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| Bruce Baker |
In my short time in Ottawa, I had the opportunity to meet him on several occasions, and although our ideals remained far apart, I found a deep respect and fondness for him. Mulroney, first and foremost, was a lawyer and conciliator and had a profound respect for the ideas of others. He may have disagreed with what you were putting forth, but he always had time to listen. Criticism was not part of his make-up; instead, he would offer suggestions, looking for some form of consensus, or pointing out things that, as a young man, I probably would have never considered.
In the two terms he served as prime minister, Mulroney would change our country's political and social landscape forever. In his first term of office, he passed more legislation than any first-term government in Canadian history. In my estimation, his second term became his downfall with the introduction of the GST, the FTA (Free Trade Agreement), the beginnings of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the de-indexing of senior pensions. This followed a long period of social and labour unrest. Mulroney oversaw the end of the factory era in our country and the end of the strength of Canada's labour movement. To which the Chrétien Liberals finished with no change to the NAFTA structure and eventual signing on to the WTO.
To his credit, Mulroney created several new national parks and saved the B.C. island forests from permanent destruction. Another was his stance on the capital punishment debate, finally putting an end to the notion that Canada would return to the noose. The one change that I appreciate the most, which brought me into severe trouble with my own party at the time, was the end of universal family allowances and the child tax credit. This allowed more money to flow into lower-income families and for those like Karen and myself not to worry about the claw back every taxation year.
My favourite story about Mulroney unfolded after I left Ottawa and our first baby arrived. There were issues getting Nathan to feed, so my wife Karen's maternity claim was denied. Being June, no MPs were in the house and away from their constituencies. So little or no response was ever given in assistance. So, Karen penned a letter to Mila Mulroney explaining her situation, as Mila had just had a baby of her own, telling her of her problem. I can assure you there is no higher power as mothers uniting to fix an injustice. Three days later, a call came in from what is now Employment Canada, asking if I had the time to take Karen there. Otherwise, he was instructed to provide a limousine to pick her up. I chose the limo and went along for the ride. While Karen went to a side room to fill out report cards, the Employment Canada officer went outside with me, asking how many members I knew in Ottawa, to which, of course, I replied all of them. To which he replied that he was not surprised, as the prime minister had called him personally to reinstate her claim.
When we returned home, our phone rang, and it was Mulroney on the phone making sure all was taken care of, and congratulations. His last words were, “Things sure have not been the same here since you left.”
Good or bad, Brian Mulroney has left a mark in history in Canadian politics. He certainly will be remembered by me as the last of the middle-of-the-road politicians whom our country will never be able to see again, given the present worldwide political climate. My heart goes out to his family. He will be missed.
Bruce Baker is a veteran and freelance journalist who penned regular columns on political and legal matters for The Globe and Mail and Maclean’s and former researcher/writer for Allan Blakeney when he was premier of Saskatchewan. You can reach him at brucebak@telusplanet.net.
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