Over the course of his nine years as Prime Minister of Canada, Brian Mulroney, who passed away at the age of 84, was a figure who was both revered and loathed. During the 1980s, Mulroney, who was a dealmaker and had previously gained his political expertise as a party organiser and labour lawyer before to running for public office, was the head of the Progressive Conservative party and was successful in securing two consecutive majority administrations. It was a landslide win that brought him to government in 1984, but by the early 1990s, his popularity had plummeted to an all-time low.
He increased the international profile of his country when he was serving as prime minister. He was a prominent opponent of the apartheid administration in South Africa, and he was successful in convincing both Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, the president of the United States, to support sanctions against the country. These sanctions ultimately resulted in the abolition of apartheid and the release of Nelson Mandela from government jail. Furthermore, he was acknowledged as an early environmentalist, having signed a deal with the United States in 1991 on acid rain.
During his time as a worldwide entrepreneur, he successfully negotiated a free trade agreement with the United States of America in the year 1988. This agreement, which would later be renamed the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), included Mexico. This agreement is still in place today, despite the fact that Donald Trump has been working hard because he won the presidency in 2016.
Mulroney noted in his memoirs published in 2007 that the United States negotiators had a strong objection to a dispute settlement clause, which led to the original treaty coming dangerously close to being a failure.
At that time, Mulroney, who was a skilled negotiator, threatened to contact Ronald Reagan and ask him, “Ron, how is it that the United States of America is able to reach a nuclear arms limitation deal with their worst enemy, the Soviet Union, but they are unable to reach a trade deal with their closest allies, the Canadians?”
