Former Canadian PM Mulroney, driver of US free trade deal, dies aged 84
(Reuters) - Brian Mulroney, the former Canadian prime minister who struck a free trade deal with the U.S. but whose legacy was marred by revelations of improper business dealings with an arms dealer, has died.
Mulroney died peacefully surrounded by family, his daughter Caroline Mulroney posted on social media platform X on Thursday. He was 84.
Mulroney had a heart procedure in August and was treated for prostate cancer earlier last year, she said in a social media post in late August 2023.
A corporate lawyer turned businessman, Mulroney led the centerright Progressive Conservatives to a historic win in 1984 over the Liberals of Pierre Trudeau.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Pierre’s son, shared in a social media post that he was devastated by Mulroney’s death.
“He never stopped working for Canadians, and he always sought to make this country an even better place to call home. I’ll never forget the insights he shared with me over the years – he was generous, tireless, and incredibly passionate,” Trudeau wrote.
A skilled politician with a gift for public speaking, Mulroney sought to emulate in Canada the conservative leanings of the Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher era by revamping the tax system and selling off government assets.
His nine-year stewardship was marked by negotiations for the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement in 1988, which helped boost Canadian exports, and the introduction of a goods and services tax in 1991. The tax was enormously unpopular politically but helped fix the government’s finances.
Under Mulroney, some government-run corporations were sold off, including Air Canada.
Mulroney took an active interest in foreign affairs, pushing through a treaty with the United States to curb acid rain, spearheading efforts to tackle the 1984 Ethiopian famine and speaking out against apartheid in South Africa.
“You cannot name a Canadian prime minister who has done as many significant things as I did, because there are none,” the author Peter Newman quoted him as saying in an interview.