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.
We decided that the environment was an integral part of our policies and the political thrust of our government. We gave it the priority and we sustained it with the money required to make it happen.
You have to spend your political capital on great causes for your country.
I think the government has to reposition environment on top of their national and international priorities.
The biggest trading partner of the United States is not West Germany or Japan, it's right here.
For example, the Prime Minister earlier this year talked about the importance of the Arctic to our future. He's right. A hundred years from now, the strength of Canada is going to be coming from our resources in the Arctic.
I can see now a vision emerging how Canada is going to profit in the future from our Arctic resources without destroying the environment on which it is all based.
And look, I was a big, brassy guy who won and won big. I did what I wanted.
Nobody has achievements like this ... you cannot name a Canadian prime minister who has done as many significant things as I did, because there are none.
When I appointed the Minister of the Environment to major cabinet status, the Planning and Priorities committee, the signals that that sent through Ottawa were major, because that's what the bureaucracy understands.
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.
I am not denying anything I did not say.
There are so many demands on your time, on your resources, and on the prestige of the government.
Once you articulate an agenda, you have to follow it.