Transforming the Nation: Canada and Brian Mulroney.

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

In 1993 when he left office, Brian Mulroney was one of the most disliked men in Canada. In the election which followed, his party, under his successor, was reduced to two seats. It would also be fair to say that his party will never take office again, at least under the name it had when he led it. From this, one might deduce he was one of Canada’s worst prime ministers.

Certainly, the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, and later the Charlottetown Accord, plus his problems with Karlheinz Schreiber, a shady German businessman, which came out after he retired from office, would lead many to think that the Canadian electorate got it right. And yet, sufficient time has elapsed since Canada’s 18th prime minister left office that it is now the experts’ turn to evaluate his regime.

This book is an excellent start. Edited by Raymond Blake, a professor of history at the University of Regina, the book contains accessible expert analyses of Mulroney’s legacy in the areas of economics, the constitution, foreign policy, defence, social policy, women’s issues, intergovernmental relations, the West, Quebec, Aboriginal affairs, northern development, culture, and the environment. John Crosbie, a former minister, also supplies an excellent chapter that touches on many of these issues as well as a number of others not covered by other articles. Finally, there are a couple of essays devoted to the more personal Mulroney, one by Bob Rae and the other by L. Ian MacDonald, who once worked for him.

With a collection like this, there is bound to be some overlap, and sure enough, in spite of the editor’s best efforts, the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords appear in more than one paper, although given their importance in any discussion of Mulroney’s legacy, this may be understandable.

So, despite his reputation, did Mulroney transform Canada? A review of these essays would appear to indicate that the answer is “yes,” which may explain why, in 2003, a survey of 28 Canadian experts rated Mulroney second only to Pearson as the best prime minister of the preceding 50 years.