CBC Archives

You must sign in to leave a comment on this clip.

Looking back on the Mulroney years

Broadcast Date: May 30, 2003

A decade after Brian Mulroney left office as the most hated prime minister, Canadians are still angry. Upon learning that Mulroney will give a speech at the 2003 Tory leadership convention, one man tells CBC Radio that he's not happy about it. "I think of him as a corrupt regime... and it discredits the Tory party for me." "Mulroney did very bad politics when he was the prime minister and we don't like him at all," says another.

Despite being one of the very few political leaders to gain international recognition as a statesman after leaving office, he still remains unpopular in Canada.

Looking back on the Mulroney years

• When Brian Mulroney was invested as a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1998, there were protests across the country.
• Mulroney defended his government's records at the 2003 conservative leadership convention saying Jean Chretien and the Liberals had adopted his most important policies including the GST, NAFTA and the Free Trade Agreement.

• In 1997, 25 scholars ranked Canada's 20 prime ministers. Brian Mulroney was ranked 8th. He was hailed "for his smashing election victories and his big agenda of free trade and the Constitution, but he was seen as a Gucci-shod glad hander in bed with the Yankees, the man who failed so dismally in his constitutional gambits and left office so hated by the Canadian public that it promptly destroyed his party in an act of calculated revenge."
(April 1997, Maclean's)

• Mulroney joked about his unpopularity in a speech he delivered on the occasion of NAFTA's 10th anniversary. Mulroney told the audience that he had been waiting for an airport cart to take him to the other side of the airport, when a woman tried to butt in ahead of him. The airport official told the woman that she could not have the cart because it was being "reserved for the former dictator of Canada."

• In August 2002, his alma mater St. Thomas College, now known as St. Thomas University, unveiled the new Brian Mulroney Hall in Fredericton, N.B.
• That same year, Mulroney was in Parliament Hill for the unveiling of his official portrait. Prime Minister Jean Chretien was present and joked "We have gathered today to hang Brian Mulroney on Parliament Hill," said Chretien. "And I suspect he takes some great pleasure from the knowledge that I will be the next to hang."

• In April 2004, Brian Mulroney was voted the worst Canadian ever by CBC Radio's Definitely Not The Opera listeners. His son, TV personality Ben Mulroney, came in second followed by media mogul Conrad Black.

• Since leaving the PMO, Brian Mulroney has become a successful lawyer and a global entrepreneur, sitting on boards of major international corporations including J.P. Morgan Chase, Quebecor World Inc. and Magna International Inc. He is also in demand as a political speaker commanding up to $50,000 for an appearance.

Looking back on the Mulroney years

Medium: Radio

Program: CBC Radio News

Broadcast Date: May 30, 2003

Duration: 3:00

"When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," Lyrics: C. Olcott, G. Graff. Music: E. Ball. ASCAP."

Last updated:
Nov. 22, 2004