Brian Mulroney

At 85 years old, Brian Mulroney has this physical status:

Martin Brian Mulroney (born March 20, 1939) 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.

Prior to his political career, he was a prominent lawyer and businessman in Montreal.

He later ran for the Progressive Conservatives and won in a landslide in the 1984 Canadian federal election, defeating John Turner of the Liberals and Ed Broadbent of the NDP, not only winning every single province and territory but also capturing over 50% of the vote for the first time since 1958 and increasing his party's seats by 111, up to 211 seats, the highest amount of seats won by any party in Canadian history.

The 6.3 million votes won by Mulroney also remained a record until the Liberals' victory in 2015.

Throughout his political career, Mulroney's fluency in English and French gave him a decisive advantage.He brought forth a constitutional reform, the Meech Lake Accord, in 1987, meant to persuade the government of Quebec to endorse the 1982 constitutional amendments.

Early life (1939–1955)

Mulroney was born on March 20, 1939, in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, a remote and isolated town in the eastern part of the province. He is the son of Irish Canadian Catholic parents, Mary Irene (née O'Shea) and Benedict Martin Mulroney, who was a paper mill electrician. As there was no English-language Catholic high school in Baie-Comeau, Mulroney completed his high school education at a Roman Catholic boarding school in Chatham, New Brunswick, operated by St. Thomas University. In 2001, St. Thomas University named its newest academic building in his honour. Benedict Mulroney worked overtime and ran a repair business to earn extra money for his children's education, and he encouraged his oldest son to attend university.

Mulroney would frequently tell stories about newspaper publisher Robert R. McCormick, whose company had founded Baie-Comeau. Mulroney would sing Irish songs for McCormick, and the publisher would slip him $50. Mulroney grew up speaking English and French fluently.

Education (1955–1964)

Mulroney entered St. Francis Xavier University in the fall of 1955 as a 16-year-old freshman. His political life began when he was recruited to the campus Progressive Conservative group by Lowell Murray and others, early in his first year. Murray, who was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1979, became Mulroney's close friend, mentor, and adviser. Mulroney made other important, lasting friendships with Gerald Doucet, Fred Doucet, Sam Wakim, and Patrick MacAdam. Mulroney enthusiastically embraced political organization and assisted the local PC candidate in his successful 1956 Nova Scotia provincial election campaign; the PCs, led provincially by Robert Stanfield, won a surprise victory.

Mulroney became a youth delegate and attended the 1956 leadership convention in Ottawa. While initially undecided, Mulroney was captivated by John Diefenbaker's powerful oratory and easy approachability. Mulroney joined the Youth for Diefenbaker committee, which was led by Ted Rogers, a future scion of Canadian business. Mulroney struck an early friendship with Diefenbaker (who won the leadership) and received telephone calls from him.

Mulroney won several public speaking contests at St. Francis Xavier University, was a star member of the school's debating team and never lost an interuniversity debate. He was also very active in campus politics, serving with distinction in several Model Parliaments, and was campus prime minister in a Maritimes-wide Model Parliament in 1958.

Mulroney assisted with the 1958 national election campaign at the local level in Nova Scotia, a campaign that led to the largest majority in history of the Canadian House of Commons. After graduating from St. Francis Xavier with a degree in political science in 1959, Mulroney at first pursued a law degree from Dalhousie Law School in Halifax. It was around this time that Mulroney also cultivated friendships with the Tory premier of Nova Scotia, Robert Stanfield, and his chief adviser Dalton Camp. In his role as an advance man, Mulroney assisted with Stanfield's successful 1960 re-election campaign. Mulroney neglected his studies, fell seriously ill during the winter term, was hospitalized, and, despite getting extensions for several courses because of his illness, left his program at Dalhousie after the first year. He then applied to Université Laval in Quebec City and restarted first-year law there the next year.

In Quebec City, Mulroney befriended future Quebec Premier Daniel Johnson Sr, and frequented the provincial legislature, making connections with politicians, aides, and journalists. At Laval, Mulroney built a network of friends, including Lucien Bouchard, Bernard Roy, Michel Cogger, Michael Meighen, and Jean Bazin, that would play a prominent role in Canadian politics for years to come.

Mulroney secured a temporary appointment in Ottawa during the summer of 1962, as the executive assistant to Alvin Hamilton, minister of agriculture. Then a federal election was called. Hamilton took Mulroney with him on the campaign trail, where the young organizer gained valuable experience.

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