Brian Mulroney led his Tories to an incredible victory on this date in 1984 with the PCs winning 2011 seats. The Liberals, who had spent the previous 16 years in power (with the exception of the nine months when Joe Clark led his minority government), were reduced to only 40 seats.Over the next nine years Mr. Mulroney and his team led a transformational government whose signature achievements included the Free Trade Agreement with the United States (later expanded to become the NAFTA), and the establishment of the GST. PM Mulroney also made Canada proud with personal initiatives such as his active campaign to end to South Africa's apartheid system and his overseeing of environmental policies and initiatives, particularly the Acid Rain Agreement between the U.S. and Canada, that have stood the test of time.Politically, Brian Mulroney was able to sweep Quebec in 1984 and then again in 1988’s free trade election. In doing so he became the first Tory since Sir John A. Macdonald himself to win back-to-back majority victories.Twenty-years after his September 4, 1984 victory, Mr. Mulroney tasked me with assisting him on what became his best-selling Memoirs. It was one of the great honours of my life and career that the 18th Prime Minister gave me his trust and led me on a journey through Canadian political history the likes of which I could not have imagined when I cast my first-ever vote on this date in 1984.It is therefore a particular personal pleasure for me to send anniversary greetings to Mr. Mulroney and his family on this special date in our history. Here is my favourite picture of the two of us, taken on Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s plane on the way to Nelson Mandela’s funeral in South Africa.
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PM Mulroney and Art on the flight to South Africa[/caption]Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.
[caption id="attachment_582787" align="aligncenter" width="537"] PM Mulroney and Art on the flight to South Africa[/caption]Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.