Former Canadian PM Brian Mulroney, who struck a free trade deal with US, dies aged 84
File photo of Brian Mulroney.
Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney died at the age of 84, his daughter Caroline Mulroney said on Thursday (Feb 29). In a post on X, Caroline said, "On behalf of my mother and our family, it is with great sadness we announce the passing of my father, The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, Canada’s 18th Prime Minister. He died peacefully, surrounded by family."
Caroline earlier said that her father underwent a procedure in August last year and was also treated for prostate cancer. Paying tributes to Mulroney, current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, "He never stopped working for Canadians, and he always sought to make this country an even better place to call home. I’ll never forget the insights he shared with me over the years – he was generous, tireless, and incredibly passionate."
A 9-yr-long prime ministership
A corporate lawyer turned businessman, Mulroney led the centre-right Progressive Conservatives to a historic win in 1984 over the Liberals of Pierre Trudeau. He served as the prime minister from 1984 to 1993.
He won large majorities in 1984 and 1988, in part by bringing together social conservatives in the west of Canada and nationalist voters in Quebec.
However, strains started to emerge and the union fell apart in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the creation of the Bloc Quebecois and the Reform Party. Mulroney stepped down in 1993 amid record-low popularity numbers.
His nine-year tenure as PM was marked by negotiations for the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement in 1988, which helped boost Canadian exports, and the introduction of a goods and services tax in 1991, a report by the news agency Reuters said.
The tax was unpopular politically but helped fix the government's finances.
Mulroney took an active interest in foreign affairs pushing through a treaty with the United States to curb acid rain, spearheading efforts to tackle the 1984 Ethiopian famine, and speaking out against apartheid in South Africa.
He was a close friend of former US presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
Mulroney accused of taking kickbacks from arms dealer
After quitting politics,Mulroney returned to law and became a partner with the Montréal firm Norton Rose Fulbright. In 1995, a leaked letter revealed that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had accused Mulroney of having taken kickbacks from German-Canadian arms dealer Karlheinz Schreiber on the sale of Airbus airliners to Air Canada in 1988.
He sued the Liberal government and won an apology and damages two years later. But an inquiry in 2010 revealed Mulroney indeed had inappropriate business dealings with Schreiber.
Mulroney told the inquiry there was nothing illegal about the payments, but apologised publicly for taking the money.
(With inputs from agencies)