Brian Mulroney's Legacy what will it be ?

[Francis2004]

It seems Brian is at it again with the Conservative Party and could well divide its ranks again. This is only my opinion but here is what I see.

Brian may well want to be remembered for what he did after politics more then what he did as Prime Minister. He may well go down in History as the person who may well have

• Brought down the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
• Been in Court more times then any other Prime Minister after leaving office
• Cost Canadian Tax payers the most in legal bills..

Now in recent days he has the possibility of continuing that legacy by having divided the New Conservative Party..

The Conservatives' iron-clad discipline suffered several cracks last week as party members bickered behind closed doors over Brian Mulroney -- the former prime minister who divides them still.

MPs and senators feuded privately over the Harper government's treatment of the former leader as a public inquiry begins looking into his business dealings with arms dealer Karlheinz Schreiber. Some are now going public.

Sources in the Conservative caucus have told The Canadian Press that their meeting last Wednesday was pocked with bitter exchanges about the man who delivered the last Tory majority government.

Several MPs pointedly criticized the way Mulroney was being treated by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's staff.

A cabinet minister was heckled when she attempted to explain the PMO version of events to Mulroney's defenders.

One outraged Mulroney supporter strode into the caucus room and straight to the podium to address fellow Conservatives after consulting with the former PM by phone.

By the end of the altercation, the Conservative House leader glumly buried his face in his hands.

"It was an uncomfortable thing to see the family fight," said one Conservative member of caucus.

CTV.ca | Conservative caucus roils over Brian Mulroney

But if that was not all Mulroney has been involved in it would be of historic nature.. Let me hypothesize a second here and wonder if he could also cause the same rift in the Liberal party with recent communications with Michael Ignatieff ?

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney got a surprise phone call from a major party leader on his 70th birthday Friday.

It wasn't Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper but Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.

Ignatieff called to wish Happy Birthday to Mulroney and to talk a little politics.

Ignatieff is making a major push in Quebec and his kindness to Mulroney will do him no harm in a province where the former PM is still popular.

Mulroney is a close adviser to Quebec Premier Jean Charest as well as the province's powerful business and media elite.

He is chairman of Quebecor, which owns the TVA televison network and the Journal de Montreal, and is best friends with Montreal billionaire Paul Desmarais Sr, who owns La Presse.

A family spokesperson said Mulroney was deeply touched by Ignatieff's phone call, calling it "a class act."

CTV.ca | Mulroney gets surprise birthday call from Ignatieff

Ok so you say I am reaching for starws here and perhaps I am.. But in politics nothings happens just for the heck of it..

Next show of Mulroney's Life Saga on CTV " how to destroy all of the Canadian political parties and regain power".. :lol:

 

[Cliffy]

Yea, Brian the destroyer!!! Cool! We should support his efforts. Time for some new blood with fresh ideas. Nothing I would like more than to see all the present parties go down in flames. They are over the hill - decrepit and irrelevant. Time to put them out to pasture or the glue factory.

 

[Francis2004]

I agree Cliffy.. Now for a fresh start and a party for that is really for the people..

 

[talloola]

Don't know about his legacy but his book should be titled 'I SCREWED EM ALL'. and
proud of it.

 

[Walter]

Greenest Prime Minister

 

[Nuggler]

:angry3: We're living his legacy now. Fun, eh !!:angry3:

Mc jobs jobs jobs

 

[TenPenny]

With the FTA and also the GST, his gov't built the stage on which the prosperity of the following decades was built.

Is he a scummy guy? Yes.
Is he worse than his peers? No.

 

[JLM]

It seems Brian is at it again with the Conservative Party and could well divide its ranks again. This is only my opinion but here is what I see.

Brian may well want to be remembered for what he did after politics more then what he did as Prime Minister. He may well go down in History as the person who may well have

• Brought down the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
• Been in Court more times then any other Prime Minister after leaving office
• Cost Canadian Tax payers the most in legal bills..

Now in recent days he has the possibility of continuing that legacy by having divided the New Conservative Party..



CTV.ca | Conservative caucus roils over Brian Mulroney

But if that was not all Mulroney has been involved in it would be of historic nature.. Let me hypothesize a second here and wonder if he could also cause the same rift in the Liberal party with recent communications with Michael Ignatieff ?



CTV.ca | Mulroney gets surprise birthday call from Ignatieff

Ok so you say I am reaching for starws here and perhaps I am.. But in politics nothings happens just for the heck of it..

Next show of Mulroney's Life Saga on CTV " how to destroy all of the Canadian political parties and regain power".. :lol:

Probably theft and arrogance.

 

[Colpy]

How many remember John A. Macdonald took railroad money?????

The corruption will not be remembered by anyone but historians.

Lyin' Brian will be remembered for his failed (and idiotic, IMHO) efforts to bring Quebec into the fold........

He will be remembered as the leader of the international fight against apartheit.

He will be remembered as the architect of Free Trade.

 

[wulfie68]

At this point he may also be remembered as the last truly national PM: neither Trudeau nor Chretien was able to win as much support in all parts of the nation as him. His majorities were astounding in their size and breadth. As regionally divided and partisan as the country has become I don't know if Canada we will see a leader with that type of appeal/support again in my lifetime.

He should also be remembered as the PM who saw the rise of the Bloc Quebecois and Reform parties in his tenure (although technically the Reform weren't a presence until after he was gone, it was Mulroney's lack of concern over our deficit and debt that truly gave the Reform a "beacon issue" in Western Canada to make their breakthrough).

 

[Kreskin]

The GST. It made sense but didn't make for good politics.

 

[pegger]

But if that was not all Mulroney has been involved in it would be of historic nature.. Let me hypothesize a second here and wonder if he could also cause the same rift in the Liberal party with recent communications with Michael Ignatieff ?

If anything, I could see Iggy's treatment of Mulroney appealing more to the PC wing of the Conservative party. To me it shows class - and non-partisanship. Wishing a former PM happy birthday, I can't even imagine Harper calling Paul or Jean and wishing them a happy...anything.

I have to be honest - I personally, think that Mulroney was one better PMs this country has had (in terms of long term benefits to the country) - although he was pretty slimy in some business dealings. The GST and FTA laid the groundwork for the prosperity of the 90's, the Liberals were wise to continue that in the 90's, and pay down the debt - although they could have gone farther.

I can't comment objectively on Harper's treatment of him, because I think Harper is a waste of space. I think his treatment of Mulroney is deplorable. Like him or not, he was the last majority PM that your party had. Throwing him under the bus should show all PCs what Harper thinks of us. I've been on to him for years though.

 

[#juan]

Mulroney's biggest lagacy is the incredible debt he has left us. Our grandkids will still be paying off the debt that Mulroney built. Others had earler added to our debt but Mulroney added $500 billion all by himself. Another lagacy from Lyin' Brian is that shady people broought him big money in paper bags. Mulroney was not our proudest moment. like a lot of Canadians, I would be happy if the chin would just drop down a hole somewhere and we could all try to forget him.

 

[JLM]

"Mulroney's biggest lagacy is the incredible debt he has left us. Our grandkids will still be paying off the debt that Mulroney built."- Yep, it's a toss up who left us with the biggest debt, he or Trudeau and it's a toss up which one takes the cake for arrogance. Never heard of Trudeau actually stealing anything, but then never heard of Mulroney giving anyone the finger, so I guess it's a dead heat. And then there was "fuddle duddle"

 

[pegger]

I can't blame Mulroney solely for the debt of the 80's - a big part of it was structural, which was a legacy of the Trudeau Liberals. I believe BOTH share the blame for the 500 B debt - just as Chrieten/Martin need to share the credit with Mulroney for the elimination of the deficit, and reduction of the debt - as it was the GST that helped in that regard. % of blame/credit can be disputed...

 

[#juan]

"Mulroney's biggest lagacy is the incredible debt he has left us. Our grandkids will still be paying off the debt that Mulroney built."- Yep, it's a toss up who left us with the biggest debt, he or Trudeau and it's a toss up which one takes the cake for arrogance. Never heard of Trudeau actually stealing anything, but then never heard of Mulroney giving anyone the finger, so I guess it's a dead heat. And then there was "fuddle duddle"

The records show that Mulroney added to our debt with successive deficit budgets in each of the nine years he and his cronies were in office. Mulroney can blame nobody but himself. Chretien for all his faults did get rid of the deficit and actually paid down some of Mulrony's debt. I would far more rather Mulroney gave the odd finger rather than build the debt he did.

 

[Tonington]

This Globe and Mail link shows some interesting trends. I think Mulroney should go down as the most under-appreciated Prime Minister. He won't, but that's my opinion anyways.

 

[Cannuck]

One can find rants and raves about any PM. Mulroney inherited a mess from Trudeau and began the process of balancing the budget. Liberal supporters will criticize him for continued deficit spending but really have no credibility as they did nothing but complain about Harris and Klein "gutting" everything. Mulroney laid the foundation that allowed Canada to slay the deficit dragon. He should be commended for that, just as Cretin/Martin should be commended for continuing on with the process.

Of course, this doesn't mean I don't think they are all slime.

 

[pegger]

Of course, this doesn't mean I don't think they are all slime.

My favorite quote on politics is that the word is formed from two parts

poli - meaning many

and

tics - meaning blood sucking parasites.

It apply fits.

 

[Socrates the Greek]

Don't know about his legacy but his book should be titled 'I SCREWED EM ALL'. and
proud of it.

He also got caught brown bagging $1000 bills and kept it secret from revenue Canada, until the German fire arms dealer started talking, Mulroney did not declare to Revenue Canada the bribe money because he did not know how to truly classify this income, for all intends and purposes he thought if you make it out of the country you don’t have to pay tax. Oh well sh!t happens. What is really stupid and pathetic here is Mulroney’s then finance minister Michel Wilson had enacted the law that anyone earning money out of the country and is a permanent resident of Canada would have to pay tax on any foreign income, he went as far as also including any money made in the form of bribe and enacted the law that even bribe money has to be declared. That is Mulroney’s legacy the BROWN BAG PM.