Brian Mulroney

The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney, PC , CC , GOQ , LL.D (born March 20, 1939), was the eighteenth Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993.

Prime Minister

Domestic Policy

A major undertaking by Mulroney's government was an attempt to resolve the divisive issue of national unity. Mulroney wanted to include Québec 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. Additionally, for years, many people of the province of Québec had believed that their French-speaking culture merited a distinct status within Canada, and a widespread movement to secede from Canada had developed in the 1960s and 1970s.

Related Topics:
Québec - Canadian constitution - Pierre Trudeau

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In 1987, Mulroney negotiated the Meech Lake Accord with the provincial premiers, a series of constitutional amendments designed to satisfy Québec's demand for recognition as a "distinct society" within Canada. However, many English-Canadians objected to the accord, and it was not ratified by the provincial governments of Manitoba and Newfoundland before the 1990 ratification deadline. This failure sparked a revival of Quebec separatism, and led to another round of meetings in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in 1991 and 1992. These negotiations culminated in the Charlottetown Accord, which outlined extensive changes to the constitution, including recognition of Québec as a distinct society. However, the agreement was defeated in a national referendum in October 1992.

Related Topics:
Meech Lake Accord - Provincial premiers - Manitoba - Newfoundland - Quebec separatism - Charlottetown - Prince Edward Island - Charlottetown Accord

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Throughout his term Mulroney attempted to cut Canada's deficit, which was running into the billions of dollars. However, he was never able to eliminate it, and the country's debt increased substantially through his term. His attempts to cut spending limited his ability to deliver on many promises. The worldwide recession of the early 1990s further exasperated 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 a alienating the western conservative portion of his power base.

Related Topics:
Deficit - Debt - Recession

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Mulroney attempted to appeal to the western provinces, whose earlier support had been critical to his electoral success. He cancelled the National Energy Program and included a significant western presence in cabinet. However, he was not completely successful, even aside from economic and constitutional policy, for example by moving CF-18 servicing from Manitoba to Quebec in 1986.

Related Topics:
National Energy Program - Cabinet - 1986

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One priority was the privatization of many of Canada's crown corporations. In 1984 the government of Canada held 61 different crown corporations. http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2004/RAND_MG169.pdf It sold off 23 of them by 1994. Several of these were quite large, such as Air Canada, Canadian National Railways, and Petro-Canada.

Related Topics:
Crown corporation - Air Canada - Canadian National Railways - Petro-Canada

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Air Canada was completely privatized by 1989, although the Air Canada Public Participation Act continued to make certain requirements of the airline. For example, the airline must maintain its headquarters in Montreal, foreign ownership is limited, and it must continue to provide French and English service. At the same time airline regulations were liberalised, allowing, among other things, for greater access to the United States.

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In 1990 the government announced plans to privatize Petro-Canada. Privatization legislation passed and, on July 3, 1991, the first shares were sold to the public in an initial public offering. Some rules still applied to the company: no other shareholder was allowed to own more than 10% of the company, and foreigners could not control more than 25% of the company. Over the next decade the government of Canada slowly sold off its stake in the company, selling the last share under Paul Martin in 2004.

Related Topics:
July 3 - 1991 - Initial public offering - Paul Martin

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The final privatization of CNR was not completed until 1995 when the government of Jean Chrétien passed the final legislation.

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Mulroney's government also held a referendum in the Northwest Territories on the issue of creating a new territory from the eastern half of the Northwest Territories to be called Nunavut. Nunavut, in which the Inuit people form the majority, provides that people a measure of self-government. The people of the Northwest Territories voted "yes", and Nunavut came in to being in 1999.

Related Topics:
Northwest Territories - Nunavut - Inuit

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The conservative government 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 manufactured goods. 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.

Related Topics:
Sales tax - Goods and Services Tax - Manufacturers' Sales Tax

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In 1990 Mulroney appointed his former cabinet minister, Ray Hnatyshyn, as Governor General.

Related Topics:
Cabinet minister - Ray Hnatyshyn - Governor General

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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.

Related Topics:
Cod - Moratorium

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Foreign Policy

During his tenure as prime minister, Brian Mulroney's close relationship with U.S. President Ronald Reagan helped result in 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 very controversial, and was the central issue of the 1988 election, in which Mulroney's party was re-elected with a strong majority in Parliament (however only with 43% of the popular vote). This trade liberalization was expanded in 1992 through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed by Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Related Topics:
U.S. - Ronald Reagan - Free-trade treaty with the United States - 1983 - 1988 election - 1992 - North American Free Trade Agreement - Mexico

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Mulroney's government was actively opposed to 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.

Related Topics:
Apartheid - South Africa

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Mulroney supported the coalition during the 1991 Gulf War and sent Canadian jets to participate. 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 UN authorized full use of force in the operation, Canada sent a CF18 squadron with support personnel. Canada also sent a field hospital to deal with casualties from the ground war.

Related Topics:
Gulf War - HMCS ''Terra Nova'' - HMCS ''Athabaskan'' - HMCS ''Protecteur'' - CF18

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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 Korean War that Canadian forces had participated in combat operations.

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Another major policy initiative was the signing of an Acid-Rain Accord with the United States.

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Under Mulroney's government, 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 to that time, since Ethiopia had a Marxist one-state regime and had previously been wholly isolated by Western governments.

Related Topics:
Ethiopia - 1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia - Addis Ababa - CBC - Marxist

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

Related Topics:
Nicaragua - Refugee - El Salvador - Guatemala

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Retirement

Although Mulroney had retained a parliamentary majority in the 1988 elections, 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. He announced his resignation as PC leader and prime minister in February 1993 in and was replaced by Kim Campbell in June of that year.

Related Topics:
1988 elections - Kim Campbell

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