All downhill since Mulroney

It is not nice to rain on somebody's parade — especially with their passing. But the overwhelming adulation of Brian Mulroney omits the reality that this country has gone downhill ever since he forced the 1988 free trade deal down our throats against the will of the majority of Canadians.

Everything the opposing forces, the Council of Canadians, the labour movement and many economists forecast has come to be. Our health system, our education system and social services more generally have all plummeted.

Working people are working longer, many with little or no security. Wages have not kept up with inflation. We have a drug- and crime-infested society. We clearly have become a vassal of U.S. foreign policy. We no longer control our economy, which is largely foreign owned.

The free trade agreements were not fair trade agreements and together have taken the country backwards. There was, of course, an upside: The rich got a hell of a lot richer. But with his passing we should give Brian Mulroney his due, as well.

He showed strong leadership when standing up to U.S. president Ronald Reagan and British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and in playing a key role in ending apartheid in South Africa and befriending Nelson Mandela.

Also, he was a leading voice in addressing the ozone environmental crisis. He showed he could be a strong leader. I only wish there was someone of his strength and calibre that would undo the negative effects of free trade and restore Canada as a sovereign nation.

Ron Brydges, St. Catharines, Ont.