Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, an architect of the North American Free Trade deal, died on Feb. 29. He was 84.
His daughter, Caroline Mulroney, announced the death with a social media post.
“On behalf of my mother and our family, it is with great sadness we announce the passing of my father, The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, Canada’s 18th Prime Minister. He died peacefully, surrounded by family,” she wrote on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twiter.
Mulroney was born in 1939 in Baie-Comeau, a town in northeastern Quebec. His parents belonged to the working class. His father worked as an electrician at a paper mill.
Mulroney was a trained lawyer and this helped him gain recognition in his home province for his efforts against corruption.
He worked in the business sector before entering politics. He later pursued and achieved high office as a Conservative, ultimately becoming Prime Minister in 1984.
He was a Quebec-born anglophone and was one of the most popular bilingual Prime Minister. He spoke both French and English.
Mulroney achieved what his unilingual predecessor John Diefenbaker could not: securing a second majority mandate on Nov. 21, 1988.
“The Conservative party has been consigned to the Opposition benches for one reason alone — its failure to win seats in French-speaking areas of the nation,” he said in a speech in 1980.
Mulroney experienced a huge victory when the Progressive Conservatives secured 211 out of 282 seats in the Commons during the 1984 election. This provided him with the opportunity to implement significant changes to the Canadian government.
He led the Progressive Conservatives to a big win, one of the largest in Canadian history. Mulroney won another majority government in his reelection in 1988.
Mulroney took a firm stance against racial apartheid in South Africa.
“The very notion of South Africa’s apartheid was anathema to me,” Mulroney wrote in his 2007 memoir, Brian Mulroney: Memoirs 1937-1993.
Mulroney made a strong effort within the Commonwealth to impose sanctions on South Africa urging the government to break its discriminatory system and release Mandela from his twenty-five-year imprisonment.
Adam Kochanski is an assistant professor from the Department of Political Science at the University of Guelph. He said that this put Mulroney at odds with his contemporaries.
“Mulroney convinced the Commonwealth countries to enact sanctions against South Africa and even threatened to sever Canada’s relations with the regime, which put him at odds with other “neoliberal” leaders at the time, notably U.S. President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher,” Kochanski said.
Mulroney improved Canada’s ties with the U.S. while he was prime minister. He negotiated a free trade pact with the U.S. alongside Reagan in 1988.
He urged Reagan to sign the acid rain treaty to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions harming waterways. He also signed an agreement that allowed to improve defence against missile attacks on North America.
Mulroney emphasized Quebec’s significance in building a conservative movement during his leadership campaign and defeated his Liberal rivals in the province by pledging to secure Quebec’s support for the Constitution.
He arranged the 1987 Meech Lake deal with Quebec, which offered provinces more say in immigration and let them choose to run social programs on their own with federal money.
Mulroney faced disappointment when other provinces didn’t approve the deal on time. Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador were among those who didn’t agree.
Mulroney introduced a national sales tax to address growing budget deficits.
He faced significant turmoil after the failure of his constitutional plans and the introduction of the famous and widely criticized Goods and Services Tax (GST).
By the end of his second term, Mulroney recorded historically low approval from the Canadian public.
Mulroney sought to restructure the current Manufacturers’ Sales Tax (MST) system, arguing that it disadvantaged Canadian exporters. He was successful in getting this bill passed.
Mulroney faced health challenges throughout his life. He was a heavy smoker for many years before eventually quitting. He has openly discussed this in one of his 2007 memoirs.
Kochanski said Mulroney will be remembered for his ability to be a people’s prime minister.
“History will remember him kindly as a defender of international human rights, for his brand of Progressive Conservatism and capacity to work across the aisle and for his love and service to his country,” he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced plans for a state funeral to honour the legacy of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. The specific date is yet to be determined.