Living in the country he made for us
We live in Brian Mulroney’s Canada, as this country remains largely defined by his greatest triumphs and his most devastating defeats.
As prime minister, Mulroney boldly and bravely attempted to settle two of Canada’s most existential questions: our relationship with the United States, and Quebec’s place within Confederation.
His success in signing the Canada–united States Free Trade Agreement and paving the way for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) propelled Canada to new heights of prosperity and economic security. The failure of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords helped destroy his Progressive Conservative party, and led to the near-breakup of Canada.
When he left office in 1993, Mulroney was unpopular and shunned. But by the time he died on Thursday, a consensus had formed between Conservatives and Liberals that Mulroney had been one of Canada’s great prime ministers.
There is a tendency for Liberals to speak warmly of mostly harmless Conservative politicians who lacked electoral success, like Robert Stanfield and Kim Campbell, while the conservative base tends to dismiss them. On the other hand, Conservative politicians who consistently beat the Liberals on election day, like Stephen Harper, are lauded by their former supporters and treated like boogeymen by the Liberals.
Mulroney was a rare example of a Conservative who trounced the Liberals, set up his own party for self-destruction and still managed to command tremendous respect from both sides of the aisle when he departed this earth.
Mulroney grew up in the small, working-class town of Baiecomeau, Que. He was unique in many ways as an Anglophone Roman Catholic of Irish descent, which was a rare occurrence outside of Montreal.
With his flawless bilingualism and small-town background, Mulroney was a godsend to the Progressive Conservative party, when he became its leader in 1983. At the time, the PCS had won a majority of seats in Quebec just once in the 20th century.
Twice did Mulroney attempt to get Quebec’s signature on the Constitution Act, 1982 — at both Meech Lake in 1987 and Charlottetown in 1992. Both of his attempts to truly and permanently unite Canada failed. However, it would be a mistake to consider them anything other than honourable failures. Nor were those failures unique to his government.
The absence of a signature from a Quebec premier on the Constitution Act, 1982, is a testament to the failure of every prime minister from Pierre Trudeau to Justin Trudeau to reconcile Quebec’s place within Confederation. Yet the rejection of Meech Lake and Charlottetown set the stage for the 1995 referendum in Quebec that nearly ripped Canada apart.
The question of Quebec sovereignty has receded in recent decades, but there is no guarantee it cannot re-emerge in the future.
Being Canada’s driving force for bringing free trade to North America was the other defining issue of Mulroney’s government — and his greatest victory. Mulroney fought the 1988 election over the issue of free trade and won a resounding majority, which awarded him a clear mandate to try to push the deal through.
North American free trade changed Canada forever, creating both winners and losers. Factories closed in some parts of the country, but Canadian businesses gained access to the near-limitless opportunities of the American market.
Sharing the longest undefended border in the world with its greatest political and economic power is a unique benefit for Canada. As a result of NAFTA, this country’s living standards permanently improved, our economy grew and Canada became a more attractive place for investment.
It may have been prime minister Jean Chrétien’s signature on the original NAFTA document of 1994, but there is no doubt that it was Mulroney who did the heavy lifting and staked his reputation to get it across the line. While there’s no question that NAFTA came with trade-offs, the agreement has only ever been updated, never repealed, by Mulroney’s successors — a testament to the benefits it provides this country.
Bringing free trade to North America and attempting to solve Confederation’s dangerous flaws required considerable confidence and political bravery. Mulroney deserves full credit for taking on both challenges.
Mulroney’s government changed not only the economic landscape of Canada, but its political map, as well. His electoral successes in 1984 and 1988 broke the Liberal party’s stranglehold on Quebec, with his PCS nearly sweeping the province in both elections.
Since Mulroney’s departure, Quebec has been a battleground between the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois, which grew out of the Quebec wing of the PC party that Mulroney led. There is a strong case to be made that Mulroney’s two overwhelming victories in 1984 and 1988 were the real end of Liberals as Canada’s “natural governing party.”
The Liberal party only dominated politics from 1993 to 2006 because the Progressive Conservative party split into three factions: the PCS, Reform and the Bloc. The first-past-the-post electoral system papered over the fact that the Liberals had ceased to be Canada’s “natural governing party” by 1993.
Mulroney worked behind the scenes to help create the modern Conservative party, which included the western conservative faction that had deserted the PCS, ensuring that there will be no more Liberal political dynasties like the ones that defined most of the 20th century.
There is much more that could be written about Mulroney. He pulled Canada firmly back onto the side of the West during the Cold War, and thus onto the right side of history. Gone were the days of Canada appearing reluctant to stand beside the United States and its allies in the global campaign to roll back communism.
In his non-political life, his journey from his working-class origins to becoming a wealthy lawyer, businessman and prime minister was a testament to what is possible in Canada.
Most importantly, it is difficult to point to another prime minister whose economic, political and cultural legacies still affect Canada to this day. Brian Mulroney may no longer be with us, but we still live in the country he left behind.
NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE CHANGED CANADA FOREVER.