Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, PC, CC, GOQ, is a Canadian politician who served as the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993. His tenure as prime minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and the Goods and Services Tax, and the rejection of constitutional reforms such as the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord. Prior to his political career, he was a prominent lawyer...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth20 March 1939
CountryCanada
In politics, madame, you need two things: friends, but above all an enemy.
I would go to them and I would explain this is the price of going forward. We're going to move ahead in all these other areas. We're moving ahead in tax reform and GST, we are moving ahead on trade, but this will not be done at the cost of the environment.
You have to spend your political capital on great causes for your country.
Once you articulate an agenda, you have to follow it.
First, President Reagan was not enthusiastic. But I built up a relationship with him in other areas and then persuaded him that this was important to us and to me, and that we had to at least be in the process of looking at this seriously.
Trudeau's contribution was not to build Canada but to destroy it, and I had to come in and save it.
Whether the process proves to be Kyoto or something else, let's acknowledge the urgency of global warming.
If your only objective is to be popular, you're going to be popular but you will be known as the Prime Minister who achieved nothing.
(Joe) Clark managed to win, but then he blew it so quickly and became an object of scorn and derision, ... But because he lost and was out of it, they liked him, too. If you were a Conservative leader who won, different story. And look, I was a big, brassy guy who won and won big. I did what I wanted.
He certainly made an important mark on Canadian journalism. I viewed him as a highly principled journalist with well developed views on the world. He was unafraid to assert them and, of course, to defend them.
We created the Cabinet Committee on the Environment to review the environmental implications of all government initiatives. I think what made us successful was the fact that it was a sustained approach. We did something new every year.
My second biggest mistake in life, for which I have no one to blame but myself, is having accepted payments in cash from Karlheinz Schreiber. My biggest mistake in life was pretending that I wasn't trying to avoid paying taxes on that money.
I commend Sri Chinmoy for his faith and serenity, and I hope he will continue to exert his calming and constructive influence on the international community for many years to come.
The Conservatives over the years have done a great deal, from Sir John A, to Diefenbaker, and others.