Mulroney a good leader, but free trade has hurt us

Brian Mulroney: How do you remember the former prime minister? March 1

It is not nice to rain on somebody’s parade especially with their passing, but the overwhelming adulation of former prime minister Brian Mulroney omits the reality that this country has gone downhill ever since he forced free trade 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 and 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 Mulroney his due. He showed strong leadership when standing up to U.S. president Ronald Reagan and U.K. prime minister Margaret Thatcher with his support of ending apartheid in South Africa and befriending Nelson Mandela. Mulroney was also a leading voice in addressing the ozone environmental crisis. He was a strong leader and 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