Secretary of State George Shultz, center, walks with President Reagan and Vice President George Bush on his arrival at the White House in January 1985 after two days of arms talks with the Soviet Union in Geneva. Shultz died Saturday at the age of 100.
Barry Thumma/AP
Barry Thumma/AP
Former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, who served in four different Cabinet-level posts and helped guide America out of the Cold War, died Saturday evening at his home in California. He was 100.
One of the key figures of 20th century American politics, Shultz served in Cabinet-level positions under two American presidents. For Richard Nixon, he was U.S. secretary of labor, director of the Office of Management and Budget, and secretary of the treasury.
But it’s his role as U.S. secretary of state for Ronald Reagan for which Shultz is most famous. As secretary of state, Shultz was integral in improving relations with the Soviet Union using the tools of diplomacy.
In the early 1980s, during a time of icy relations between the world’s two remaining superpowers, Shultz pushed for a broader dialogue between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.
When Mikhail Gorbachev became general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985, Shultz was convinced Gorbachev was a new type of leader — one who understood the importance of nuclear arms control.
“He helped Reagan and Gorbachev to establish an upward spiral of trust by creating positive experiences with each other,” historian Stephan Kieninger wrote for the Hoover Institution at Stanford University around Shultz’s 100th birthday in December.
Those talks eventually led to the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which banned land-launched nuclear weapons capable of reaching targets between 310 and 3,400 miles away. Reagan and Gorbachev signed the agreement in 1987. By June 1991, the two countries had destroyed 2,692 ballistic and cruise missiles.
Shultz believed that agreement was only possible because of the trust that had developed between the two leaders.
“Trust is the coin of the realm,” Shultz wrote in The Washington Post in December. “When trust was in the room, whatever room that was — the family room, the schoolroom, the locker room, the office room, the government room or the military room — good things happened. When trust was not in the room, good things did not happen. Everything else is details.”
“Shultz was a key player, alongside President Ronald Reagan, in changing the direction of history by using the tools of diplomacy to bring the Cold War to an end,” Stanford University’s Hoover Institution said in announcing his death. He was able to “not only imagine things thought impossible but also to bring them to fruition and forever change the course of human events.”
After retiring from public office in 1989, Shultz went back to places where he had worked earlier in his career: the construction company Bechtel Group and Stanford. At Stanford he was a professor of international economics and a distinguished fellow at the Hoover Institution.
But Shultz remained an active participant in the political process. As an informal adviser to President George W. Bush, Shultz was often credited with helping inspire the Bush Doctrine — the idea that preemptive action is a valid form of self-defense.
Tributes poured in Sunday from politicians and diplomats. “George Shultz crafted the most successful Soviet policy the US ever had,” tweeted Daniel Fried, a former ambassador to Poland, and special assistant to Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
“He took Reagan’s best strategic insights, combined them with the professionalism of US diplomats, and advanced US interests and values to benefit the world,” Fried said, adding: “A great man.”
“He was a true leader on nuclear disarmament,” said former NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller.
Writing for the Post on Sunday, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Shultz her mentor and friend. “Now, we will have to carry on the work that he challenged us to do: to love freedom, to provide opportunity for all and to never lose a thirst for learning.”
Shultz also had a cheeky side. The Chicago Tribuneconfirmed in 1987 that he had a tiger tattooed on his rear end — a memento from his college years at Princeton University.
“When the children were young, they used to run up and touch it and he would growl and they would run away,” his wife Helena said.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
