— Feature, Musings —02.29.2024 07:16 PM
My latest: RIP, Mr. Mulroney
The biggest achievements in politics – the only achievements, really – are the ones involving risk.
As in, taking a risk. Making a decision, making a statement, making a law that entails risk to you and your career.
Brian Mulroney took risks.
I didn’t work for him. In fact, I worked for Jean Chretien, his Liberal Party opponent. And part of my job was to make the Mulroney government miserable.
Despite that – and when behind closed doors – Martin Brian Mulroney, PC, CC, GOQ, was a bit of a marvel to us. Because he took risks. Because he had guts.
Case in point: South Africa.
In the Eighties, when Mulroney was Prime Minister – and presiding over two successive super-majorities – South Africa still practiced apartheid. Apartheid was institutionalized racism, essentially. It was racial segregation and discrimination that had been forced on the black majority in South Africa by a white minority.
Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were Brian Mulroney’s closest allies internationally. They professed to oppose apartheid – but they vociferously opposed international sanctions to bring it to an end. Thatcher called them “counterproductive.”
Brian Mulroney stood up to Reagan and Thatcher – and many within his own Conservative Party. In September 1986, Mulroney imposed tough sanctions on the apartheid regime, and encouraged other nations to do likewise. Said he: “I viewed apartheid with the same degree of disgust that I attached to the Nazis — the authors of the most odious offence in modern history.”
Nelson Mandela thanked him for that, saying that Mulroney, and Canada, would be forever remembered for their support.
Mulroney’s other great and courageous achievement: free trade.
And, yes, we Liberals initially opposed it – or, at least, the John Turner-era Grits did (Chretien, as the country would soon see, not so much). But Brian Mulroney saw where the world was heading – with technology ushering in an era of lightning-fast global commerce, dominated by companies all too willing to move to where they could do more business for less.
Mulroney’s free trade stance was targeted by Turner during the 1988 federal election – and, for a while, it very nearly turned the tide against the Tory leader. He could have blinked, then, and backed away. He could have reversed himself. He didn’t. Mulroney persisted – and won another huge majority, and signed a comprehensive free trade deal with the United States.
There were other, less notable, parts to the man. On the Hill, in the pre-Twitter days – when things were more civilized – all of us heard stories about Brian Mulroney’s human side. A gift of ties to Brian Tobin, his Liberal tormentor, when the MP’s son was born.
A call to Chretien during a health scare. Quiet wishes whenever a Liberal was going through personal hardship. Not for publication, ever. But never forgotten by the recipients.
Brian Mulroney was not a great politician and Prime Minister because he won two big elections. He was one of the great ones because he took risks – because he took risks with things that mattered, the things that will be remembered by history.
My deepest condolences to his family, some of whom I now know and consider good friends.
Your Dad was a great one. He will be missed.
There was a time (unlike today) when Prime Ministers knew their files, and had top-notch front benches.
Mr. Mulroney and his government fell into this category:
Michael Wilson
Don Mazankowski
Jake Epp
Joe Clark
Robert de Cotret
Benoit Bouchard
Barbara McDougall
Marcel Masse
These individuals served their country with honour, as did their leader.
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
There is one thing you coveniently leave out & always—-Preston Manning & the Reform Party—which divided the conservative vote & allowed Chretien 3 consecutive wins.preston manning was brilliant because he was a true conservative, Mulrooney constantly catered to quebec & further alienated the West & loved raising taxes but manning came it & a strong party was formed—even stephen harper won a seat as a reform candidate in ontario in 1993.however,the system is rigged,how can the conservatives win the popular vote yet the liberal part has more than 15 seats than the conservatives—what a SCAM
The progressive side was always split – NDP/Liberal and later Green.
Don’t blame me for the fact that conservatives couldn’t get their shit together.
Perrin Beatty too.
Doc,
Pat Carney.
Yes, back when you could elect Conservative federal MPs in Vancouver Centre (last one elected there was Kim Campbell, in 1988).
There are very, very few Canadians – maybe a dozen or so – whose permanent legacy remains apparent in our every day lives. Brian Mulroney was one of those Canadians. As Warren says – he took real risks – with serious impact. And… what a character! Canadians will probably never see a politician quite like him ever again.
Wow if Bouchard and Mulroney can reconcile, anyone can.
“We had reconciled, but very late. Too late. So many years lost,” he told CBC News in Montreal. “We felt very strong for what we thought and fought for, so it can explain things but at the end of the day it’s a lot of years lost for a marvellous friendship.”
People should take a cue.
Martin,
Apparently.
Warren,
Got at least four ghosters in my entourage. Fortunately, none of them are waiting for me with baited breath to arrive on the scene.
Here’s my advice: make ’em dig for it. LOL.
Raised in a Liberal household, I’d never have voted for him, but he was a great prime minister. Free Trade, the GST, and opposing apartheid are the things he’ll be remembered for. My condolences to his family and close friends.
Mr. Mulroney’s first massive risk was prior to the 1984 federal election when he chose to run in the remote Quebec riding of Manicouagan.
True, the riding encompassed his home town, but it was a deeply entrenched Liberal riding in which the incumbents handily won by 17,000 or more votes.
Not only did Mr. Mulroney win his riding in a cake walk, but his party ran the table, throughout the province, and the country, for that matter.
An intelligent risk taker he was; and we’re better for it.
I can’t believe that I just noticed a few minutes ago what his first name was.
Warren,
I imagine that Mulroney would be pleased.
From Newsweek:
“NATO Will Be Drawn Into War With Russia if Ukraine Loses: Lloyd Austin
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned on Thursday that NATO will be drawn into war if Ukraine is defeated by invading Russian forces.
Speaking at a Republican-led House Armed Services Committee hearing to discuss his recent absence while hospitalized for complications from prostate cancer surgery, Austin predicted that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not “stop” if Moscow wins the war in Ukraine.”
It’s now tit-for-tat. Every time that Putin sabre-rattles and threatens, the United States and NATO match him tit-for-tat.
Just love slowly and methodically painting Putin into a corner, but like Hitler, he doesn’t care. Watch for Russian troops next in the breakaway region of Moldova. Ah, nothing quite like the strategic slow-walk into WWIII.
“If Ukraine loses”?
Ukraine’s troops are retreating; they’re desperate for troops and weapons.
Two options: keep fighting and continue to incur casualties or …. have a conversation with Putin and see if a deal can be struck.
The deal won’t be favourable to the Ukraine, but it beats getting pummelled.
Douglas,
With respect, Putin knows no strategic bounds. He quite literally wants to reconstitute the Soviet Union and he doesn’t particularly care if he has to go through a NATO member or members to do it. That’s reality. Putin wants much of the European sandbox and all NATO members know it.
When push comes to shove in DC — and it will — a plurality of Republicans in the House will support the Ukraine aid package. That’s precisely why Johnson and his insane MAGA minority won’t bring it up for a vote on the floor. That will change soon enough. The pressure is on big time and that dolt Johnson will cave like a house of cards.
I agree Johnson is a dolt. A sad example of what has become of the US Republican Party. They’re doing everything possible to turn the US into a totally unserious country.
From Reuters:
“Netherlands’ Rutte signs security deal in Ukraine, promising artillery funding
KHARKIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte signed a security deal with Ukraine in the northeastern city of Kharkiv on Friday and said the Netherlands would help fund the supply of 800,000 artillery shells to hold back Russian forces.”
And then there’s this. As Warren taught us, when you’re explaining, or on defence, you’re losing.
From DPA International:
“Germany’s Scholz defends decision not to send soldiers to Ukraine
Rome (dpa) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has defended his decision not to send soldiers to Ukraine, in comments made during a congress of the Party of European Socialists (PES) in Rome on Saturday.
“We will not send European soldiers to Ukraine. We don’t want the war between Russia and NATO, and we will do all we can to prevent this,” he said.”
Scholz won’t send Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, unlike the UK and France, who have already sent their cruise missiles to Ukraine.
A classy and gracious comment from you, WK. Far more than can be said for our revolting national broadcaster CBC, and other left-leaning organizations, who did not even let the body get cold before publishing their critical articles.
As you point out, Mulroney made some controversial decisions. That’s what true leaders do. Just parroting the flavor-of-the-day from the general populace is not being a leader. You might as well elect your next-door neighbour, who watches reality TV and whose main knowledge base is his fantasy football league. We elect governments – or should elect governments – who are knowledgeable and work with smart people to make the best long-term decisions for the country.
Free trade, for example (and as you note), will go down in Canadian history as the greatest example of a true leader doing the right thing – in spite of the whining, arm-waving, and false “patriotism” of many (including the federal Liberals, for many years). All those people should write letters of apology and contrition now, to be read at Mr. Mulroney’s funeral. I remember the whole free-trade debate, and I was shocked at the myopia and lack of intelligence that accompanied the resistance. I have used it as an example to my children of how to examine an issue with an independent lens, rather than listening to the screeching of the noisiest opponents or advocates of the issue.
Steve,
John said it was the fight of his life. He lost. For my part, I got plenty of egg on my face for having foolishly opposed the agreement. Turner wanted changes before going along. Usually, things work the other way around.
Mulroney had his faults and bad decisions, but the level of hatred and vitriol that a large number of Canadians had for him near the end of his time of office was utterly ridiculous. Way over the top.
I think it had a bit to do with the fact that we had a very serious recession circa 1990-92. But still, I vividly remember the time. And people were blaming Mulroney and Mulroney alone for everything wrong in the world and in their lives, from bad weather to the heartbreak of psoriasis. Canadians can be really silly that way sometimes.
Doc,
I don’t fault Mulroney for too much other than excessive spending, Schreiber and of course, his position on the Balkans, with its obvious Serbian sympathy. Guess where that came from…
There were definitely things he got wrong, as well as right.
I agree, Airbus was sleazy and a stupid own goal.
The Liberals successfully scared him away from doing anything really serious about getting debt and deficits under control, although there were huge structural challenges there, to be fair. It’s a classic counterfactual: had he really gone after that with a hatchet, would the Tories have survived any subsequent election? Martin was able to do it because (a) he started in the post-1993 election honeymoon period and (b) the Tory-Reform split meant there was no serious electoral challenger for a couple of election cycles.
The other stupid own goal was the CF-18 contract, which unnecessarily and understandably destroyed his popularity in the West.