Brian Mulroney

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Martin Brian Mulroney, PC, CC, GOQ, LLD (born March 20, 1939), was the eighteenth Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. According to Canadian protocol, as a former Prime Minister, he is styled "The Right Honourable" for life.

Mulroney became Prime Minister after his Progressive Conservatives won the most parliamentary seats in Canadian history. At the time, Mulroney was unique in Canadian politics in that he had never been a career politician. Instead he was a longtime businessman and he had become leader of the Progressive Conservative Party without ever having been elected to public office.

Background

Martin Brian Mulroney was born in Baie-Comeau, Quebec; a lumbering town in eastern Quebec. He was the son of Irish Canadian Catholic parents, Benedict and Irene (O'Shea) Mulroney. Benedict Mulroney was a paper mill electrician, and Brian received his high school education at a Roman Catholic boarding school in Chatham, New Brunswick operated by St. Thomas University. Mulroney would frequently tell stories about publisher Robert R. McCormick, whose company had founded Baie Comeau. Mulroney would sing Irish songs for McCormick, and the publisher would slip him $50 (Which, as is rarely pointed out, went to the family's grocery funds). He grew up speaking English and French equally well.

On May 26, 1973, he married Mila Pivnicki, the daughter of ethnic Serb immigrants. The Mulroneys have four children: Nicolas, Mark, Ben and Caroline.

University

Mulroney attended a Progressive Conservative leadership convention while still a student at Saint Francis Xavier University. While initially undecided, Mulroney was captivated by John Diefenbaker. Mulroney joined the "Youth for Diefenbaker" committee which was led by Ted Rogers, a future scion of Canadian business. Mulroney struck an early friendship with Diefenbaker, and often surprised his classmates by calling Diefenbaker on the phone during parties. After graduating from St. Francis Xavier, Mulroney at first pursued a law degree from Dalhousie University. It was around this time that Mulroney also cultivated friendships with the Tory premier of Nova Scotia, Robert Stanfield, and his chief advisor Dalton Camp. It is a minor bit of controversy as to whether Mulroney flunked out of Dalhousie his first year, or whether he simply transferred to the University of Laval in Quebec City.

In Quebec City, Mulroney befriended future Quebec Premier Daniel Johnson, Sr. At Laval, Mulroney built a network of friends that would play a prominent role in Canadian politics for years to come, including Lucien Bouchard, Bernard Roy, Michel Cogger, Michael Meighen, Jean Bazin, and Peter White. During this time, Mulroney was still involved in the Conservative youth wing and was acquainted with the President of the Student Federation, Joe Clark.

It was at this time that Dalton Camp, who was now President of the Progressive Conservative Party, ran for re-election in what was widely believed to be a referendum on Diefenbaker's leadership. Mulroney joined with most of his generation in supporting Camp and opposing Diefenbaker, but due to his past friendship with Diefenbaker, he attempted to stay out of the spotlight. With Camp's narrow victory, Diefenbaker called for a leadership convention in 1967. Mulroney joined with Joe Clark and others in supporting former Justice minister E. Davie Fulton. Once Fulton dropped off the ballot, Mulroney helped in swinging most of his organization over to Robert Stanfield. Mulroney, then 30, would become a chief advisor to the new leader in Quebec.

Gaining Publicity

After graduating from Laval, Mulroney joined the Montreal law firm now known as Ogilvy Renault. Mulroney failed his bar exams, but the firm kept him due to his charming personality. After ultimately passing his bar exams, Mulroney became a labour lawyer, which was then a new and exciting field of law in Quebec. He gained notoriety for ending several strikes along the Montreal waterfront where he met fellow lawyer W. David Angus. Mulroney's reputation was further enhanced when he ended a strike that was considered impossible to resolve at the Montreal newspaper La Presse In doing so, Mulroney became friends with the paper's owner, Canadian business mogul Paul Desmarais.

Mulroney's big break would come during the Cliche Commission in 1973, which was set up by Robert Bourassa to investigate the situation at James Bay. To ensure the commission was non-partisan, Bourassa placed Robert Cliche, a former leader of the provincial New Democratic Party in charge. Cliche asked Mulroney, a former student of his, to join the commission. Mulroney would ask Lucien Bouchard to join. The committee's unravellings made Mulroney well-known in Quebec. A notable incident included the revelation that the controversy may have involved the office of the Premier of Quebec. Although Bouchard favoured calling in Robert Bourassa in as a witness, Mulroney refused, deeming it a violation of 'executive privilege'. Mulroney and Bourassa would later cultivate a friendship that would turn out to be extremely beneficial when Mulroney ran for his re-election in 1988.

Rise to the top

Stanfield lost the 1974 election to Pierre Trudeau. Following his third consecutive loss, Stanfield decided to resign the leadership. Mulroney was encouraged to run in the race to replace Stanfield and along with rival Claude Wagner, both were seen as able to appeal to Quebec which had supported the federal Liberals for decades. In the 1976 leadership convention, Mulroney would spend an estimated $500,000, at the time an incredible sum, placing second on the first ballot behind Wagner. However, his expensive campaign and slick image did not endear him to many delegates and he was unable to build upon his base support, being overtaken by eventual winner Joe Clark on the second ballot. Following the convention, Mulroney turned down the offer of a shadow cabinet portfolio in Clark's caucus.

Mulroney took the job of Executive Vice President of the Iron Ore Company of Canada, a joint subsidiary of three major U.S. steel corporations. In 1977, he was appointed company President, and he successfully negotiated the closing of the Schefferville mine, winning a generous settlement for the affected workers[link]. Under his leadership, the company was sold off to foreign interests.

By mid-1983, Joe Clark's leadership of the Progressive Conservative party was being questioned. Mulroney organized to defeat Clark at the party's leadership review. When Clark received an endorsement by less than 67 percent of delegates at the party convention, Clark resigned and ran to regain his post at the 1983 leadership convention. Mulroney ran against him again, and he campaigned more shrewdly than he had done seven years before. He was elected party leader on June 11, 1983, beating Clark on the fourth ballot. He attracted broad support from the many factions of the party and especially from representatives of his native Quebec. Two months later, Mulroney entered Parliament as the MP for Central Nova in Nova Scotia, winning a by-election in what was then considered a safe Tory seat after Elmer MacKay stood down in his favour.

When Trudeau retired in June 1984, the Liberal Party chose John Turner as its new leader. Turner called a general election for September. Mulroney is remembered for his performance in the leader's debate in which he attacked the Liberals for a raft of patronage appointments. Trudeau had outraged the country by recommending several patronage appointments to Governor General Jeanne Sauvé in his last days in office. Turner had the right to recommend that Sauvé cancel the appointments--advice that Sauvé was bound by constitutional convention to follow. However, Turner not only did not do so, but made several more appointments per an agreement with Trudeau.

Ironically, Turner had planned to attack Mulroney over the patronage machine that the latter had set up in anticipation of victory. He launched what appeared to be the start of a blistering attack on Mulroney by comparing his patronage machine to that of the old Union Nationale in Quebec. However, Mulroney successfully turned the tables by pointing to the recent raft of Liberal patronage appointments. He demanded that Turner apologize to the country for making these "horrible" appointments. Turner replied that "I had no option" except to let the appointments stand. Mulroney famously responded:

"You had an option, sir. You could have said, 'I am not going to do it. This is wrong for Canada, and I am not going to ask Canadians to pay the price.' You had an option, sir--to say 'no'--and you chose to say 'yes' to the old attitudes and the old stories of the Liberal Party. That sir, if I may say respectfully, that is not good enough for Canadians."

Turner froze and wilted under this withering riposte from Mulroney--usually paraphrased as "You had an option, sir. You could have said 'no.'" He called Turner's admission "a confession of non-leadership." Many observers believe that at this point, Mulroney clinched the election for the Tories.

In September, the Tories swept to power in a massive landslide. They won 211 seats--the most in Canadian history--to the Liberals' 40. They also won half the popular vote and led in every province, emerging as a national party for the first time since 1958. Especially important was the Tories' performance in Mulroney's home province, Quebec. They won 58 seats out of a possible 75 after only winning the most seats in that province once since 1896. Mulroney himself yielded Central Nova back to MacKay in order to run in the eastern Quebec riding of Manicouagan, which included Baie-Comeau.

In 1984, the Canadian Press named Mulroney "Newsmaker of the Year" for the second straight year.

Prime Minister

First Term

The first Conservative majority in 22 years--and only the second in 55 years--was considered by many to be a breath of fresh air at first, but growing pains soon surfaced. Many of his ministers had little government experience, resulting in conflicts of interest and embarrassing scandals. Many Tories expected patronage appointments due to the long time out of government.

Mulroney's support was based on a "grand coalition" of socially conservative populists from the West, Quebec nationalists, and fiscal conservatives from Ontario and the Maritimes. Not surprisingly, such diverse interests became difficult for Mulroney to juggle. He attempted to appeal to the western provinces, whose earlier support had been critical to his electoral success, by cancelling the National Energy Program and including a large number of Westerners in his Cabinet (including Clark as minister of external affairs). However, he was not completely successful, even aside from economic and constitutional policy. For example, he moved CF-18 servicing from Manitoba to Quebec in 1986, even though the Manitoba bid was lower and the company was better rated, and exerted pressure on Manitoba over French language rights.

One of Mulroney's main priorities, at least publicly, was to rein in the deficit, which was running into the billions of dollars. However, not only was he unable to eliminate it, the country's debt increased substantially through his term. His attempts to cut spending limited his ability to deliver on many promises. Also impeding his progress was the Liberal controlled Senate, led by Allan MacEachen, which took on a very assertive role in legislation, forcing the government to compromise some points.

A major undertaking by Mulroney's government was an attempt to resolve the divisive issue of national unity. Mulroney wanted to include Quebec in a new agreement with the rest of Canada. Quebec was the only province that did not sign the new Canadian constitution negotiated by Pierre Trudeau in 1982. In 1987, Mulroney negotiated the Meech Lake Accord with the provincial premiers, a package of constitutional amendments designed to satisfy Quebec's demand for recognition as a "distinct society" within Canada, and to devolve some powers to the provinces.

Another priority was the privatization of many of Canada's crown corporations. In 1984, the Government of Canada held 61 different crown corporations. [link] It sold off 23 of them. Air Canada was completely privatized by 1989, although the [Air Canada Public Participation Act] continued to make certain requirements of the airline. Petro-Canada would later be privatized.

Mulroney's government actively opposed the apartheid regime in South Africa. Mulroney met with many opposition leaders throughout his ministry. His position put him at odds with the American and British governments, but also won him respect elsewhere. Also, external affairs minister Joe Clark was the first foreign affairs minister to land in previously-isolated Ethiopia to lead the Western response to the 1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia; Clark landed in Addis Ababa so quickly he had not even seen the initial CBC report that had created the initial and strong public reaction. Canada's response was overwhelming and led the US and Britain to follow suit almost immediately — an unprecedented situation in foreign affairs at that time, since Ethiopia had a Marxist regime and had previously been isolated by Western governments.

The government took a strong stand against the U.S. intervention in Nicaragua under Reagan, and accepted refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala, and other countries with regimes supported directly by the Reagan administration.

Near the end of his first term, Mulroney closed a dark chapter in Canadian history with a formal apology and $300 million compensation package for the families of the 22,000 Japanese Canadians who had been stripped of their property and interned during the Second World War.

During his tenure as prime minister, Brian Mulroney's close relationship with U.S. President Ronald Reagan helped result in both a landmark treaty on acid rain and the ratification of a free-trade treaty with the United States under which all tariffs between the two countries would be eliminated by 1998.

Critics noted that Mulroney had originally professed opposition to free trade during the 1983 leadership campaign. This agreement was controversial, and the Senate demanded an election before proceeding on voting, although Mulroney planned on calling an election before the treaty had been signed. The free trade was the central issue of the 1988 election, with the Liberals and NDP opposing it. With the Liberals gaining the initial momentum, a successful counterattack by Allan Gregg resulting in the PCs being re-elected with a solid but reduced majority and 43% of the popular vote. In this election, Mulroney was elected as the MP for Charlevoix, which included Baie-Comeau after redistribution of the electoral boundaries.

Second Term

Mulroney's second term would be marked by an economic recession. He proposed the introduction of a national sales tax, the Goods and Services Tax (GST), in 1989. When it was introduced in 1991, it replaced the Manufacturers' Sales Tax (MST) that had previously been applied at the wholesale level on goods manufactured in Canada. A bitter Senate battle ensued, and many polls showed that as many as 80% of Canadians were opposed to the tax. Mulroney would have to use a little known Constitutional provision, allowing him in an emergency situation to ask the Queen to appoint 8 new Senators. Although the government argued that the tax was not a tax increase, but a tax shift, the highly visible nature of the tax was extremely unpopular, and many resented Mulroney's use of an "emergency" clause in the constitution.

The Meech Lake Accord would also meet its doom in 1990. It was not ratified by the provincial governments of Manitoba and Newfoundland before the June ratification deadline. This failure sparked a revival of Quebec separatism, and led to another round of meetings in Charlottetown in 1991 and 1992. These negotiations culminated in the Charlottetown Accord, which outlined extensive changes to the constitution, including recognition of Quebec as a distinct society. However, the agreement was overwhelmingly defeated in a national referendum in October 1992. Many blamed the GST battle and Mulroney's unpopularity for the fall of the Accord.

In 1990 Mulroney appointed Ray Hnatyshyn, an MP from Saskatoon and a former Cabinet minister, as Governor General.

The worldwide recession of the early 1990s further exacerbated the government's financial situation. His inability to improve the government's finances, as well as his use of tax increases to deal with it was a major factor in alienating the western conservative portion of his power base.

Mulroney supported the United Nations coalition during the 1991 Gulf War and when the UN authorized full use of force in the operation, Canada sent a CF18 squadron with support personnel and a field hospital to deal with casualties from the ground war as well as a company of the Royal Canadian Regiment to safeguard these ground elements. In August he sent the destroyers HMCS Terra Nova and HMCS Athabaskan to enforce the trade blockade against Iraq. The supply ship HMCS Protecteur was also sent to aid the gathering coalition forces. When the air war began, Canada's planes were integrated into the coalition force and provided air cover and attacked ground targets. This was the first time since the fighting on Cyprus in 1974 that Canadian forces participated directly in combat operations.

For the Canadian Forces, the Mulroney years began with hope but ended with disappointment. Most members of the CF welcomed the return to distinctive uniforms for the three services, replacing the single green uniform worn since unification (1967-70). A White Paper proposed boosting the CF's combat capability, which had, according to Canadian Defence Quarterly, declined so badly that Canada would have been unable to send a brigade to the Gulf War had it desired to. The CF in this period did undergo a much-needed modernization of a range of equipment from trucks to a new family of small arms. Many proposed reforms, however, failed to occur, and according to historian J.L. Granatstein, Mulroney "raised the military's hopes repeatedly, but failed to deliver." In 1984, he had promised to increase the military budget and the regular force to 92,000 troops, but the budget was cut and the troop level fell to below 80,000 by 1993. This was, however, in step with other NATO countries after the end of the Cold War [link]. The Mulroney government would undertake a defence policy review, publishing a new statement in late 1991, but political considerations meant that no comprehensive policy for the post-Cold War era was arrived at before the government's defeat in 1993. According to Granatstein, this meant that Canada was not able to live up to its post-Cold War military commitments.

The decline of cod stocks in Atlantic Canada led the Mulroney government to impose a moratorium on the cod fishery there, putting an end to a large portion of the Newfoundland fishing industry, and causing serious economic hardship. The government instituted various programmes designed to mitigate these effects but still became deeply unpopular in the Atlantic provinces.

The environment was a key focus of Mulroney's government, as Canada became the first industrialized country to ratify both the biodiversity convention and the climate change convention agreed to at the UN Conference on the Environment. His government added significant new national parks (Bruce, South Moresby and Grasslands), and passed the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

Retirement

Widespread public resentment of the GST, the fracturing of his political coalition, an economic slump, and his inability to resolve the Quebec situation caused Mulroney's popularity to decline considerably during his next term. An ominous sign was a 1989 by-election in the Alberta riding of Beaver River. In this election, called when Tory MP John Dahmer died, Reform Party candidate Deborah Grey won by a hefty 4,200 votes after finishing fourth in the general election just five months earlier. This turned out to be the first sign that Mulroney's grand coalition was about to implode; the PCs had not lost a seat in Alberta since 1968. Another sign came when Bouchard quit the Tories after the failure of Meech Lake to form the Bloc Québécois, a pro-sovereigntist party.

Mulroney entered 1993 facing a statutory general election. By this time, his approval ratings had dipped into the teens, making him one of the most (if not the most) unpopular prime ministers since opinion polling began in Canada in the 1940s. He announced his retirement from politics in February and was replaced as Prime Minister by Defence Minister Kim Campbell in June.

In his waning days in office, Mulroney made a couple of decisions that severely hampered the Tory campaign later that year. He took a lavish international "farewell" tour mostly at taxpayers' expense. Also, by the time he handed power to Campbell, there were only two-and-a-half months left in the Tories' five-year mandate. In her memoirs, Time and Chance as well as in her response in the National Post to The Secret Mulroney Tapes, Campbell complained that Mulroney left her with almost no time to salvage the Progressive Conservatives' tattered reputation once the bounce from the leadership convention wore off. Campbell went as far as to claim that Mulroney knew the Tories would be defeated in the upcoming election, and wanted a "scapegoat who would bear the burden of his unpopularity" rather than a true successor.

The 1993 election was an unmitigated disaster for the Tories. The oldest party in Canada was reduced from a majority to two seats in the worst defeat ever suffered for a governing party at the federal level. As an example of the antipathy toward Mulroney, his former riding fell to the Bloc by a lopsided margin; the Tory candidate finished a distant third, with only 6,800 votes--just a few votes shy of losing his electoral deposit. [link]

Airbus affair

In 1997, Mulroney accepted a $2 million settlement to a lawsuit he had brought against the Government of Canada. At issue were allegations that Mulroney had accepted bribes in the so-called "Airbus affair" concerning government contracts. The government said the charges could not be substantiated. The principal RCMP investigator on the case resigned a year later. The government later dropped the investigation entirely.

But Mulroney's actions continue to be the source of controversy. After stepping down as Prime Minister, Mulroney accepted $300,000 in cash from Karlheinz Schreiber, a German-Canadian businessman. The cash changed hands in three meetings in hotels over an 18 month period, beginning in 1993. Schreiber had at his disposal $20 million from Airbus for the payment of secret commissions. CBC television reported on February 8, 2006[link] that the money Schreiber paid to Mulroney originated in a Swiss bank account code-named "Frankfurt" which Schreiber also used to pay the secret Airbus commissions. $500,000 was transferred from "Frankfurt" to an account in Zurich code-named "BRITAN" on July 26, 1993, from which withdrawals totalling $300,000 were made in 1993-4. But there is no evidence that Mulroney was aware of the source of the funds. Nor is there any evidence that Mulroney accepted bribes in the Airbus affair.

Through a spokesman, Mulroney said Schreiber paid him the money for consulting services to promote Schreiber's pasta business. In the February 2006 interview with CBC television, Schreiber scoffed at the claim, saying the only (pasta-related) service Mulroney ever performed was sending him a brochure. "What had he done for the money? Well, I learned to my great surprise that he worked with me on spaghetti." Schreiber said the money was a gift made to assist Mulroney in the transition to private life.

For many years, Mulroney did not acknowledge receiving money from Schreiber. The payments were not disclosed in Mulroney's lawsuit and Mulroney testified under oath that he "never had any dealings" with Schreiber and knew him only "peripherally". According to the February 2006 CBC article, "In 1999, a spokesman for Mulroney denied any money was exchanged. But in 2003, Mulroney indirectly acknowledged he did receive money from Schreiber but as payment for his help in promoting Schreiber's pasta business." In his 2004 book "A Secret Trial," former law professor William Kaplan describes Mulroney's testimony as evasive, incomplete and misleading -- but concludes that it did not rise to the level of perjury.

Schreiber is fighting extradition to Germany, where he is at the centre of a bribery scandal that helped bring down the government. Mulroney supporters question Schreiber's credibility. Mulroney said he was "as clean as a whistle" in accepting the payment because he declared the money and paid tax on it.

After politics

Since leaving office, Mulroney has pursued a lucrative career as a lawyer at Ogilvy Renault and an international business consultant. His experiences as prime minister, such as trying to reconcile the western provinces and Quebec and his close relationship with former President George H.W. Bush, have served him well.

In 1998, Mulroney was accorded Canada's highest civilian honour when he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.

In January 2004, Mulroney delivered a keynote speech in Washington, D.C. celebrating the tenth anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement. In June 2004, Mulroney presented a eulogy for former U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the latter's state funeral. Mulroney and former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher were the first foreign dignitaries to eulogize at a funeral for an American president.

In February 2005, Mulroney was diagnosed with a lesion on one of his lungs. In his youth, Mulroney had been a heavy smoker. He underwent successful surgery and was recovered well enough to tape a speech for the Conservative Party of Canada's 2005 Policy Convention in Montreal in March, though he could not attend in person. Though his surgery was initially reported to have gone on without incident, he later developed pancreatitis and he remained in hospital for several weeks. It was not until April 19 that his son, Ben Mulroney, announced he was recovering and would soon be released.

Mulroney currently sits on the board of directors of multiple corporations, including Barrick Gold and Quebecor Inc.

On September 12, 2005, veteran writer and former Mulroney confidant Peter C. Newman released [[The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister]]. Based in large part on unguarded remarks from the former prime minister which Newman had taped with Mulroney's knowledge, the book set off national controversy. Newman had been given unfettered access to Mulroney for a thorough biography. Newman claims Mulroney did not honour an agreement to allow him access to confidential papers. After the falling out, Mulroney began work on his autobiography, without Newman's help. Mulroney himself has declared that he showed poor judgement in making such unguarded statements, but he says that he will have to live with it.

This led Mulroney to respond at the annual Press Gallery Dinner in Ottawa, 22 October, 2005. The former Prime Minister appeared on tape and very formally acknowledged the various dignitaries and audience groups before delivering the shortest speech of the night: "Peter Newman: Go fuck yourself. Thank you. Good night." It should be noted that the Press Gallery Dinner is noted for its comedic moments.

13 years after leaving office, Mulroney was named the 'greenest' Prime Minister in Canadian history by a 12 member panel.[link]

Legacy

Mulroney's legacy is a complicated one, and even as of 2006 remains an emotional one. Mulroney makes the case that his once radical policies on the economy and free trade were not reversed by subsequent governments, and regards this as vindication. His Deputy Prime Minister Don Mazankowski said that his greatest accomplishment will be seen as, "Dragging Canada kicking and screaming into the 21st century." Mulroney's legacy in Canada is associated mostly with the 1988 Free Trade Agreement and the Goods and Services Tax.

Although the Tories were re-elected in 1988 campaigning on free trade, they only won with 43% of the popular vote, compared to 56% of the vote which went to the Liberals and the NDP who campaigned mostly against the agreement. However, when the Liberals under Jean Chrétien came to office in 1993 promising to re-negotiate key parts of the agreement, they continued the deal with only slight changes, and signed the North American Free Trade Agreement which expanded the free trade area to include Mexico. Environmentalists, social activists, nationalists, labour leaders and members of the cultural community continue to complain today of alleged injustices Canada faces due to free trade.

The visibility of the GST proved to be very unpopular. The GST was created to help eliminate the ever growing deficit and to replace the hidden Manufacturer's sales tax (which Mulroney claimed was hurting business). Mulroney's usage of a rare Constitutional clause to push the tax through, prices not falling very much with the MST removed, and the "in your face" nature of the tax would infuriate the public. Mulroney's supporters argue that the GST helped the subsequent government eliminate the deficit, and that the visible nature of the tax kept politicians more accountable.

At the international level, Mulroney was one of Canada's most influential prime ministers. His emphasis on strong personal relationships with other leaders made him a successful advocate in fighting apartheid within the Commonwealth and beginning the process of mobilizing international efforts to combat global warming.

Mulroney's intense unpopularity at the time of his resignation led many Conservative politicians to distance themselves from him for some years. His government had flirted with 10% approval ratings in the early 90's. Mulroney's honesty and intentions were frequently questioned in the media, by Canadians in general and by his political colleagues. His reputation for arrogance and "sleaze" would further alienate him.

Social conservatives found fault with Mulroney in a variety of areas. These include his opposition to capital punishment and the outlawing of abortion. Fiscal conservatives likewise didn't appreciate his tax increases and his failure to curtail expansion of "big government" programs and political patronage. While Mulroney's views on these issues helped him to be electable across Canada, the Canadian right wing would fracture during Mulroney's tenure. In the 1993 election, nearly all of the Tories' Western support transferred into Reform, which replaced the PCs as the major right-wing force in Canada. The Tories never recovered from the 1993 blowout, and only won two seats west of Quebec in the next decade. The Canadian right was not reunited until they merged with Reform's successor, the Canadian Alliance, in December 2003 to form the new Conservative Party of Canada. Mulroney played an influential role by supporting the merger at a time when former PC leaders Joe Clark, Jean Charest and Kim Campbell either opposed it or expressed ambivalence.

Supreme Court appointments

Mulroney appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of Canada:

• Gerard La Forest - (January 16, 1985 - September 30, 1997)
• Claire L'Heureux-Dubé - (April 15, 1987 - July 1, 2002)
• John Sopinka - (May 24, 1988 - November 24, 1997)
• Charles Gonthier - (February 1, 1989 - August 1, 2003)
• Peter Cory - (February 1, 1989 - June 1, 1999)
• Beverly McLachlin - (March 30, 1989 - present)
• Antonio Lamer (Chief Justice) - (July 1, 1990 - January 6, 2000) (appointed a Puisne Justice by Pierre Trudeau in 1980)
• William Stevenson - (September 17, 1990 - June 5, 1992)
• Frank Iacobucci - (January 7, 1991 - June 30, 2004)
• John C. Major - (November 13, 1992 - December 25, 2005)

Notable cabinet ministers

Joe Clark Jake Epp Barbara McDougall Michael Wilson John Crosbie Kim Campbell

Jean Charest Lucien Bouchard Bernard Valcourt Erik Nielsen Don Mazankowski Perrin Beatty

See also

• Shamrock Summit
• Airbus affair
• Ben Mulroney - son of the Prime Minister and television personality

External links

• [Order of Canada Citation]
• [Political Biography from the Library of Parliament]
• [The 'Greenest' PM in History]
• [CBC Digital Archives – From Cheers to Jeers: The Mulroney Years]

|- | colspan=3 align="center"|24th Ministry - Government of Brian Mulroney |- !colspan=3 bgcolor="gainsboro"|Cabinet Post |- !width="110"|Predecessor !width="290"|Office !width="110"|Successor |- |align="center"|John Turner |align="center"|Prime Minister of Canada
(1984 – 1993)
|align="center"|Kim Campbell

|- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align: center;" |width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Preceded by:
Erik Nielsen

|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Succeeded by:
John Turner |- |-

|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Succeeded by:
Kim Campbell |-

|- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align: center;"

|- style="text-align: center;"

Prime Ministers of Canada
Macdonald | Mackenzie | Abbott | Thompson | Bowell | Tupper | Laurier | Borden | Meighen | King | Bennett | St. Laurent | Diefenbaker | Pearson | Trudeau | Clark | Turner | Mulroney | Campbell | Chrétien | Martin | Harper

	Leaders of the Conservative Party of Canada and its antecedents
Liberal-Conservative/Conservative (historical)/Progressive Conservative (1867-2003): Macdonald | Abbott | Thompson | Bowell | Tupper | Borden | Meighen | Bennett | Manion | Meighen | Bracken | Drew | Diefenbaker | Stanfield | Clark | Mulroney | Campbell | Charest | Clark | MacKay Reform (1987-2000)/Canadian Alliance (2000-2003): Manning | Day | Harper Conservative (2003-present): Harper

 

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