Canada lost the architect of its prosperous trading nation state when former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney died recently.
The Progressive Conservative prime minister saw how the U.S./Canada auto pact negotiated under Prime Minister Lester Pearson saved and expanded a moribund auto industry with access to a large market.
Mulroney’s proposal for a free trade deal with the U.S. was controversial, dividing the country and potentially ending his tenure as prime minister.
Mulroney and his supporters saw a free trade agreement as an opportunity to take advantage of a market 10 times Canada’s market and operate with a set of rules, instead of facing constant irritating trade disputes.
His opposition feared the worst from a free trade deal. They feared Canada would become a de facto state of the United States over-run by U.S. operators but without the political clout a 51st state would have.
And they worried that U.S. companies would take over all of Canada’s industries with free trade.
Mulroney's personal friendship with U.S. president Ronald Reagan helped vastly to cement the ground work for a free trade deal.
A free trade deal eliminating tariff barriers between the two countries, setting terms for easier immigration and rules to settle trade disputes was signed in 1988.
Liberal Opposition Leader Jean Chretien promised to kill the free trade deal when elected. He realized the value of the trade pact and kept it.
Nine years of Mulroney government ended in 1993 with defeat at the hands of Chretien.
One major factor in the Conservative defeat was the GST tax that Mulroney passed in 1991. He was the last prime minister to implement a large tax increase in Canada.
The tax was extremely unpopular. The GST was needed to prevent even larger budget deficits that growing programs had created.
In 2019 the $332 billion GST revenue amounted to 11 per cent of federal revenues.
Chretien promised to end the GST too and then reneged on that promise in order to balance the budget.
Mulroney did what he thought was best for all Canadians even if his actions were unpopular.
He tried unsuccessfully to bring Quebec fully into Canada.
Both the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accords failed, but he lost his Quebec stalwart Lucien Bouchard who formed the Bloc Quebecois Party which has been strong in that province.
Frustration with Quebec and old line politics propelled the socially conservative Reform Party past the Progressive Conservatives in 1993. By that time Mulroney had left politics likely expecting the demise of the Conservatives to Reform and BQ parties.
Mulroney was the first prime minister to concern himself with the environment, arranging an acid rain agreement with U.S.
He might be the last Canadian prime minister who cared about the entire electorate.
Today’s politicians seem to care only about the regions where they elect most candidates and fashion policies according to current polls.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
