Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ (/mʊlˈruːni/ muul-ROO-nee; March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993.
Brian Mulroney
Erik Nielsen
John Turner
Erik Nielsen (interim)
Kim Campbell
Elmer MacKay
February 29, 2024 (aged 84)
Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery, Montreal, Quebec
- Progressive Conservative (1955–2003)
- Conservative (from 2003)
Jessica Mulroney (daughter-in-law)
- St. Francis Xavier University (BA)
- Dalhousie University (no degree)
- Laval University (LLB)
Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political science and law. He then moved to Montreal and gained prominence as a labour lawyer. After placing third in the 1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election, he was appointed president of the Iron Ore Company of Canada in 1977. He held that post until 1983, when he became leader of the Progressive Conservatives. He led the party to a landslide victory in the 1984 federal election, winning the second-largest percentage of seats in Canadian history (at 74.8 percent) and receiving over 50 percent of the popular vote. He later won a second majority government in 1988.
Mulroney's tenure as prime minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement, the goods and services tax (GST) that was created to replace the manufacturers' sales tax, and the privatization of 23 of 61 Crown corporations including Air Canada and Petro-Canada. Mulroney sought Quebec's endorsement of the 1982 constitutional amendments by first introducing the Meech Lake Accord and then the Charlottetown Accord. Both proposed recognizing Quebec as a distinct society, extending provincial powers, and extensively changing the constitution. Both of the accords failed to be ratified, and the Meech Lake Accord's demise revived Quebec separatism, leading to the rise of the Bloc Québécois. In foreign policy, Mulroney strengthened Canada's ties with the United States and opposed the apartheid regime in South Africa, leading an effort within the Commonwealth to sanction the country. Mulroney's tenure was marked by the Air India Flight 182 bombing, the largest mass killing in Canadian history, though his response to the attack came under criticism. Mulroney made environmental protection a priority by securing a treaty with the United States on acid rain, making Canada the first industrialized country to ratify the Convention on Biological Diversity, adding significant national parks, and passing the Environmental Assessment Act and the Environmental Protection Act.
The unpopularity of the GST and the controversy surrounding its passage in the Senate, combined with the early 1990s recession, the collapse of the Charlottetown Accord, and growing Western alienation that triggered the rise of the Reform Party, caused a stark decline in Mulroney's popularity, which induced him to resign and hand over power to his cabinet minister Kim Campbell in June 1993. In the election later that year, the Progressive Conservatives were reduced from a majority government of 156 seats to two, with its support being eroded by the Bloc and Reform parties. In his retirement, Mulroney served as an international business consultant and sat on the board of directors of multiple corporations. Although he places above average in rankings of Canadian prime ministers, his legacy remains controversial. He was criticized for his role in the resurgence of Quebec nationalism and accused of corruption in the Airbus affair, a scandal that came to light only several years after he left office.
Early life (1939–1955)[edit]
Mulroney was born on March 20, 1939, in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, a remote and isolated town of the Côte-Nord region, in the eastern part of the province. He was the son of Irish Canadian Catholic parents, Mary Irene (née O'Shea) and Benedict Martin Mulroney,[1] who was a paper mill electrician. As there was no English-language Catholic high school in Baie-Comeau, Mulroney completed his high school education at a Roman Catholic boarding school in Chatham, New Brunswick, operated by St. Thomas University. 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.[2]
Mulroney would frequently tell stories about newspaper publisher Robert R. McCormick, whose company had founded Baie-Comeau. Mulroney would sing Irish songs for McCormick,[3] and the publisher would slip him $50.[4] Mulroney grew up speaking English and French fluently.[5]
Family[edit]
On May 26, 1973, Mulroney married Mila Pivnički, the daughter of a Serbian-Canadian doctor, Dimitrije Pivnički, from Novi Bečej.[6] Many PC campaign buttons featured both Mulroney's face and hers, and Ontario Premier Bill Davis commented to Brian, "Mila will get you more votes for you than you will for yourself."[7]
The Mulroneys have four children: Caroline, Benedict (Ben), Mark and Nicolas. Caroline unsuccessfully ran for the 2018 Ontario PC leadership race and represents the party in the provincial legislature as the member for York—Simcoe.[8] She served as Ontario's minister of transportation and minister of Francophone affairs. She moved from transportation to being President of the Treasury Board while continuing on as the minister of Francophone affairs.[9] Ben was the host of the CTV morning show Your Morning from June 2016 to October 2021.[10] Ben is married to stylist Jessica, and their three children served as page boys and bridesmaids during the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 19, 2018.[11] Mark and Nicolas both work in the financial industry in Toronto.[12]
Education (1955–1964)[edit]
Mulroney entered St. Francis Xavier University in the fall of 1955 as a 16-year-old first-year student. His political life began when he was recruited to the campus Progressive Conservative group by Lowell Murray and others early in his first year. Murray, who was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1979, became Mulroney's close friend, mentor, and adviser. Mulroney made other important, lasting friendships with Gerald Doucet, Fred Doucet, Sam Wakim, and Patrick MacAdam. Mulroney enthusiastically embraced political organization and assisted the local PC candidate in his successful 1956 Nova Scotia provincial election campaign; the PCs, led provincially by Robert Stanfield, won a surprise victory.[2]
Mulroney became a youth delegate and attended the 1956 leadership convention in Ottawa. While initially undecided, Mulroney was captivated by John Diefenbaker's powerful oratory and easy approachability. Mulroney joined the Youth for Diefenbaker committee, which was led by Ted Rogers, a future scion of Canadian business. Mulroney struck an early friendship with Diefenbaker (who won the leadership) and received telephone calls from him.[5]
Mulroney won several public speaking contests at St. Francis Xavier University, was a star member of the school's debating team, and never lost an inter-university debate. He was also very active in campus politics, serving with distinction in several Model Parliaments, and was campus prime minister in a Maritimes-wide Model Parliament in 1958.[2]
Mulroney assisted with the 1958 national election campaign at the local level in Nova Scotia. This campaign led to the largest majority in the history of the Canadian House of Commons.[13] After graduating from St. Francis Xavier with a degree in political science in 1959, Mulroney at first pursued a law degree from Dalhousie Law School in Halifax. It was around this time that Mulroney also cultivated friendships with the Tory premier of Nova Scotia, Robert Stanfield, and his chief adviser Dalton Camp. In his role as an advance man, Mulroney assisted with Stanfield's successful 1960 re-election campaign. Mulroney neglected his studies, fell seriously ill during the winter term, was hospitalized, and, despite getting extensions for several courses because of his illness, left his program at Dalhousie after the first year.[2] He then applied to Université Laval in Quebec City and continued his legal studies there later in 1960.[14]
In Quebec City, Mulroney befriended future Quebec Premier Daniel Johnson Sr. and frequented the provincial legislature, making connections with politicians, aides, and journalists. At Laval, Mulroney built a network of friends, including Lucien Bouchard, Bernard Roy, Michel Cogger, Michael Meighen, and Jean Bazin, that would play a prominent role in Canadian politics for years to come.[15]
Mulroney secured a 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. Hamilton took Mulroney with him on the campaign trail, where the young organizer gained valuable experience.[16]
Business leadership (1976–1983)[edit]
Mulroney took the job of executive vice president of the Iron Ore Company of Canada, a joint subsidiary of three major U.S. steel corporations. Mulroney earned a salary well into the six-figure range. In 1977, he was appointed company president. Drawing upon his labour law experience, he instituted improved labour relations, and, with commodity prices on the rise, company profits soared during the next several years. In 1983, Mulroney successfully negotiated the closing of the Schefferville mine, winning a generous settlement for the affected workers.[25] 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. In 1979, he permanently became a teetotaller. During his IOC term, he made liberal use of the company's executive jet, frequently flying business associates and friends on fishing trips.[2] 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.[20]
Legacy[edit]
Mulroney's legacy as prime minister is considered to be mixed. Mulroney made the case that his once-radical policies on the economy and free trade were not reversed by subsequent governments and regarded this as vindication.[199] His deputy prime minister, Don Mazankowski, said that his greatest accomplishment would be seen as "dragging Canada kicking and screaming into the 21st century". His legacy in Canada is associated mostly with the 1989 Free Trade Agreement[126] and the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Mulroney argued his government's economic policies helped the subsequent government eliminate the deficit.[200] During his announcement of his intention to resign as prime minister, Mulroney responded to criticism of his policies: "I tried to do what I thought would be right for Canada in the long term, not what I thought would be politically popular in the short term."[148] In The Secret Mulroney Tapes, it was revealed he said of his accomplishments: "You cannot name a Canadian prime minister who has done as many significant things as I did, because there are none."[155]
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.[201] In the 1993 election, the Progressive Conservative Party was reduced to two seats, which was seen as partially due to a backlash against Mulroney, as well as due to the fracturing of his "Grand Coalition." In the 1993 election, nearly all of the Tories' Western support shifted to 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 kept remaining in fifth (last) place. The Canadian right was not reunited until the PCs merged with Reform's successor, the Canadian Alliance, in December 2003 to form the new Conservative Party of Canada.[156]
In her memoirs, Time and Chance, and in her response in the National Post to The Secret Mulroney Tapes, Kim Campbell said that Mulroney left her with almost no time to salvage the Tories' reputation once the bounce from the leadership convention wore off. Campbell claimed 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. In a 2019 interview with Maclean's, Campbell described Mulroney as "a pragmatist, not an ideologue."[202] Former Ontario Premier David Peterson, who supported both of Mulroney's attempts at constitutional reform while premier, told journalist Peter C. Newman of Mulroney, "I would never trust or respect him. He is a pathological liar. In fairness, I don't believe he knows he's lying ... Oh God, you couldn't take anything he said at face value. His essential Achilles heel is his baloney."[155]
In 2006, Mulroney was named the "greenest" Prime Minister in Canadian history by a 12-member panel at an event organized by Corporate Knights magazine.[203] Military historians Norman Hillmer and J. L. Granatstein ranked Mulroney eighth out of 20 among Canada's prime ministers in their 1999 book Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders. In 2018, CAQ MNA and then Journal de Montreal journalist, Sylvain Lévesque, referred to Mulroney as a political influence when criticizing the relatability of progressive decisions made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.[204] In that same year, former Bloc Québécois leader Michel Gauthier said he considered Mulroney to be the greatest prime minister of the last 50 years.[205] In 2019, St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia inaugurated the Brian Mulroney Institute of Government, a $100-million initiative designed to provide undergraduates with degrees in public policy and governance.[206]
Mulroney chose the following jurists to be appointed by the Governor-in-Council to be puisne justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, one of whom, Beverley McLachlin, was subsequently elevated to Chief Justice of Canada:
Mulroney also advised the appointment of Antonio Lamer (as Chief Justice, July 1, 1990 – January 6, 2000. Lamer had been appointed a Puisne Justice on the advice of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, March 28, 1980).[215]