Yes, I often accept four separate gifts of $75,000 in cash stuffed in an envelope from people I barely know, with no expectation of influence, goods, or service in return. That's over $157,000 today, four times in a row, that he never declared as income.
Yes, I often accept four separate gifts of $75,000 in cash stuffed in an envelope from people I barely know, with no expectation of influence, goods, or service in return. That's over $157,000 today, four times in a row, that he never declared as income.
Not defending it, just saying it alone doesn’t paint a complete picture, but it’s pretty bad.
Have no recollection of his policies, but the man had the best speaking voice of any PM in my lifetime.
I continue to lament that Rona Ambrose didn't carry the Conservative banner all the way. I think the party has struggled ever since her interim leadership ended.
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to flylock shox For This Useful Post:
That Mulroney take down of Turner was unprecedented in Canadian politics.
I remember it well.
He was a real statesman and was respected on the global stage. He shared similar values as Ronald Reagan. But more of a social conservative.
He represented necessary change and optimism after years of the country being stuck in the mud of Liberal rule.
Like the situation we are in today.
Without the statesman to fill the void unfortunately.
His work on apartheid, South Africa and Mandela was incredible. The us and the uk wanted little part of taking a strong stance and he just absolutely pushed thatcher and Regan to get there.
Mulroney was a guy that I think many on this board wish to have now: fiscal conservative, able to win seats in Quebec, GTA, and the west and did not come off as a religious nutter.
__________________
From HFBoard oiler fan, in analyzing MacT's management:
O.K. there has been a lot of talk on whether or not MacTavish has actually done a good job for us, most fans on this board are very basic in their analysis and I feel would change their opinion entirely if the team was successful.
The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Fighting Banana Slug For This Useful Post:
I remember the relief when Mulroney won his mandate. Canada needed change and got a statesman for a leader. He took on and unfortunately failed on some meaty issues that everyone has run away from tackling since.
I’d rather someone with the balls to lead and take on difficult tasks filled with risk, than whatever it is we have today across the entire western world. We have no principled leadership anywhere in the West. From Australia to the UK, to Canada, we have virtue signallers, left and right. No vision. Nothing but stagnation at best everywhere you go.
RIP.
Last edited by Barnet Flame; 03-01-2024 at 07:09 AM.
I always felt that Mulroney was unfairly demonized compared to other PM's. Obviously he wasn't perfect, nobody is, especially politicians, but he was a lot more genuine than what we have these days. He did a lot of good during his time as PM, to me that massively overshadowed his deficiencies. His international work on Apartheid, the ozone layer and acid rain were actual accomplishments not just political BS with no substance or unfulfilled promises.
Many people today only know Mulroney or Trudeau Sr. by what they have been told by their parents/family or what they see in historical media. I'm not ancient but I'm old enough to remember the late 70's, early 80's. Mulroney inherited an absolute disaster from Pierre Trudeau, massive debt & deficit, out of control spending, stagflation, out of control interest rates and a divided country where regions hated each other. If you think I'm being dramatic imagine interest rates being 20+%. People were literally walking away from their homes. The economy was an absolute disaster and Quebec wanted to separate.
Mulroney put into place the tools to fix the economy (mainly GST & Free trade), tried restrain spending and grow the country out of crisis rather than slash social spending. By the time he was done the government was running a operational surplus but was still running huge deficits mainly because of interest payments on the debt. Ironically he was turfed from government and replaced by the Liberals who won government on campaign promises to scrap the GST and Free Trade and to boost spending. Once they got in they completely reversed course, kept all of Mulroney's fiscal policies and massively slashed social spending. On the Quebec front Mulroney tried twice to bring Quebec into the constitution but was unsuccessful, if you look deep into that Chretien was a key player in sabotaging those efforts.
Today Mulroney is seen as a villain and Chretien is seen as a hero. This is bizarre to me because the same people who love Chretien now say that only the Liberals can protect social spending and that the Conservatives will make massive cuts to Health Care, Education, etc. As far as corruption goes Chretien was a decent PM on fiscal and foreign policy but he took corruption to a new level and divided the country even further (though that might look tame compared to what we have now). Mulroney certainly had some scandals too as does every long term majority government, he deserved to get turfed in the end, the Conservative party paid a huge price losing almost every seat.
In the end Mulroney was a good PM who guided this country through very challenging times and left the country better off then when he took power. I'll leave it to others as to whether history has repeated and whoever takes over from the current Trudeau will face many of the same problems that his father left in his wake.
RIP Brian, many Canadians think you were a good PM and a better man.
The Following 21 Users Say Thank You to Jacks For This Useful Post:
I may be looking at the past through rose-tinted glasses, but I’d wager a lot more Canadians thought Mulroney and Chretien were both good PMs on the whole than believe Harper and J Trudeau have both been good PMs.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by fotze
If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to CliffFletcher For This Useful Post:
People like Mulroney are so frustrating especially as a Conservative. By and large I think his policies were very good. I think the deal he got for Free Trade was better than any other PM would have achieved. His relationship with Thatcher and Reagan put Canada in maybe as prominent of a position as we’ve ever been in. At the same time not afraid to stand up to them if necessary. (apartheid). And grudgingly even the GST was good tax policy. But then he’s getting envelopes stuffed with cash. As George Costanza would say, “Is that wrong.”
The Following User Says Thank You to Mickey76 For This Useful Post:
Also the focal point of a schoolyard Looney Tunes jingle:
We're tiny
we're tuney
we can't afford a loonie
since Brian Mul-rooney
invented GST!
My dad was in the Mulroney government. In grade 1 I would have kids come up to me, tell me that their dad hated my dad, and then scream this song in my face. I was a 6 and did not understand government in the slightest.
