Canada loses its Washington whisperer

OTTAWA — Former prime minister Brian Mulroney, a giant of Canadian politics, has died at 84.

The bilingual and gregarious leader made his biggest mark in foreign policy in the 1980s, tying the United States and Canadian economies closer together through the establishment of the North American Free Trade Agreement which Mexico would later join.

The 18th prime minister was a fierce friend of a series of U.S. presidents. His death leaves Ottawa minus its go-to counsel as Canada braces for another bumpy ride with Donald Trump’s potential return to Washington.

Mulroney died in hospital in Palm Beach, Florida, after a recent fall, the family said in a statement. “He died peacefully, surrounded by family,” his daughter, Ontario Cabinet minister Caroline Mulroney, announced on social media Thursday evening.

An American bromance

Mulroney, a two-mandate Progressive Conservative prime minister, sought to forge closer ties with the U.S. and struck a close relationship with late president Ronald Reagan that was enviable to his contemporaries.

In a statement Thursday evening, Fred Ryan of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation credited the two leaders with “one of the most important periods in the history of bilateral relations between Canada and the United States.”

When Reagan died in 2004, Mulroney delivered a eulogy and recalled a private moment between the two of them in 1987. As they watched their wives Nancy and Mila approach, “looking like a million bucks,” Mulroney recalled the way his friend leaned in.

“President Reagan beamed, threw his arm around my shoulder and said with a grin: ‘You know, Brian, for two Irishmen we sure married up.’”

Mulroney understood the importance of trade to his homeland, former U.S. secretary of state James Baker wrote Thursday in The Globe and Mail. “It was, he believed, Canada’s life blood. And so, he made it his objective to strengthen Canada’s stature as a first-class world trader.”

When invited to eulogize George H.W. Bush in 2018, Mulroney told tales from NATO meetings and shared stories from weekends at Kennebunkport.

Former President George W. Bush credited Mulroney with helping to end the Cold War. “He developed a very close friendship with my dad,” Bush said in a statement from Dallas Thursday night. “At Dad’s funeral, Brian recited, “There are wooden ships, there are sailing ships, there are ships that sail the sea. But the best ships are friendships, and may they always be.”

Mulroney was a Palm Springs neighbor of Donald Trump and in 2017 performed “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” at a charity fundraiser held at Mar-a-Lago resort.

“Mr. President, I hope this doesn't fracture Canadian-U.S. relations,” he said as he took the microphone.

Mulroney’s death comes after a series of health issues.

Diagnosed with prostate cancer in October 2022, a hospitalization this past summer and a months-long absence from the public eye fueled concerns Mulroney’s health was worsening.

Mulroney was sharp-witted even at his most vulnerable. “I’m not ready for the Olympics yet, but I’m improving,” he told CTV News in May. He acknowledged he had been hard hit with cancer and heart failure.

“I got the double whammy and it’s flattened me quite a bit,” he said during the summer in one of his last interviews.

Not a career politician

Born to humble beginnings in Baie-Comeau, a small Quebec city on the shore of the Saint Lawrence River, Mulroney turned his working-class background into a career as a Montreal labor lawyer before politics.

He was the president of an iron ore company when he became leader of the Progressive Conservatives in 1983 — his second try at the party’s leadership.

Liberal prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s resignation in 1984 led to Mulroney’s landslide victory the same year. Mulroney led his Progressive Conservatives to the biggest majority government in Canadian history, winning 211 of the country’s 282 seats.

Despite his historic ascent to office, he took lumps from the public for the first 16 months of his government for lacking a backbone against the United States. When Reagan was regarded for his Teflon in controversies, critics mocked Mulroney for being flypaper.

One example was when Mulroney hosted Reagan in Quebec City for the “Shamrock Summit” in 1985. Concerns about transnational air pollution from the U.S. contributing to acid rain north of the border was top of mind in Canada — and not for the visiting American president. Mulroney’s decision to serenade Reagan at the time by singing “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” made for a good clip, but Canadians viewed the gesture as tone deaf and disreputable.

Mulroney would eventually make his mark in foreign affairs, recognizing Canada and America’s common future in trade and environmental issues. Then in 1986, acid rain treaty negotiations between the two countries resumed.

Beyond NAFTA being signed in 1989, the 1991 Canada-U.S. Air Quality Agreement to address widespread concerns about acid rain was another major bilateral achievement with the Reagan administration.

Yet, he left office deeply unpopular, taking with him the lowest approval rating for any prime minister.

The introduction of an unpopular federal goods and services tax and a sense of western alienation nurtured under his tenure pushed right-wing populists to form the Reform Party. These forces, among others, contributed to Mulroney’s political downfall in 1993.

Canada first

Mulroney’s legacy transcended partisan lines.

Former environment minister Catherine McKenna, who served in Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government between 2015 and 2021, credits Mulroney’s acid rain treaty with inspiring her own climate advocacy.

Canada’s Green Party Leader Elizabeth May called Mulroney “the Greenest PM in our history.”

While getting along with the United States was an obvious strong suit for Mulroney, Canadians also applauded him for taking the occasional stance that went against Washington.

Mulroney famously opposed apartheid in South Africa, a position that pitted him against Reagan and the United Kingdom’s Margaret Thatcher.

Decades later, the Trudeau government would call on him for help when Donald Trump made good on his threat to rip up NAFTA. This was after Mulroney initially brushed off Trump’s threat and made a prediction the real estate baron would lose the 2016 election.

Mulroney acknowledged in previous interviews that the set of challenges facing the Trudeau government are unprecedented. The commonality of Trump subordinates taking turns to attack the Canadian prime minister was behavior he said he’s never seen before: “Nor has anybody else.”

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland paid tribute to Mulroney’s passing on Thursday evening, saying she will miss his “wise counsel.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told reporters on Friday morning that she called Mulroney ahead of every trip she made to Washington.

“He had a really good relationship with many former presidents,” she said. “He was very helpful in the renegotiation of CUSMA [NAFTA] and also regarding the steel and aluminum tariffs. So, he would be able to help me talk to different politicians in the U.S. on the Republican side and also on the Democrat side.”