Brian Mulroney

Brian Mulroney (born March 20, 1939, Baie-Comeau, Quebec, Canada—died February 29, 2024, Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.) was a Canadian politician who served as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1983–93) and was prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Mulroney championed closer cooperation between Canada and the United States, played a pivotal role in the formation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, was an environmental activist, and staunchly opposed apartheid in South Africa. However, he failed in his attempts to lead Canada to a resolution of the issue of Quebec’s aspirations for sovereignty, and he oversaw the imposition of a steep federal tax on goods and services that met with widespread discontent.

Born the son of an electrician in a paper-and-pulp town northeast of Quebec city, Mulroney grew up bilingual in English and French and received a B.A. (1959) from Saint Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and a law degree (1962) from Laval University, Quebec city. In 1965 he began practicing law in Montreal, becoming a labor specialist. In 1974 he gained local celebrity as a member of the Cliche Commission investigating crime in Quebec’s construction industry. Always active in politics, he made a bid in 1976 for the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives but lost to Joe Clark. In 1977 he was chosen president of the Iron Ore Co. of Canada.

When Mulroney won election as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party at its convention in June 1983, he had never run for or been elected to public office, but he offered the public a new face from French-speaking Quebec, where the Tories had traditionally been weak. He became prime minister in 1984 in a landslide victory of the Progressive Conservatives over the Liberals and was reelected in 1988.

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Canada: The administration of Brian Mulroney, 1984–93

As prime minister, Mulroney sought closer cooperation with the United States on such bilateral issues as trade policies and measures to deal with acid rain in North America. During the early years of his administration Canada’s economic growth was strong, job creation was high, and inflation was kept under control. His government pursued deregulation of key industries and reform of the tax structure, though a steep federal tax on goods and services introduced in 1991 was widely unpopular.

Mulroney’s political success was in part forged by his creation of what turned out to be a short-term coalition of Quebec nationalists and western conservatives, and his terms were marked by his continuing efforts to unify the country while recognizing Quebec’s status as a “distinct society.” In 1987 he negotiated the Meech Lake accord on constitutional revision, but he was unable to obtain ratification from all 10 provinces before the deadline expired in 1990. A second attempt resulted in the Charlottetown accord of 1992; these were accepted by all the provincial premiers but were defeated in a popular referendum later that year. Mulroney negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement with U.S. Pres. George H.W. Bush and Mexican Pres. Carlos Salinas de Gortari; the three reached a preliminary agreement in August 1992, and it was signed on December 17. Early in 1993 Mulroney announced his retirement from politics; he was succeeded as party leader and prime minister by Kim Campbell that June.

After leaving politics, Mulroney served on the international advisory councils of several companies and was a business consultant. In 1998 he received Canada’s highest honor, being appointed Companion of the Order of Canada. He published his memoir, Brian Mulroney Memoirs, in 2007.