The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Remembering Brian Mulroney Brian Mulroney exploded back on the political stage in early September with the release of Peter Newman's book on the former prime minister in which Brian reveals his inner thoughts, opinions, and, of course, his gigantic ego. Mulroney complained about the book being published but had sat down many times with the author, with the conversations recorded. What did he expect? Ego/vanity/profanity was the consensus of most reporters, and at a time when illness had gained Brian some apparent sympathy from Canadians, who 12 years earlier had shown their disdain by reducing the PCs to two seats. (Do any readers remember the two PCs who were elected? Answer at the end of this article). In the interviews, Mulroney said a lot of disparaging things about a number of people Ð Chretien, Joe Clark, Kim Campbell. Some of the comments a number of us might agree with, but not the way he said it. Yet it certainly sold and will sell a lot of books. Mulroney defended his actions on many fronts, calling Elijah Harper "stupid" for sabotaging the "Sweetheart Deal" of the Meech Lake Accord. Mulroney also blamed Kim Campbell for "blowing" the 1993 election because of dallying with her Russian boyfriend during the campaign. The reality is that he was to blame for the loss. Readers may recall that Brian took too long to retire, did a lavish round-the-world trip at the end of his reign (Chretien did the same) and popped up with comments and interviews during the campaign, reminding Canadian voters that he was still around. Campbell's team ran a poor campaign, but Brian Mulroney didn't help. His immediate legacy was two federal seats. Author Newman defended himself against Mulroney's charge that he betrayed their long-standing friendship. According to Newman, they weren't that close, have not spoken for 10 years, and, besides, he willingly allowed Newman to tape the interviews. The author added that he left out the worst of the profanity. Mulroney, then active in the PC Party but never elected, first ran for the leadership in 1976, losing to Joe Clark in the famous "Joe Who?" convention. He took the loss badly and was one of the plotters against the leader in the years after Joe's 1980 "Joe can't add" defeat in the Commons on a vote that should have never taken place. I first met Brian at the famous 1981 PC convention in Winnipeg. It was in the dead of winter, and he showed up in a dapper overcoat, surrounded by Quebec supporters. The Manitoba team was amazed by the Quebec constituencies who handed over lists of delegates "elected" and paid for all the registration fees in cash. (Most Quebec ridings had no active organizations.) Sixty-six per cent of the delegates voted no to a leadership convention in support of Clark, but as we know he called one anyway Ð giving up 66 per cent support to try for 50.1 per cent is hardly brilliant! A number of us Joe supporters were aghast at this political stupidity and determined to consider other candidates, including Mulroney. In the leadership campaign, the Mulroneys held a meeting with Manitoba delegates at a downtown Winnipeg hotel. We were seated at tables and Brian and Mila visited each table. When Mulroney arrived at our table, he spoke French to the candidate, obviously letting us western peasants know that the prospective leader was fluently bilingual and could win Quebec (which he did). Most of us felt set up by the Mulroney group and drifted back to Clark. I met him again on the 1984 campaign trail when he visited our election headquarters in St. James, and found the new leader to be charming, full of confidence, and determined to win every seat possible. As we know, he won the largest majority ever, surpassing Dief's 1958 sweep. He almost threw it all away four years later, then saw the number of seats drop to two in 1993 (not his fault of course!). The two winning PCs in 1993? None other than Jean Charest in Quebec's Eastern Townships and a New Brunswick mayor named Elsie Wayne. All others lost, many badly, including Kim Campbell.12/10/05
