulroney over the patronage machine that the latter had set up in anticipation of victory. In a televised leaders' debate, Turner launched what appeared to be the start of a blistering attack on Mulroney by comparing his patronage machine to that of the old Union Nationale in Quebec. However, Mulroney successfully turned the tables by pointing to the recent raft of Liberal patronage appointments. He demanded that Turner apologize to the country for making "these horrible appointments." Turner replied that "I had no option" except to let the appointments stand. Mulroney famously responded:
"You had an option, sir
You had an option, sir
"You had an option, sir" was a phrase used by Brian Mulroney against John Turner during the English-language leaders debate in the 1984 Canadian federal election...

. You could have said, 'I am not going to do it. This is wrong for Canada, and I am not going to ask Canadians to pay the price.' You had an option, sir--to say 'no' — and you chose to say 'yes' to the old attitudes and the old stories of the Liberal Party."


Turner froze and wilted under this withering riposte from Mulroney. He could repeat only, "I had no option." A visibly angry Mulroney called this "an avowal of failure" and "a confession of non-leadership." The exchange led most papers the next day, with most of them paraphrasing Mulroney's counterattack as "You had an option, sir--you could have said 'no.'" Many observers believe that at this point, Mulroney assured himself of becoming prime minister.

In September, Mulroney and the Tories won the largest majority government in Canadian history. They took 211 seats, three more than their previous record in 1958
Canadian federal election, 1958
The Canadian federal election of 1958 was the 24th general election in Canada's history. It was held to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 24th Parliament of Canada on March 31, 1958, just nine months after the 23rd election...

. The Liberals won only 40 seats, their worst performance ever at the time. At the time, it was also the worst defeat for a governing party at the federal level in Canada. The Conservatives won just over half of the popular vote (compared to 53.4 percent in 1958) and led in every province, emerging as a national party for the first time since 1958. Especially important was the Tories' performance in Mulroney's home province, Quebec. The Tories had only won the most seats in that province only once since 1896
Canadian federal election, 1896
The Canadian federal election of 1896 was held on June 23, 1896 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Canada. Though the Conservative Party won a plurality of the popular vote, the Liberal Party, led by Wilfrid Laurier, won the majority of seats to form the...

--the 1958 Tory landslide. However, largely due to anger at Trudeau and Mulroney's promise of a new deal for Quebec, the province swung over dramatically to support him. The Tories had only won one seat out of 75 in 1980, but took 58 seats in 1984. Mulroney himself yielded Central Nova back to MacKay to run in the eastern Quebec riding of Manicouagan
Manicouagan (electoral district)
Manicouagan is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968.The riding was created in 1966 from parts of Charlevoix and Saguenay ridings....

, which included Baie-Comeau.

In 1984, the Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Canadian Press Enterprises Inc. is the entity which "will take over the operations of the Canadian Press" according to a November 26, 2010 article in the Toronto Star...

 named Mulroney "Newsmaker of the Year" for the second straight year, making him only the second prime minister to have received the honor both before becoming prime minister and when prime minister (the other being Lester Pearson
Lester B. Pearson
Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson, PC, OM, CC, OBE was a Canadian professor, historian, civil servant, statesman, diplomat, and politician, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis...

).

First term



The first Conservative majority government in 26 years—and only the second in 54 years—initially seemed to give Mulroney a very formidable position. The Tories had won just over half the popular vote, and no other party crossed the 50-seat mark. On paper, he was free to take Canada in any direction he wanted. However, his position was far more precarious than his parliamentary majority would suggest. His support was based on a "grand coalition" of socially conservative populists
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...

 from the West, Quebec nationalists
Quebec nationalism
Quebec nationalism is a nationalist movement in the Canadian province of Quebec .-1534–1774:Canada was first a french colony. Jacques Cartier claimed it for France in 1534, and permanent French settlement began in 1608. It was part of New France, which constituted all French colonies in North America...

, and fiscal conservatives from Ontario and Atlantic Canada. Such diverse interests became difficult for Mulroney to juggle.

He attempted to appeal to the Western provinces, whose earlier support had been critical to his electoral success, by cancelling the National Energy Program
National Energy Program
The National Energy Program was an energy policy of the Government of Canada. It was created under the Liberal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau by Minister of Energy Marc Lalonde in 1980, and administered by the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.-Description:The NEP was...

 and including a large number of Westerners in his Cabinet (including Clark as minister of external affairs). However, he was not completely successful, even aside from economic and constitutional policy. For example, he moved CF-18 servicing from Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

 to Quebec in 1986, even though the Manitoba bid was lower and the company was better rated, and received death threats for exerting pressure on Manitoba over French language rights.

Many of Mulroney's ministers had little government experience, resulting in conflicts of interest and embarrassing scandals. Many Tories expected patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...

 appointments due to the long time out of government. Indeed, Mulroney made a number of unscripted gaffes regarding patronage, including the reference to Ambassador Bryce Mackasey
Bryce Mackasey
Bryce Stuart Mackasey, PC was a Canadian Member of Parliament, Cabinet minister, and Ambassador to Portugal....

 as "there's no whore like an old whore". The new Prime Minister's handlers were concerned by his seeming unpredictability and rumours of drinking.


One of Mulroney's main priorities, at least publicly, was to lower the deficit, which was running into the billions of dollars. However, the country's debt
Debt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...

 increased substantially through his term. His attempts to reduce spending limited his ability to deliver on many promises. Also impeding his progress was the Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...

, where the Liberals had a large majority due to their previous long tenure in power. Led by Allan MacEachen
Allan MacEachen
Allan Joseph MacEachen, PC, OC is a retired Canadian politician, a many-time Cabinet minister, a retired Senator, one of Canada's elder statesmen, and was the first Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, serving from 1977 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984.-Early life:Born in Inverness on Nova Scotia's Cape...

, the Senate took a very assertive role in legislation, forcing the government to compromise on several points despite its considerable House majority.

A major undertaking by Mulroney's government was an attempt to resolve the divisive issue of national unity. Quebec was the only province that did not sign the new Canadian constitution
Constitution of Canada
The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions and conventions. It outlines Canada's system of government, as well as the civil rights of all Canadian citizens and those in Canada...

 negotiated by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...

 in 1982, and Mulroney wanted to include Quebec in a new agreement with the rest of Canada. In 1987, he negotiated the Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...

 with the provincial premiers
Premier (Canada)
In Canada, a premier is the head of government of a province or territory. There are currently ten provincial premiers and three territorial premiers in Canada....

, a package of constitutional amendments designed to satisfy Quebec's demand for recognition as a "distinct society
Distinct society
Distinct society is a political term especially used during constitutional debate in Canada, in the second half of the 1980s and in the early 1990s, and present in the two failed constitutional amendments, the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord...

" within Canada, and to devolve some powers to the provinces.

Another of Mulroney's priorities was the privatization of many of Canada's crown corporations. In 1984, the Government of Canada held 61 different crown corporations. It sold off 23 of them. Air Canada was completely privatized by 1989, although the Air Canada Public Participation Act continued to make certain requirements of the airline. Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada was a crown corporation of Canada in the field of oil and natural gas. It was headquartered in the Petro-Canada Centre in Calgary, Alberta. In August, 2009, Petro-Canada merged with Suncor Energy, a deal in which Suncor investors received approximately 60 per cent ownership of the...

 would later be privatized.

The Air India Flight 182
Air India Flight 182
Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal–London–Delhi route. On 23 June 1985, the airplane operating on the route a Boeing 747-237B named after Emperor Kanishka was blown up by a bomb at an altitude of , and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while in Irish airspace.A...

 bombing, which originated in Montreal, happened during Mulroney's first term. This is considered to be the largest terrorist act before September 11, 2001
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

, with the majority of the 329 victims being Canadian citizens. Mulroney sent a letter of condolence to then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...

, which sparked an uproar in Canada since he did not call families of the actual victims to offer condolences. Gandhi replied that he should be the one providing condolences to Mulroney, given that the majority of victims were Canadian or lived in Canada. Many Indo-Canadians considered this to be a racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

 act because they felt Mulroney did not consider them to be true Canadian citizens as they were not of European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....

 descent. Furthermore, there were several warnings from the Indian government to the Mulroney government about terrorist threats towards Air India flights. Questions remain as to why these warnings were not taken more seriously and whether the events leading to the bombing could have been prevented. A public inquiry into the Air India bombing is currently underway to answer some of these questions.

Mulroney's government opposed the apartheid regime in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. Mulroney met with many opposition leaders throughout his ministry. His position put him at odds with the American and British governments, but also won him respect elsewhere. Also, external affairs minister Joe Clark was the first foreign affairs minister to land in previously isolated Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

 to lead the Western response to the 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia; Clark landed in Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...

 so quickly he had not even seen the initial CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

 report that had created the initial and strong public reaction. Canada's response was overwhelming and led the US and Britain to follow suit almost immediately — an unprecedented situation in foreign affairs at that time, since Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

 had a Marxist regime and had previously been isolated by Western governments.

The government took a strong stand against the U.S. intervention in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

 under Reagan, and accepted refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...

s from El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...

, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

, and other countries with regimes supported directly by the Reagan administration
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....

.

Near the end of his first term, Mulroney gave a formal apology and a $300 million compensation package to the families of the 22,000 Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 Canadians who had been divested of their property and interned during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

During his tenure as prime minister, Brian Mulroney's close relationship with U.S. President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 helped result in both a landmark treaty on acid rain
Acid rain
Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions . It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen...

 and the ratification of a free-trade treaty with the United States under which all tariff
Tariff
A tariff may be either tax on imports or exports , or a list or schedule of prices for such things as rail service, bus routes, and electrical usage ....

s between the two countries would be eliminated by 1998.

Critics noted that Mulroney had originally professed opposition to free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...

 during the 1983 leadership campaign. This agreement was controversial, and the Senate demanded an election before proceeding on voting, although Mulroney planned on calling an election before the treaty had been signed. The free trade was the central issue of the 1988 election
Canadian federal election, 1988
The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....

, with the Liberals and NDP opposing it. With the Liberals gaining the initial momentum, a successful counterattack by Allan Gregg
Allan Gregg
Allan Gregg is a Canadian pollster, political advisor, and pundit.-Early life:Gregg was born in Edmonton, Alberta. He was the eldest child in his family which consisted of four boys and one girl. Gregg graduated from Harry Ainley High School at the second top of his class with honors...

 resulted in the PCs being re-elected with a solid but reduced majority and 43 percent of the popular vote. Mulroney thus became the only Conservative to lead his party to two consecutive majority governments in peacetime during the 20th century. In this election, Mulroney was elected as the MP for Charlevoix
Charlevoix (electoral district)
Charlevoix was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1917 and from 1949 to 2004....

, which included Baie-Comeau after redistribution of the electoral boundaries.

On election day, November 21, 1988, Mulroney made a controversial order in council which allowed the establishment of the AMEX Bank of Canada (owned by American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...

).

Second term


Mulroney's second term would be marked by an economic recession. He proposed the introduction of a national sales tax
Sales tax
A sales tax is a tax, usually paid by the consumer at the point of purchase, itemized separately from the base price, for certain goods and services. The tax amount is usually calculated by applying a percentage rate to the taxable price of a sale....

, the Goods and Services Tax
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...

 (GST), in 1989. When it was introduced in 1991, it replaced the Manufacturers' Sales Tax (MST) that had previously been applied at the wholesale level on goods manufactured in Canada. A bitter Senate battle ensued, and many polls showed that as many as 80% of Canadians were opposed to the tax. Mulroney would have to use Section 26 (the Deadlock Clause), a little known Constitutional provision, allowing him in an emergency situation to ask the Queen to appoint 8 new Senators. Although the government argued that the tax was not a tax increase, but a tax shift, the highly visible nature of the tax was extremely unpopular, and many resented Mulroney's use of an "emergency" clause in the constitution.

The Meech Lake Accord would also meet its doom in 1990. It was not ratified by the provincial governments of Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

 and Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...

 before the June ratification deadline. This failure sparked a revival of Quebec separatism, and led to another round of meetings in Charlottetown
Charlottetown
Charlottetown is a Canadian city. It is both the largest city on and the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, Charlottetown was first incorporated as a town in 1855 and designated as a city in 1885...

 in 1991 and 1992. These negotiations culminated in the Charlottetown Accord
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 of that year, and was defeated.-Background:...

, which outlined extensive changes to the constitution, including recognition of Quebec as a distinct society. However, the agreement was overwhelmingly defeated in a national referendum in October 1992. Many blamed the GST battle and Mulroney's unpopularity for the fall of the Accord.

In 1990 Mulroney nominated Ray Hnatyshyn
Ray Hnatyshyn
Ramon John Hnatyshyn , commonly known as Ray Hnatyshyn, was a Canadian politician and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 24th since Canadian Confederation....

, an MP from Saskatoon
Saskatoon
Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....

 and a former Cabinet minister, to be Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...

 (1990–1995).

The worldwide recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...

 of the early 1990s significantly damaged the government's financial situation. Mulroney's inability to improve the government's finances, as well as his use of tax increases to deal with it, were major factors in alienating the western conservative portion of his power base. At the same time, the Bank of Canada
Bank of Canada
The Bank of Canada is Canada's central bank and "lender of last resort". The Bank was created by an Act of Parliament on July 3, 1934 as a privately owned corporation. In 1938, the Bank became a Crown corporation belonging to the Government of Canada...

 began to raise interest rates in order to meet a zero inflation target; the experiment was regarded as a failure that exacerbated the effect of the recession in Canada. Annual budget deficits ballooned to record levels, reaching $42 billion in his last year of office. These deficits grew the national debt dangerously close to the psychological benchmark of 100% of GDP, further weakening the Canadian dollar
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...

 and damaging Canada's international credit rating.

Mulroney supported the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 coalition during the 1991 Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

 and when the UN authorized full use of force in the operation, Canada sent a CF-18 squadron with support personnel and a field hospital to deal with casualties from the ground war as well as a company of The Royal Canadian Regiment
The Royal Canadian Regiment
The Royal Canadian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the Regular Force and one in the Primary Reserve...

 to safeguard these ground elements. In August he sent the destroyers HMCS Terra Nova and HMCS Athabaskan
HMCS Athabaskan
Several Canadian naval ships have been named HMCS Athabaskan. , a Tribal class destroyer, commissioned in 1943 and torpedoed in the English Channel on 29 April 1944. , later renumbered , was a Tribal Class destroyer commissioned in 1947....

 to enforce the trade blockade against Iraq. The supply ship HMCS Protecteur was also sent to aid the gathering coalition forces. When the air war began, Canada's planes were integrated into the coalition force and provided air cover and attacked ground targets. This was the first time since the fighting on Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

 in 1974 that Canadian forces participated directly in combat operations.

For the Canadian Forces
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...

, the Mulroney years began with hope but ended with disappointment. Most members of the CF welcomed the return to distinctive uniforms for the three services, replacing the single green uniform worn since unification (1967–70). A White Paper proposed boosting the CF's combat capability, which had, according to Canadian Defence Quarterly, declined so badly that Canada would have been unable to send a brigade to the Gulf War had it desired to. The CF in this period did undergo a much-needed modernization of a range of equipment from trucks to a new family of small arms. Many proposed reforms, however, failed to occur, and according to historian J.L. Granatstein, Mulroney "raised the military's hopes repeatedly, but failed to deliver." In 1984, he had promised to increase the military budget and the regular force to 92,000 troops, but the budget was cut and the troop level fell to below 80,000 by 1993. This was, however, in step with other NATO countries after the end of the Cold War
Cold War (1985-1991)
The Cold War period of 1985–1991 began with the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev as leader of the Soviet-Slovakia Union. Gorbachev was a revolutionary leader for the USSR, as he was the first to promote liberalization of the political landscape and capitalist elements into the economy ; prior to this,...

. The Mulroney government would undertake a defence policy review, publishing a new statement in late 1991, but political considerations meant that no comprehensive policy for the post-Cold War era was arrived at before the government's defeat in 1993. According to Granatstein, this meant that Canada was not able to live up to its post-Cold War military commitments.

The decline of cod
Cod
Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...

 stocks in Atlantic Canada led the Mulroney government to impose a moratorium
Moratorium (law)
A moratorium is a delay or suspension of an activity or a law. In a legal context, it may refer to the temporary suspension of a law to allow a legal challenge to be carried out....

 on the cod fishery there, putting an end to a large portion of the Newfoundland fishing industry, and causing serious economic hardship. The government instituted various programmes designed to mitigate these effects but still became deeply unpopular in the Atlantic provinces.

The environment was a key focus of Mulroney's government, as Canada became the first industrialized country to ratify both the biodiversity convention and the climate change convention agreed to at the UN Conference on the Environment. His government added significant new national parks (Bruce Peninsula
Bruce Peninsula National Park
Bruce Peninsula National Park is a national park on the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada. Located on a part of the Niagara Escarpment, the park comprises 156 square kilometres and is one of the largest protected areas in southern Ontario, forming the core of UNESCO's Niagara Escarpment World...

, South Moresby
Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site
Ninstints or SGang Gwaay Llnaagay on Anthony Island, in located in the southernmost part of Gwaii Haanas, just west of Kunghit Island, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981...

, and Grasslands
Grasslands National Park
Grasslands National Park is one of Canada's newer national parks, located in southern Saskatchewan, and one of 43 parks and park reserves in Canada's national park system...

), and passed the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act
Canadian Environmental Assessment Act
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, S.C. 1992, c. 37 is an Act of Parliament that was passed by the Government of Canada in 1992...

 and Canadian Environmental Protection Act
Canadian Environmental Protection Act
The Canadian Environmental Protection Act of 1999 is "An Act respecting pollution prevention and the protection of the environment and human health in order to contribute to sustainable development."...

.

Retirement


Widespread public resentment of the Goods and Services Tax
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...

, an economic slump, the dilapidation of his political coalition, and his lack of results regarding the Quebec situation caused Mulroney's popularity to decline considerably during his second term. An ominous sign was a 1989 by-election in the Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

 riding of Beaver River
Beaver River (electoral district)
Beaver River was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 1997.It was located in the province of Alberta. This riding was created in 1987, and was first used in the federal election of 1988...

. In this election, called when Tory MP John Dahmer
John Dahmer
John Roderick Dahmer was elected a member of the Canadian House of Commons in 1988. His background was in education...

 died, Reform Party
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....

 candidate Deborah Grey
Deborah Grey
Deborah Cleland Grey, OC, sometimes called Deb Grey is a former Canadian Member of Parliament from Alberta for the Reform Party of Canada, Canadian Alliance and Conservative Party of Canada....

 won by a hefty 4,200 votes after finishing fourth in the general election just five months earlier. This turned out to be the first sign that Mulroney's grand coalition was coming apart at the seams; the PCs had dominated Alberta's federal politics since the 1968 election
Canadian federal election, 1968
The Canadian federal election of 1968 was held on June 25, 1968, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 28th Parliament of Canada...

. Another sign came after the failure of Meech Lake, when Bouchard and several other Tories broke with the party to form the Bloc Québécois
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...

, a pro-sovereigntist
Quebec sovereignty movement
The Quebec sovereignty movement refers to both the political movement and the ideology of values, concepts and ideas that promote the secession of the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada...

 (i.e. independantist) party.

Mulroney entered 1993 facing a statutory general election
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...

 (under Canadian law, Canadian federal governments can have a maximum duration of five years, but they often have lesser duration as they must enjoy the confidence of the Parliament of Canada in order to continue to exist). . 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. When Mulroney announced he was stepping aside as leader of the party, his standing was 21% in the latest Gallup Poll in February 1993. The consensus was that Mulroney would be heavily defeated by Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....

 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
Minister of National Defence (Canada)
The Minister of National Defence is a Minister of the Crown; the Canadian politician within the Cabinet of Canada responsible for the Department of National Defence which oversees the Canadian Forces....

 Kim Campbell
Kim Campbell
Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...

 in June.

In his final days in office, Mulroney made several decisions that hampered the Tory campaign later that year. He took a lavish international "farewell" tour mostly at taxpayers' expense, without transacting any official business. Also, by the time he handed power to Campbell, there were only two-and-a-half months left in the Tories' five-year mandate. Mulroney also did not immediately vacate 24 Sussex Drive
24 Sussex Drive
24 Sussex Drive is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada, located in the New Edinburgh neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario. Built between 1866 and 1868 by Joseph Merrill Currier, it has been the official home of the Canadian prime minister since 1951.-History:The house at 24 Sussex...

 after Campbell was sworn in as Prime Minister—as their new private residence in Montreal was still undergoing renovations, Brian and Mila Mulroney did not move out of 24 Sussex until their new home was ready. Instead, Campbell took up residence at Harrington Lake
Harrington Lake
Harrington Lake estate is the name of the official country retreat of the Prime Minister of Canada and also the name of the land which surrounds it. It is located near Meech Lake where the Meech Lake Accord was negotiated in 1987approximately 35 kilometers northwest of Ottawa, in an area known as...

, the Prime Minister's official summer retreat.

The 1993 election was an unmitigated disaster for the Tories. The oldest party in Canada was reduced from a 151-seat majority to two seats in the worst defeat ever suffered for a governing party at the federal level. The Progressive Conservatives were no longer recognized as a political party in the House of Commons, since the required minimum number of seats for official party status
Official party status
Official party status refers to the Canadian practice of recognizing political parties in the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures. The type of recognition and threshold needed to obtain it varies...

 is 12. The 149-seat loss far exceeded the 95-seat loss the Liberals suffered in 1984. As an example of the antipathy toward Mulroney, his former riding fell to the Bloc by a lopsided margin; the Tory candidate finished a distant third, with only 6,800 votes—just a few votes shy of losing his electoral deposit. In her memoirs, Time and Chance
Time and Chance (book)
Time and Chance is a book by Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister of Canada. The book details the career of Kim Campbell from her first election to the Vancouver School Board to becoming the Prime Minister of Canada....

, and in her response in the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...

to The Secret Mulroney Tapes
The Secret Mulroney Tapes
The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister is a controversial biography of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, by veteran writer and former Mulroney confidant Peter C...

,
Campbell stated that Mulroney left her with almost no time to salvage the Progressive Conservatives' tattered reputation once the bounce from the leadership convention wore off. Campbell went as far as to claim that Mulroney knew the Tories would be defeated regardless of who led them into the election, and wanted a "scapegoat who would bear the burden of his unpopularity" rather than a true successor.

Airbus/Schreiber affair


In 1997, Mulroney settled a libel lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...

 he had brought against the Government of Canada
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...

 two years previously. Mulroney received an apology and a $2.1 million reimbursement for legal and public relations costs. At issue were allegations that Mulroney had accepted bribes in the "Airbus affair
Airbus affair
The Airbus affair refers to allegations of secret commissions paid to members of the Government of Canada during the term of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, in exchange for then-crown corporation Air Canada's purchase of a large number of Airbus jets...

" concerning government contracts. The government said the charges could not be substantiated. The principal Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...

 (RCMP) investigator on the case retired a year later. The government later dropped the investigation entirely.

But a key fact was unknown in 1997, and had not been elicited under sworn testimony in which Mulroney had denied business dealings or significant meetings with a business associate: Mulroney later confirmed that he had personally accepted cash payments from his business associate Karlheinz Schreiber
Karlheinz Schreiber
Friedrich Karlheinz Hermann Schreiber is a German and Canadian citizen, an industrialist, lobbyist, fundraiser, arms dealer and businessman...

, a German-Canadian businessman who had been a paid broker for Airbus and other companies. The cash changed hands in three secret meetings in hotels in Montreal and New York City, in brown paper bags of $1000 bills totaling either $225,000 (according to Mulroney) or $300,000 (according to Schrieber). The payments occurred over an 18-month period, beginning in 1993 when Mulroney had stepped down as Prime Minister but was still a member of Parliament. In 2007, Mulroney stated that he had kept the cash paid in New York in a New York safety deposit box (thus implying that he had not illegally carried it undeclared across the US-Canada border) and in a safe in his Montreal home. The cash payments had not then been declared as income for tax purposes.

Schreiber had at his disposal $20 million from Airbus for the payment of secret commissions. CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

 reported on February 8, 2006 that the money Schreiber paid to Mulroney originated in a Swiss bank account code-named "Frankfurt". Schreiber used the same account to pay the secret Airbus commissions. Schreiber transferred $500,000 from "Frankfurt" to an account in Zürich code-named "Britan" on July 26, 1993 and used these funds to make the three cash payments to Mulroney in 1993 and 1994.

Five years after the payments began, Mulroney and Schreiber met again in a suite at the Hotel Savoy in Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...

, Switzerland. Schreiber claims Mulroney tried to extract a promise: Schreiber would never reveal the payments. Schreiber also claims Mulroney's attorneys later tried to induce him into perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...

 by asking that he sign an affidavit
Affidavit
An affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation administered by a person authorized to do so by law. Such statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public...

 falsely stating that he had never paid any money to Mulroney. Mulroney denies this, and also denies Schreiber's claim that the payments totaled $300,000.

Testifying before the House of Commons Ethics Committee on December 13, 2007, Mulroney said the cash payments were for lobbying foreign leaders to buy armored vehicles from Thyssen
ThyssenKrupp
ThyssenKrupp AG is a German multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Duisburg Essen, Germany. The corporation consists of 670 companies worldwide. While ThyssenKrupp is one of the world's largest steel producers, the company also provides components and systems for the automotive...

 industries, a company Schreiber represented. Mulroney said Schreiber had paid him as a consultant for this task only, in the context of the potential Bear Head project, which had actually been canceled three years prior to his accepting payment. Mulroney said he never had a written contract, made written reports, or issued receipts for the cash payments. Mulroney said he had destroyed records related to the transactions and received the payments in cash at Schreiber's insistence. Mulroney denied any legal wrongdoing. He admitted only to errors in judgment and apologized for the appearance of impropriety. Mulroney described the affair as "a near death experience" and said his family had suffered greatly.

For many years, Mulroney had not acknowledged receiving money from Schreiber. The payments were not disclosed in Mulroney's 1995 lawsuit against the Government of Canada. Mulroney had falsely testified under oath that he "never had any dealings" with Schreiber, knew him only "peripherally" and they had a cup of coffee "once or twice." In his 2004 book A Secret Trial, former law professor William Kaplan
William Kaplan
William Kaplan is a Canadian lawyer and writer.-Biography:William Kaplan is the son of Igor Kaplan and Cara Cherniak. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He went on to Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, where he graduated in 1983 with a...

 describes Mulroney's testimony as evasive, incomplete and misleading.

In his testimony, Schreiber made allegations that described "...a Canadian party leader subverted and deposed by foreign interests, of federal contracts being used to funnel money back to those interests, of bid-rigging and kickbacks."

Mulroney and Schreiber question each other's truthfulness and credibility. In his testimony to the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 Ethics Committee on December 13, 2007, Mulroney pointed out contradictory statements Schreiber has made over the years, including statements made under oath. Mulroney also stated that the work he had performed for his arms-trading business associate Schreiber was out-of-country, rather than lobbying his own Canadian government – such as lobbying the late President Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...

 that Russia buy arms yet to be made in Canada. Schreiber had been incarcerated in Canada following his 1999 arrest on a German warrant for tax evasion, and is currently (June 2008) free on bail. Mulroney did not declare the income or pay taxes on it until years later, when Schreiber had come under criminal investigation in Germany. Erik Nielsen
Erik Nielsen
Erik Hersholt Nielsen, PC, DFC, QC was a Canadian politician, and longtime Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Yukon....

, former Deputy Prime Minister for Mulroney, stated disbelief in Mulroney's account, and denied his credibility: "I think there was a phrase that attached to Brian years ago where he was known as Lyin' Brian, and for my own part, I believe that they're both in the same boat — Schreiber and Mulroney."

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...

 had called a public inquiry in November, 2007, and appointed future Governor General David Lloyd Johnston
David Lloyd Johnston
David Lloyd Johnston is a Canadian academic, author and statesman who is the current Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation....

 as a special adviser, to study the matter and prepare terms of reference for the inquiry. Johnston had once reported directly to Mulroney during his term as prime minister. Johnston reported to Harper on January 11, 2008 that he had found 16 significant questions which required further examination. Harper accepted the report, and stated that a limited public inquiry process would begin once the House of Commons Ethics Committee finished its work.

Schreiber lost his fight against extradition to Germany, where he is at the center of a political bribery scandal that helped bring down a government and damaged the legacy of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl is a German conservative politician and statesman. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1973 to 1998...

. He appeared before the House of Commons Ethics Committee three times in late November and early December 2007, and again in February 2008, and will likely be called upon to testify at the future limited public inquiry
Public inquiry
A Tribunal of Inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body in Common Law countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland or Canada. Such a public inquiry differs from a Royal Commission in that a public inquiry accepts evidence and conducts its hearings in a more...

. Mulroney appeared before the Ethics Committee on December 13, 2007. Six weeks later, his lawyers submitted a letter to Paul Szabo
Paul Szabo
Paul John Mark Szabo is a Canadian politician. He is a former member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Mississauga South for the Liberal Party.-Early life and education:...

, the Ethics Committee chairman, indicating that their client would not appear again before the committee because of his "unfair" treatment on December 13. On February 26, 2008, two days before that scheduled appearance, CTV News
CTV News
CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name CTV News is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations , which are closely tied to the national news division...

 reported that Mr. Mulroney's lawyer had reiterated Mulroney's refusal to reappear before the Committee.

After politics


Since leaving office, Mulroney has served as an international business consultant and remains a partner with the law firm Ogilvy Renault
Ogilvy Renault
Ogilvy Renault LLP was a Canadian law firm with 450 members in offices in Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Toronto, Calgary and London, England. Ogilvy Renault offered services in the areas of business law, litigation and ADR, employment and labour law and intellectual property...

. He currently sits on the board of directors of multiple corporations, including Barrick Gold
Barrick Gold
Barrick Gold Corporation is the largest pure gold mining company in the world, with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and four regional business units located in Australia, Africa, North America and South America...

, Quebecor Inc., Archer Daniels Midland
Archer Daniels Midland
The Archer Daniels Midland Company is a conglomerate headquartered in Decatur, Illinois. ADM operates more than 270 plants worldwide, where cereal grains and oilseeds are processed into products used in food, beverage, nutraceutical, industrial and animal feed markets worldwide.ADM was named the...

, TrizecHahn Corp. (Toronto), Cendant Corp. (New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

), AOL Latin America, Inc. (New York) and Cognicase Inc. (Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

). He is a senior counselor to Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, a global private equity fund in Dallas, chairman of Forbes Global (New York), and was a paid consultant and lobbyist for Karl-Heinz Schreiber beginning in 1993. He is also chairman of various international advisory boards and councils for many international companies, including Power Corp. (Montreal), Bombardier (Montreal), the China International Trust and Investment Corp. (Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

), J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. (New York), Violy, Byorum and Partners (New York), VS&A Communications Partners (New York), Independent Newspapers (Dublin) and General Enterprise Management Services Limited (British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...

).

In 1998, Mulroney was accorded Canada's highest civilian honour when he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

.
In 2003, Mulroney received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars , located in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential Memorial that was established as part of the Smithsonian Institution by an act of Congress in 1968...

 of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

 at a ceremony in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

. The award was in recognition of his career in politics.

In January 2004, Mulroney delivered a keynote speech in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 celebrating the tenth anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...

. In June 2004, Mulroney presented a eulogy for former U.S. President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 during the latter's state funeral
Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan
On June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, died after having suffered from Alzheimer's disease for nearly a decade. His seven-day state funeral followed, spanning June 5–11...

. Mulroney and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

 were the first foreign dignitaries to eulogize at a funeral for an American president. Two years later, at the request of Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...

, Mulroney traveled to Washington, DC along with Michael Wilson, Canada's ambassador to the United States, as Canada's representatives at the state funeral
Death and state funeral of Gerald Ford
On December 26, 2006, Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the United States, died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, at 6:45 p.m. local time . At 8:49 p.m...

 of former president Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...

.

In February 2005, Mulroney was diagnosed with a lesion on one of his lungs. In his youth, Mulroney had been a heavy smoker. He underwent successful surgery and was recovered well enough to tape a speech for the Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

's 2005 Policy Convention in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 in March, though he could not attend in person. Though his surgery was initially reported to have gone on without incident, he later developed pancreatitis
Pancreatitis
Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas. It occurs when pancreatic enzymes that digest food are activated in the pancreas instead of the small intestine. It may be acute – beginning suddenly and lasting a few days, or chronic – occurring over many years...

 and he remained in hospital for several weeks. It was not until April 19 that his son, Ben Mulroney
Ben Mulroney
Benedict Martin Paul "Ben" Mulroney is a Canadian television host, and is the son of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.-Early life:...

, announced he was recovering and would soon be released.

On September 12, 2005, veteran writer and former Mulroney confidant Peter C. Newman
Peter C. Newman
Peter Charles Newman, CC, CD is a Canadian journalist and writer.Born in Vienna, Austria, Newman emigrated from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to Canada in 1940 as a Jewish refugee. His father, Oscar, was a self-made wealthy factory owner. Newman was educated at Upper Canada College, where he was...

 released The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister. Based in large part on remarks from the former prime minister which Newman had taped with Mulroney's knowledge, the book set off national controversy. Newman had been given unfettered access to Mulroney for a thorough biography, and claims Mulroney did not honour an agreement to allow him access to confidential papers. After the falling out, Mulroney began work on his autobiography, without Newman's help. Mulroney himself has declared that he showed poor judgement in making such unguarded statements, but he says that he will have to live with it.

This led Mulroney to respond at the annual Press Gallery Dinner, which is noted for comedic moments, in Ottawa, October 22, 2005. The former Prime Minister appeared on tape and very formally acknowledged the various dignitaries and audience groups before delivering the shortest speech of the night: "Peter Newman: Go fuck yourself. Thank you ladies and gentlemen, and good night."

Thirteen years after leaving office, Mulroney was named the "greenest" Prime Minister in Canadian history by a 12-member panel at an event organized by Corporate Knights magazine
Corporate Knights
Corporate Knights is a quarterly Canadian magazine dedicated to the promotion of responsible business practices within Canada and the advancement of social and environmental sustainability worldwide....

.

On June 15, 2007, the University of Western Ontario
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus covers of land, with the Thames River cutting through the eastern portion of the main campus. Western administers its programs through 12 different faculties and...

 awarded Brian Mulroney an honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LLD).

Current political affiliation


Mulroney joined the Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

 following its creation in 2003 by the merger of the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...

. According to press reports his membership lapsed in 2006. In early 2009, Mulroney "called a high-ranking person in the party and asked that his name be removed from all party lists" due to his anger at the continued inquiry into his financial affairs, although he denies this claim.

Legacy


Mulroney's legacy is complicated and even emotional. Mulroney makes the case that his once radical policies on the economy and free trade were not reversed by subsequent governments, and regards this as vindication. His Deputy Prime Minister Don Mazankowski
Don Mazankowski
Donald Frank "Don" Mazankowski, PC, OC, AOE is a Canadian politician who served as a cabinet minister under Prime Ministers Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney. He was also Deputy Prime Minister under Mulroney....

 said that his greatest accomplishment will be seen as, "Dragging Canada kicking and screaming into the 21st century." Mulroney's legacy in Canada is associated mostly with the 1988 Free Trade Agreement and the Goods and Services Tax
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...

 (GST).

Although the Tories were re-elected in 1988 campaigning on free trade, they won with only 43% of the popular vote, compared to 56% of the vote which went to the Liberals
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 and the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

 who campaigned mostly against the agreement. However, when the Liberals under Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....

 came to office in 1993 promising to re-negotiate key parts of the agreement, they continued the deal with only slight changes, and signed the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...

 which expanded the free trade area to include Mexico.

The visibility of the GST proved to be very unpopular. The GST was created to help eliminate the ever growing deficit and to replace the hidden Manufacturer's sales tax, which Mulroney argued was hurting business. Mulroney's usage of a rare Constitutional clause to push the tax through, prices not falling very much with the MST removed, and the "in your face" nature of the tax would infuriate politicians and the public. The succeeding Liberal government of Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....

 campaigned in 1993 on a promise to harmonize the GST with Provincial Sales taxes across the country, but was only successful in doing this in the Maritime Provinces. This prompted two of their members Sheila Copps
Sheila Copps
Sheila Maureen Copps, PC is a former Canadian politician who also served as Deputy Prime Minister of Canada from November 4, 1993 to April 30, 1996 and June 19, 1996 to June 11, 1997....

 and John Nunziata
John Nunziata
John Nunziata is a Canadian politician. He served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1984 to 2000, initially as a Liberal and later as an independent member.-Background:...

 to resign or be expelled in protest. Mulroney's supporters argue that the GST helped the subsequent government eliminate the deficit, and that the visible nature of the tax kept politicians more accountable.

Mulroney's intense unpopularity at the time of his resignation led many Conservative politicians to distance themselves from him for some years. His government had flirted with 10 percent approval ratings in the early 1990s, when Mulroney's honesty and intentions were frequently questioned in the media, by Canadians in general and by his political colleagues. During the 1993 election, the Progressive Conservative Party was reduced to just two seats, which was seen as partially due to a backlash against Mulroney, as well as due to the fracturing of his "Grand Coalition".

Social conservatives found fault with Mulroney's government in a variety of areas. These include Mulroney's opposition to capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...

 and an attempted compromise on abortion
Abortion in Canada
Abortion in Canada is not limited by the law . While some non-legal obstacles exist, Canada is one of only a few nations with no legal restrictions on abortion. Regulations and accessibility vary between provinces....

. Fiscal conservatives likewise didn't appreciate his tax increases and his failure to curtail expansion of "big government
Big government
Big government is a term generally used by political conservatives, laissez-faire advocates, or libertarians to describe a government or public sector which they consider to be excessively large, corrupt and inefficient, or inappropriately involved in certain areas of public policy or the private...

" programs and political patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...

.

In the 1993 election, nearly all of the Tories' Western support transferred into Reform, which replaced the PCs as the major right-wing force in Canada. The Tories only won two seats west of Quebec in the next decade and recovered only upon reunification the elements that had split from the party in the late 1980s. The Canadian right was not reunited until they merged with Reform's successor, the Canadian Alliance
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...

, in December 2003 to form the new Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

. Mulroney played an influential role by supporting the merger at a time when former PC leaders Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...

, Jean Charest
Jean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest, PC, MNA is a Canadian politician who has been the 29th Premier of Quebec since 2003. He was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998 and has been leader of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1998....

 and Kim Campbell
Kim Campbell
Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...

 either opposed it or expressed ambivalence.

Military historians Norman Hillmer
Norman Hillmer
George Norman Hillmer is a leading Canadian historian and teacher and is among the leading scholars on Canada-US relations....

 and J.L. Granatstein ranked Mulroney eighth among Canada's prime ministers in their 1999 book Prime Ministers: Rating Canada's Leaders.

On March 31, 2009 it was reported by various news outlets that a Conservative official claimed Mulroney was no longer a member of the party. They claimed his membership expired in 2006 and was not renewed. Additionally, Mulroney allegedly "called a senior party official two months ago to ask that his name be pulled off all party lists and materials and that communications with him cease." However, A Mulroney confidante, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the party's claims preposterous. 'He's part of the history of this party, you can't rewrite history. If they're worried about branding, then shut the inquiry down. They're the ones who called the inquiry.' "

Memoir



Mulroney's Memoirs: 1939-1993
Memoirs: 1939-1993
Memoirs: 1939-1993 is a memoir written by the former Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney. The book was released on September 10, 2007 and outlines Mulroney's version of events during his early life, political career and time as prime minister....

was released on September 10, 2007. Mulroney criticizes Trudeau for avoiding military service in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and favourably references sources that describe the young Trudeau as holding anti-Semitic nationalist views and having an admiration for fascist dictators. Tom Axworthy
Tom Axworthy
Thomas Sidney Axworthy, OC is a Canadian civil servant, political strategist, writer and professor. He is best known for having served as Principal Secretary and Chief Speechwriter to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau...

, a prominent Liberal strategist, responded that Trudeau should be judged on his mature views. Historian and former MP and Trudeau biographer John English said "I don't think it does any good to do this kind of historical ransacking to try to destroy reputations".

Honours


According to Canadian protocol, as a former Prime Minister, he is styled "The Right Honourable
The Right Honourable
The Right Honourable is an honorific prefix that is traditionally applied to certain people in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Anglophone Caribbean and other Commonwealth Realms, and occasionally elsewhere...

" for life.
  • Companion of the Order of Canada
    Order of Canada
    The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

  • GC of the National Order of Quebec
    National Order of Quebec
    The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as l'Ordre national du Québec, and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec...

  • Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Kniaz Yaroslav the Wise (Ukraine)

Order of Canada Citation



Brian Mulroney was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

 on May 6, 1998. His citation reads:
As the eighteenth Prime Minister of Canada, he led the country for nine consecutive years. His accomplishments include, among others, the signing of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and the United States, and the Acid Rain Treaty. In other international activities, he assumed the leadership of the Commonwealth countries against apartheid in South Africa and was appointed Co-chair of the United Nations' World Summit for Children. Fiscal reform, important environmental initiatives and employment equity were also highlights of his political career.

Supreme Court appointments


Mulroney chose the following jurists to be appointed as justices of the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...

 by the Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...

:
  • Gerard La Forest
    Gérard La Forest
    Gérard Vincent La Forest, CC, QC, FRSC, LL.D was a Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from January 16, 1985 to September 30, 1997....

     (January 16, 1985 – September 30, 1997)
  • Claire L'Heureux-Dubé
    Claire L'Heureux-Dubé
    Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1987 to 2002. She was the first woman from Quebec and the second woman appointed to this position.- Personal history :...

     (April 15, 1987 – July 1, 2002)
  • John Sopinka
    John Sopinka
    John Sopinka, QC was a Canadian lawyer and puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada, the first Ukrainian-Canadian appointed to the high court....

     (May 24, 1988 – November 24, 1997)
  • Charles Gonthier
    Charles Gonthier
    Charles Doherty Gonthier, was a Puisne judge on the Supreme Court of Canada from February 1, 1989 to August 1, 2003. He was replaced by Morris Fish.-Early life:...

     (February 1, 1989 – August 1, 2003)
  • Peter Cory (February 1, 1989 – June 1, 1999)
  • Beverly McLachlin (March 30, 1989 – present)
  • Antonio Lamer
    Antonio Lamer
    Joseph Antonio Charles Lamer, PC, CC, CD was a Canadian lawyer, jurist and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.-Personal life:...

     (as Chief Justice, (July 1, 1990 – January 6, 2000; appointed a Puisne Justice
    Puisne Justice
    A Puisne Justice or Puisne Judge is the title for a regular member of a Court. This is distinguished from the head of the Court who is known as the Chief Justice or Chief Judge. The term is used almost exclusively in common law jurisdictions such as England, Australia, Kenya, Canada, Sri Lanka,...

     under Prime Minister Trudeau
    Pierre Trudeau
    Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...

    , March 28, 1980)
  • William Stevenson
    William Stevenson (judge)
    William Alexander Stevenson, OC was a Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1990 to 1992.-Early life:Stevenson was born in Edmonton, Alberta to Alexander Lindsay Stevenson and Eileen Harriet Burns. In 1956, he graduated from the University of Alberta with a B.A., and then an LL.B....

     (September 17, 1990 – June 5, 1992)
  • Frank Iacobucci
    Frank Iacobucci
    Frank Iacobucci, CC was a Puisne Justice on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1991 to 2004 when he retired from the bench. He is an expert in business and tax law.-Early career:...

     (January 7, 1991 – June 30, 2004)
  • John C. Major
    John C. Major
    John Charles "Jack" Major, CC, QC is a Canadian jurist and was a puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1992 to 2005....

     (November 13, 1992 – December 25, 2005)

Notable cabinet ministers

  • Joe Clark
    Joe Clark
    Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...

  • Jake Epp
    Jake Epp
    Arthur Jacob "Jake" Epp, PC, OC is an executive and former Canadian politician.Born into a Mennonite family in Manitoba, Jake Epp was a high school history teacher in Steinbach, Manitoba before entering politics...

  • Barbara McDougall
    Barbara McDougall
    Barbara Jean McDougall, PC, OC, is a former Canadian politician. McDougall received a B.A. from the University of Toronto in political science and economics, in 1963.In 2000, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada....

  • Michael Wilson
    Michael Wilson (politician)
    Michael Holcombe Wilson, PC, CC is a Canadian diplomat, politician and business leader.Born in Toronto, Ontario, Wilson attended Upper Canada College, Trinity College at the University of Toronto where he joined The Kappa Alpha Society...

  • Pat Carney
    Pat Carney
    Patricia "Pat" Carney, is a former Canadian Senator and Cabinet minister.Carney first ran for the Canadian House of Commons as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the 1979 election and was defeated...

  • John Crosbie
    John Crosbie
    John Carnell Crosbie, PC, OC, ONL, QC is a retired provincial and federal politician and the 12th Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada...

  • Kim Campbell
    Kim Campbell
    Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...

  • Jean Charest
    Jean Charest
    John James "Jean" Charest, PC, MNA is a Canadian politician who has been the 29th Premier of Quebec since 2003. He was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998 and has been leader of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1998....

  • Lucien Bouchard
    Lucien Bouchard
    Lucien Bouchard, is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat, politician and former Minister of the Environment of the Canadian Federal Government. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1996, and the 27th Premier of Quebec from January 29, 1996 to March 8, 2001...

  • Bernard Valcourt
    Bernard Valcourt
    Bernard Valcourt, PC is a Canadian politician and lawyer.-Entrance to politics:Valcourt was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the 1984 election that brought Brian Mulroney to power. He was appointed to the Canadian Cabinet in 1986 as a...

  • Erik Nielsen
    Erik Nielsen
    Erik Hersholt Nielsen, PC, DFC, QC was a Canadian politician, and longtime Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Yukon....

  • Don Mazankowski
    Don Mazankowski
    Donald Frank "Don" Mazankowski, PC, OC, AOE is a Canadian politician who served as a cabinet minister under Prime Ministers Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney. He was also Deputy Prime Minister under Mulroney....

  • Perrin Beatty
    Perrin Beatty
    Henry Perrin Beatty, PC is a corporate executive and former Canadian politician.Perrin Beatty first won election to the Canadian House of Commons as a Progressive Conservative at the age of 22 in the 1972 election....


  • Pop culture references


    Mentioned in a Robin Sparkles song in How I Met Your Mother.
    A film about his life Mulroney: The Opera, was released in April 2011, a musical satire composed by Alexina Louie
    Alexina Louie
    Alexina Louie, OC, FRSC is a Canadian composer of Chinese descent who has written many pieces for orchestra, as well as pieces for solo piano.-Biography:Alexina Louie was born in Vancouver and received an...

    .

    See also



    • List of Canadian Prime Ministers
    • Mulroney: The Opera
      Mulroney: The Opera
      Mulroney: The Opera is a satirical Canadian film about former prime minister Brian Mulroney. The film, budgeted at around C$4 million, is directed by Larry Weinstein, who previously worked on nine operas with Dan Redican and Alexina Louie.-Cast:...

    • Shamrock Summit
      Shamrock Summit
      The Shamrock Summit was the colloquial name given to the 1985 meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and US President Ronald Reagan in Quebec City. So-named because of the Irish background of the two leaders, and due to the meeting being held on St...


    Further reading

    • Blake, Raymond B. ed. Transforming the Nation: Canada and Brian Mulroney (McGill-Queen's University Press), 2007. 456pp; ISBN 9780773532144
    • Winners, Losers, by Patrick Brown (journalist)
      Patrick Brown (journalist)
      Patrick Brown is a Canadian journalist based in and living in Beijing, China.He was born in Birmingham, England and came to Canada in 1970. He was computer systems analyst, teacher and freelance journalist before joining Radio-Canada International as a news editor.He went to Montreal to work as a...

      , Rae Murphy, and Robert Chodos, 1976.
    • Where I Stand, by Brian Mulroney, 1983.
    • Discipline of Power: the Conservative Interlude and the Liberal Restoration, by Jeffrey Simpson
      Jeffrey Simpson
      Jeffrey Carl Simpson, OC , is a Canadian journalist. He has been The Globe and Mails national affairs columnist for almost three decades...

      , Macmillan of Canada, 1984, ISBN 0920510248.
    • Brian Mulroney: The Boy from Baie Comeau, by Nick Auf der Maur
      Nick Auf der Maur
      Nick Auf der Maur was a journalist, politician and "man about town" boulevardier in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was also the father of rock musician Melissa Auf der Maur, through his marriage to Linda Gaboriau....

      , Rae Murphy, and Robert Chodos, 1984.
    • Mulroney: The Making of the Prime Minister, by L. Ian MacDonald
      L. Ian MacDonald
      - Biography :MacDonald graduated from Concordia University in 1969 with an honours degree in political science. He has been a columnist for the Montreal Gazette and the defunct Montreal Daily News, and has been a sessional lecturer at Concordia University....

      , 1984.
    • The Insiders: Government, Business, and the Lobbyists, by John Sawatsky
      John Sawatsky
      Ferdinand John Sawatzky is a Canadian author, journalist and expert on interviewing techniques.-Early career:Born in Winkler, Manitoba, he graduated from Mennonite Educational Institute in Abbotsford and attended Simon Fraser University in the late 1960s. Graduating in political science, he...

      , 1987.
    • Prime Ministers of Canada, by Jim Lotz, 1987.
    • Selling Out: Four Years of the Mulroney Government, by Eric Hamovitch, Rae Murphy, and Robert Chodos, 1988.
    • Friends in high places: politics and patronage in the Mulroney government, by Claire Hoy, 1989.
    • Mulroney: The Politics of Ambition, by John Sawatsky
      John Sawatsky
      Ferdinand John Sawatzky is a Canadian author, journalist and expert on interviewing techniques.-Early career:Born in Winkler, Manitoba, he graduated from Mennonite Educational Institute in Abbotsford and attended Simon Fraser University in the late 1960s. Graduating in political science, he...

      , 1991.
    • Right Honourable Men: the Descent of Canadian Politics from Macdonald to Mulroney, by Michael Bliss
      Michael Bliss
      John William Michael Bliss, CM, FRSC is a Canadian historian and award-winning author. Though his early works focused on business and political history, he has written several important medical biographies, including of Sir William Osler...

      , 1994.
    • On the Take: Crime, Corruption and Greed in the Mulroney Years, by Stevie Cameron
      Stevie Cameron
      Stevie Cameron is an award-winning Canadian investigative journalist and best-selling author. Born in Belleville, Ontario in 1943, she now lives in Toronto with her husband, David Cameron, a professor at the University of Toronto. They have two daughters; both Toronto-based screenwriters.-Early...

      , 1994.
    • The Prime Ministers of Canada, by Gordon Donaldson (journalist)
      Gordon Donaldson (journalist)
      Archibald Gordon Clark Donaldson was a Scottish-Canadian author and journalist. He appeared on television and also produced television programming.- Early life :...

      , 1997.
    • Presumed Guilty: Brian Mulroney, the Airbus Affair, and the Government of Canada, by William Kaplan
      William Kaplan
      William Kaplan is a Canadian lawyer and writer.-Biography:William Kaplan is the son of Igor Kaplan and Cara Cherniak. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He went on to Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, where he graduated in 1983 with a...

      , 1998.
    • Prime Ministers: Rating Canada's Leaders, by Norman Hillmer
      Norman Hillmer
      George Norman Hillmer is a leading Canadian historian and teacher and is among the leading scholars on Canada-US relations....

       and J.L. Granatstein, 1999. ISBN 0-00-200027-X.
    • The Last Amigo: Karlheinz Schreiber and the Anatomy of a Scandal, by Stevie Cameron
      Stevie Cameron
      Stevie Cameron is an award-winning Canadian investigative journalist and best-selling author. Born in Belleville, Ontario in 1943, she now lives in Toronto with her husband, David Cameron, a professor at the University of Toronto. They have two daughters; both Toronto-based screenwriters.-Early...

       and Harvey Cashore, 2001.
    • Egotists and Autocrats: The Prime Ministers of Canada, by George Bowering
      George Bowering
      George Harry Bowering, OC, OBC is a prolific Canadian novelist, poet, historian, and biographer. He has served as Canada's Parliamentary Poet Laureate....

      , 1999.
    • Bastards and Boneheads: Canada's Glorious Leaders, Past and Present, by Will Ferguson
      Will Ferguson
      William Stener "Will" Ferguson is a Canadian writer and novelist best known for his humorous observations on Canadian history and culture....

      , 1999.
    • A Secret Trial: Brian Mulroney, Stevie Cameron, and the Public Trust, by William Kaplan
      William Kaplan
      William Kaplan is a Canadian lawyer and writer.-Biography:William Kaplan is the son of Igor Kaplan and Cara Cherniak. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He went on to Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, where he graduated in 1983 with a...

      , 2004.
    • The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister, by Peter C. Newman
      Peter C. Newman
      Peter Charles Newman, CC, CD is a Canadian journalist and writer.Born in Vienna, Austria, Newman emigrated from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to Canada in 1940 as a Jewish refugee. His father, Oscar, was a self-made wealthy factory owner. Newman was educated at Upper Canada College, where he was...

      , 2005.

    External links