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The boy from Baie Comeau

Broadcast Date: Feb. 24, 1976

Taking a swig of his beer, one Baie Comeau, Que., resident proudly tells CBC Television that "Brian is gonna be some hell of a prime minister for Canada." The Brian he's referring to is none other than Brian Mulroney. Martin Brian Mulroney was born on March 20, 1939, the third eldest among six children. His father, Ben, was the town's chief electrician while his mother, Irene, stayed at home.

Mulroney was an excellent student, public speaker and singer. In this clip, his mother remembers her son showing leadership qualities at a young age. Mulroney was popular and had many friends, both anglophones and francophones. The Irish-Quebecer floated easily between Baie Comeau's French and English communities, speaking like a Quebecer and brawling like an Irishman.

The boy from Baie Comeau

• Baie Comeau is located 400 kilometres northeast of Quebec City on the shores of the St. Lawrence River. Its population is 26,000 (2004).
• Brian Mulroney's mother, Irene, was from the Irish community of Shannon, near Quebec City. His father, Ben, was from Sainte-Catherine-de-Portneuf, another nearby Irish community.

• Mulroney was completely at ease in Baie Comeau's French community. While Mulroney's father, Ben, viewed the "majority French population of Baie Comeau with caution; the son [Brian] saw them as potential friends."
(John Sawatsky's Mulroney: The Politics of Ambition 1991)

• Growing up in Baie Comeau would shape Brian Mulroney's political outlook. The small Quebec town was solely dependent on its mill, founded in 1936 by the American newspaper mogul Col. Robert McCormick. The Quebec North Shore Paper mill was prosperous and McCormick made sure Baie Comeau thrived as a result. Young Mulroney grew up in awe of the colonel. As a child, Mulroney even sang for him when the colonel visited Baie Comeau.

• Mulroney attended St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S. He majored in political science and graduated with honours in 1959. Mulroney experienced his political awakening at St. Francis Xavier and the friends he made there would provide a strong network of support throughout his political career.

• One of Mulroney's proudest possessions was an eight-by-ten picture of himself standing next to John Diefenbaker at the 1956 Progressive Conservative Party leadership convention in Ottawa. That was Mulroney's first Tory convention. He had attended as the vice-chairman of Youth for Diefenbaker.

• In the mid-1960s, Mulroney would turn against his old political hero and support Dalton Camp to overthrow the PC Party leader as part of the "Dump Dief" movement. Diefenbaker's dismissal of a distinct Quebec identity, made Mulroney realize that the "Old Chief" was completely out of touch with Mulroney's native province.

The boy from Baie Comeau

Medium: Television

Program: CBC Television News Special

Broadcast Date: Feb. 24, 1976

Guest(s): Irene Mulroney

Reporter: Ron Laplante

Duration: 3:39

Last updated:
Nov. 14, 2004