Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, known for a significant free trade agreement with the US and significant environmental agreements, passed away at 84. However, his reputation was tarnished by reports of unethical business dealings with an arms seller.
The passing was shared on social media by the daughter.
Due to the passing of my father, the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, Canada’s 18th prime minister, my mother, our family, and I share the deeply sorrowful news. Caroline Mulroney conveyed this message on Thursday evening, stating that he passed away peacefully in the presence of loved ones.
Mulroney’s relatives stated in the previous summer that his condition was progressively getting better after undergoing a heart surgery, which was preceded by cancer treatment for prostate cancer in early 2023.
After receiving news of the ex-prime minister’s passing, the Canadian House of Commons ended their session early on Thursday evening in honor of the occasion.
Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, expressed his sorrow upon learning of Brian Mulroney’s passing. He praised Mulroney’s love for Canada and his dedication to constantly striving to improve the country for its citizens.
“During this time of mourning, our thoughts remain with his loved ones. It is also important to recognize and honor Mr. Mulroney’s contributions in shaping the successful, energetic, and thriving nation that we know today,” Trudeau stated.
Pierre Poilievre, head of the Conservative party, praised Mulroney as “one of the most distinguished statesmen” and highlighted his economic impact as “revolutionary” for Canada.
Poilievre stated that he enabled economic freedom, defeated inflation, implemented responsible fiscal policies, and successfully negotiated an exceptional international trade deal that continues to be in effect.
Mulroney was the child of a working-class family from the Quebec town of Baie-Comeau, where a pulp mill was the main economic driver. After stints as a corporate lawyer and businessman, Mulroney led the centre-right Progressive Conservatives to a historic win in 1984 over the Liberals of John Turner.
Mulroney, a talented orator, aimed to replicate the conservative ideologies of the Reagan and Thatcher administrations in Canada by restructuring the taxation system and privatizing state-owned assets.
During his nine years in office, he engaged in talks to establish the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement in 1988, which served to increase Canadian exports. He also implemented a goods and services tax in 1991, which was widely disliked by the public but successfully improved the government’s economic stability.
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Ontario’ premier, Doug Ford, called Mulroney a “giant” and “role model” for his handling of both domestic and international challenges.
“According to Ford, the passing of Brian was a great loss for Canada. Brian was known for his generosity with his time. During difficult times, I would frequently seek his counsel and gain from his wisdom and political intuition. He was an inspiration to me and taught me valuable lessons on leadership.”
Leader of the New Democratic Party, Jagmeet Singh, lauded Mulroney’s dedication to protecting the environment and ensuring human rights.
Mulroney strove to put an end to acid rain and prohibit the utilization of chlorofluorocarbons, which were causing harm to the ozone layer.
According to Singh, Mulroney actively opposed apartheid and spearheaded the Commonwealth’s movement to impose sanctions on South Africa. Mulroney also focused on addressing the devastating 1984 Ethiopian famine.
According to the author Peter Newman, he once quoted a statement from someone who believes that no Canadian prime minister has achieved as much as they have.
Mulroney was in charge of two attempts that were unsuccessful in altering Canada’s constitution in order to give the largely French-speaking province of Quebec the recognition of being a unique society. These attempts were aimed at preventing the Quebec independence movement, but instead created significant divisions between French and English Canada that had political implications for many years.
In 1993, he stepped down from his position due to extremely low ratings from public polls. In the following election that year, the Progressive Conservative party only held two out of 295 seats in the House of Commons, making it the largest defeat in Canadian history. The party was unable to regain its political standing after this loss.
Following his departure from the political sphere, Mulroney resumed his career in law and joined the Montréal-based firm Norton Rose Fulbright as a partner.
In the year 1995, a confidential letter exposed that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had accused Mulroney of accepting bribes from Karlheinz Schreiber, a German-Canadian arms dealer, for the sale of Airbus planes to Air Canada in 1988. Mulroney took legal action against the Liberal government and was awarded an apology and compensation in 1997.
Afterwards, Mulroney acknowledged that he had received a sum of C$225,000 in physical currency from Schreiber, but justified the large amount as a fee for consulting services. A later investigation found that Mulroney had engaged in inappropriate financial transactions with Schreiber. Mulroney maintained that the payments were not against the law, but publicly expressed regret for accepting the funds.
In 2007, I admitted that my second greatest error in life is accepting cash payments from Karlheinz Schreiber, for which I am solely responsible. However, my ultimate mistake – without a doubt – was allowing myself to be introduced to Karlheinz Schreiber in the first place. Schreiber was removed from the country to Germany in 2009, where he was sentenced to six and a half years in prison in 2013.
In his resignation speech in 1993, Mulroney recognized the chaotic nature of his time as prime minister, for both the nation and his personal legacy.
“I have made every effort to serve both my country and my party to the best of my abilities, without shying away from the most contentious matters of our time. Whether our solutions are agreed upon or not, one cannot accuse us of avoiding our responsibilities.”
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Reporting was contributed by The Associated Press and Reuters.
Source: theguardian.com
