That Mulroney thing

While I still think he was a fairly decent prime minister, and he utterly fascinates me, Brian Mulroney really did himself a lot of harm in giving those interviews.

I think Mulroney is a complicated man, and it was good of Peter C. Newman to share with us what he's really like, because he was definitely one of the major prime ministers, if only because he won the largest majority ever. Personally, I don't hold any of it against him. I know a lot of Liberals hate Mulroney with a firey passion, but I've always maintained a certain amount of sympathy toward him. He tried so hard, and so much of what he worked for exploded in his face. He lost nearly all of his political capital during the fight for Free Trade - a policy which is now generally accepted by Canadians - and saw his party collapse into a shambles because he tried to unite two regions which are fundamentally at odds with each other. He did his best to appease the west - including cancelling the hated NEP, and appointing Alberta's elected Senator - but they repayed him by forming the Reform Party. He did his best to appease Quebec - including trying to give them their "distinct society" in exchange for their signature to the Canadian constitution and a commitment to stop separatism - but when those efforts were torpedoed by the west and Newfoundland, they formed the Bloc Quebecois to pay him back. He tried to get the deficit under control, but he's not remembered for the fact that his methods probably allowed Chretien and Martin to slay the deficit, but rather as the man who brought in the GST and the FTA - much vilified at the time, but which future Liberal governments have found invaluable. He gets blamed for selling out Canada and for the hated GST, and Chretien gets credit for reaping the benefits of those actions.

So yeah, I think he has a right to his anger and his bitterness. I think the Canadian people should definitely see Mulroney as he truly is, if only to understand how much he gave this country, and how we like to shit on him for it.