Prime Minister Brian Mulroney

Prime Minister the Rt. Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney

“If you can walk with kings, nor lose the common touch…”

Rudyard Kipling

Canada has lost a brilliant son with the passing of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

Along with former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, he was the kind of political leader who could argue and debate policy with opponents with passion and, at the end of the day, enjoy a quiet drink and conversation with them in friendship.

He melded a global network of friends -- from the most powerful to the most modest – that served himself and Canada brilliantly. His government provided Canada with three most brilliant overriding policies: the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Mexico, the end of apartheid in South Africa and the release of Nelson Mandela from prison, and Canada’s independent role in the Central American conflicts of the 1980’s.

I first met Mr. Mulroney at the 1974 wedding of Diana Common (daughter of Montreal lawyer Frank Common) when he was a media star on Quebec’s Cliche Commission on corruption in the construction industry. I remember watching him work the room after watching his daily performances on television and commenting to my date that he would be a brilliant Prime Minister.

And that he was.

His ability to turn political foes into lifelong friends was one of his greatest assets. His powers of negotiation, honed as a young labor attorney in Montreal, were a unique strength.

His ability to bring together Quebec nationalists and Western Canadian conservatives in a formidable political coalition underscored his vision of a united Canada from coast top coast.  

As a young foreign service officer, I appreciated his appointment of former rival and Prime Minister Joe Clark as Foreign Minister. Mr. Clark served Mr. Mulroney and Canada brilliantly in this position and implemented Mr. Mulroney’s vision of a free South Africa and Peace in Central America with imagination and dedication.

Mr. Mulroney’s impact on Canada was equally matched by his impact on the international stage. He fought with Margaret Thatcher over sanctions against South Africa until Nelson Mandela was freed (and eventually was elected President in 1994). He argued with President Ronald Reagan over Canada’s “useful fixer” role in Central America at the height of the Cold War as well with President George H.W. Bush over Acid Rain and proved right on both counts.

In the end, he presented eulogies at both presidents’ funerals.

The main objective that eluded him despite much effort was to bring Quebec into the constitutional process. After years of negotiation, his government proved unable to shape a constitutional agreement with which a majority of Francophone and Anglophone Canadians could agree.

He had his detractors, and he had his faults, as do all great leaders.

But, in the end, in the immortal words of the late American poet Maya Angelou, “you may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like the air, I’ll rise”.

And rise he did, as an excellent leader, global elder statesman, mentor, friend, and confidant to many.

Rest in Peace.