Brian Mulroney

Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. He led the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and served as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1983 to 1993.

Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political science and law. He then moved to Montreal and gained prominence as a labour lawyer. He ran for leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1976, placing third. He was appointed as president of the Iron Ore Company of Canada in 1977. In 1983, Mulroney defeated former prime minister Joe Clark to become leader of the Progressive Conservatives. Mulroney led the party to a landslide victory in the 1984 federal election, winning the second-largest percentage of seats in Canadian history—at 74.8%—and receiving over 50% of the popular vote. He led the party to a second majority government in the 1988 federal election.

Mulroney's tenure as prime minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the goods and services tax (GST) which was created to replace the manufacturers' sales tax, and the privatization of 23 of 61 of Canada's Crown corporations, including Air Canada and Petro-Canada. In constitutional affairs, Mulroney attempted to secure Quebec's support of the 1982 constitutional amendments by introducing the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord. Both proposed recognizing Quebec as a distinct society, extending provincial powers, and extensively changing the Canadian constitution; however, the accords failed to be ratified, and the Meech Lake Accord's demise revived Quebec separatism, leading to the formation of the Bloc Québécois. Mulroney faced criticism for his response to the Air India Flight 182 bombing—the largest mass killing in Canadian history. His government signed the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, leading to the creation of the territory of Nunavut. In foreign policy, Mulroney's government strengthened Canada's ties with the United States, ordered military intervention in the Gulf War, and led an effort within the Commonwealth to sanction the apartheid regime in South Africa. He made environmental protection a priority by securing a treaty with the United States on acid rain, making Canada the first developed country to ratify the Convention on Biological Diversity, adding eight national parks, and enacting the Environmental Protection Act in 1988 and the Environmental Assessment Act in 1992.

The unpopularity of the GST and the controversy surrounding its passage in the Senate, combined with the early 1990s recession, the prevalence of Canada's chronic budget deficit, the collapse of the Charlottetown Accord, and the rise of the Bloc and the Reform Party (the latter a result of growing Western alienation), caused a stark decline in Mulroney's popularity. He resigned in June 1993 and was succeeded by his cabinet minister Kim Campbell. In the election later that year, the Progressive Conservatives were reduced from a parliamentary caucus of 156 to two, with its support being eroded by the Bloc and Reform parties. In his retirement, Mulroney served as an international business consultant and sat on the board of directors of multiple corporations. Although he places above average in rankings of Canadian prime ministers, his legacy remains controversial. He was criticized for his role in the resurgence of Quebec nationalism and accused of corruption in the Airbus affair, a scandal which came to light several years after he left office.

Early life (1939–1955)

Mulroney was born on March 20, 1939, in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, a remote and isolated town of the Côte-Nord region, in the eastern part of the province. He was 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.

Family

On May 26, 1973, Mulroney married Mila Pivnički, the daughter of a Serbian-Canadian doctor, Dimitrije Pivnički, from Novi Bečej. Many PC campaign buttons featured both Mulroney's face and hers, and Ontario premier Bill Davis commented to Brian, "Mila will get you more votes for you than you will for yourself."

The Mulroneys have four children:

• Caroline Mulroney Lapham (b. 1974) - Since 2018 the Member of Provincial Parliament for York—Simcoe and a provincial cabinet minister in the ministry of Doug Ford. Like Mulroney, she contested the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party leadership in 2018 without having been an electoral candidate, placed third in the first ballot behind Ford and runner-up Christine Elliott. Mulroney said that she was the most like him "in her mindset" and that she would have been the most likely to follow his footsteps into politics.
• Benedict (Ben) Mulroney (b. 1976) - a radio and television personality, currently the host of The Ben Mulroney Show mornings on 640 Toronto, and from 2016 to 2021 the host of the CTV morning show Your Morning. He is married to stylist Jessica, and their three children served as page boys and bridesmaids during the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 19, 2018.
• Mark Mulroney (b. 1977) - a banking executive, it was announced in August 2025 that he would join CIBC as a global vice chair. His name was mentioned by the press as a potential contender leading up to the 2017 and 2020 federal Conservative leadership contests.
• Nicholas Mulroney (b. 1985) - co-founder of Bond Bakery Brands, an investment platform for independent commercial bakeries.

Education (1955–1964)

Mulroney entered St. Francis Xavier University in the fall of 1955 as a 16-year-old first-year student. 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 inter-university 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. This campaign led to the largest majority in the 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 continued his legal studies there later in 1960.

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.