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How Brian Mulroney benefitted Canada: Why he went from ‘great success politically’ to a ‘slap in the face’ for Canadian

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A Canadian politics and government expert believes former prime minister Brian Mulroney left an impressive list of achievements by the end of his tenure at the top job, but an isolated incident involving an envelope of cash during a 1993 hotel meeting botched his record.

The expert’s analysis of Brian Mulroney’s time in the office and the controversy after comes as tributes poured in following the sad announcement of the 18th Canadian prime minister’s death made by his daughter Caroline Mulroney on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Mulroney’s popularity during his tenure as prime minister from 1984 to 1993 went from “top to bottom” despite him introducing certain revolutionary policies which may have been contentious at the time but benefitted Canada in the long run, said Nelson Wiseman, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at University of Toronto, in an interview with Yahoo News Canada.

 

He was the first Conservative leader since the 1880’s who led his party to two consecutive majority governments. That hadn’t happened in a hundred years since John A. Macdonald. So that’s very significant. That shows great success politically.Nelson Wiseman, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Toronto

“On the other hand, he also took his party down to defeat. In fact, after winning their most smashing victory in 1984 – no party had ever got 211 seats – his party ended up disappearing, swallowed up by the Reform Party so he went from top to bottom,” Wiseman added.

Accolades: Free trade agreement, GST and resolving Canada’s acid rain problem

Between the record-breaking win in 1984 and his political party nearly “disappearing” starting almost 10 years later, lie the key decision making events that moved him up and down the public popularity graph among Canadians.

Mulroney negotiated free trade agreements with the United States and Mexico and introduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) domestically, both of which were challenged at the time by various opposing interest groups but are now mainstays of the Canadian economy.

“He brought in the GST which was damaging electorally but it was the right thing to do because it got rid of a heavily distorting manufacturers sales tax,” the Free Press writer Rupa Subramanya notes in her online tribute to the late prime minister.

“People don’t like to pay taxes. So, they hated him for it but it was a good thing he did it. Because, look at how much money it generates. Can you imagine what the deficit of Canada would be now without the GST?” Wiseman shared with Yahoo News Canada.

On introducing the free trade agreement with the U.S. and Mexico, Wiseman emphasized that while the majority of Canadians, including cultural communities – especially the unions and hospital workers –- who feared private American ownership taking over, were against it, the deal was “fabulous” for Canada.

Wiseman also stressed on the crucial role played by Mulroney in helping resolve Canada’s “acid rain” problem in the ’80s which goes down as a major accomplishment on his record.

“If you’re eating fresh vegetables and fruits in the winter, thank Mulroney,” Subramanya wrote in her post.

Mulroney’s downfall: Quebec failure, Airbus scandal and ‘deeply unpopular’

Mulroney’s downfall was “triggered” by the “disastrous” policy defeat of the Meech Lake Accord, a series of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by then-PM Mulroney and all 10 Canadian provincial premiers to bring his home province of Quebec on board, which ultimately failed.

“What he was trying to do there was to outdo Pierre Trudeau. Trudeau got the Charter of Rights and the constitution but Quebec hadn’t agreed to it,” Wiseman explained.

“Mulroney’s plan was I’m gonna bring Quebec in and win their agreement to all of this and give them something like recognizing a distinctive signing – got all the premiers to agree – but then we got some elections and had new premiers elected who insisted on changes. So Meech Lake never passed.”

One of Mulroney’s biggest ambitions to unify the country failed utterly with the efforts almost leading to its destruction as the saga almost left Quebec separated from the rest of Canada.

“That was a big slap in the face,” Wiseman concluded.

Canadian government and politics expert Nelson Wiseman weighs in on Brian Mulroney's legacy and his rating on the public popularity scaleCanadian government and politics expert Nelson Wiseman weighs in on Brian Mulroney's legacy and his rating on the public popularity scale
Canadian government and politics expert Nelson Wiseman weighs in on Brian Mulroney’s legacy and his rating on the public popularity scale

Airbus scandal was another ‘bad mark’ on Mulroney’s legacy

Another nail in the coffin for Mulroney’s eroding popularity was the Airbus scandal that began in the late 1980s and concluded close to 2010 with the years in between presenting Mulroney with a tumultuous round of challenges.

Initially, it was alleged that Mulroney was bribed by a German-Canadian businessman to purchase the Airbus passenger aircraft for Air Canada (when it was a Crown corporation) during his prime ministership around 1988.

In his defence, Mulroney called the allegations part of a smear campaign and sued the federal government for millions of dollars with the RCMP leading the investigation and the case being settled out of court in 1997.

“It came in unmarked envelopes and he denied that he did anything with this guy, Karlheinz Schreiber, except have coffee,” Wiseman shared with Yahoo News Canada.

However, it was later determined that Mulroney received at least $225,000 in cash, which he admitted to a public inquiry but insisted that he was no longer the prime minister of Canada at the time accepting the “envelope of cash.”

“It wasn’t bribery. He wasn’t in government but he was lobbying for Air Canada to buy Airbus which they ended up doing. So that’s a really bad mark on him as a person,” Wiseman shared.

The Oliphant Commission, not mandated to determine whether civil or criminal laws had been broken, issued a final report in 2010, stating that Mulroney had acted inappropriately in not disclosing the funds.

By the time he quit from the top job and as the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, Mulroney was deeply unpopular, and along with his unpopularity came the aftermath which left his party in tatters.

 

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Montreal skateboarders rally to protect skatepark

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Montreal skateboarders rally to protect skatepark

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Ilia Malinin lands 4 quads – and a backflip – to win his third straight Skate America title

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World champion Ilia Malinin won Skate America on Sunday for the third consecutive year, altering his free skate on the fly after an early mistake and punctuating the program with a backflip that had been banned in competition until this season.

The two-time and reigning U.S. champion scored 290.12 points to finish ahead of Kevin Aymoz of France, whose career-best free skate left him with 282.88 points and earned a standing ovation inside Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas.

Kao Miura of Japan, who was second after his short program, finished third with 278.67 points.

“It was a pretty challenging moment for me, just stepping on the ice. I felt way more nervous than usual,” said Malinin, the early favorite for gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. “That may have played a part in the whole program.”

Vancouver’s Wesley Chiu placed ninth in the free skate with a score of 140.08 points, he finished ninth overall with a total of 206.94 points.

The ice dance competition was to be decided later Sunday in the final event of the season-opening Grand Prix. Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Britain had the lead over American world champs Madison Chock and Evan Bates after the rhythm dance.

Malinin and Miura were separated by a mere 0.15 points after their short programs, but it was Aymoz who challenged Malinin for the top of the podium. The 27-year-old from France, who struggled mightily at the end of last season, landed a pair of quads in an error-free program to score 190.84 points — the best of all the free skates — and vault into first place.

Nika Egadze of Georgia was next on the ice but fell on his opening quad lutz and stepped out on his quad salchow, and those two mistakes kept him from medal contention. He wound up fourth with 261.71 points.

Miura, the 19-year-old former world junior champion, landed three quads during a program set to “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” the 1964 musical romantic drama film. But Miura lost points for an under-rotated triple axel and on a step sequence that led into a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination midway through his free skate.

Malinin was last to take the ice, performing a program set to “I’m Not a Vampire” by the rock band Falling In Reverse.

He opened with a perfect quad flip and then hit a triple axel, even though Malinin remains the only skater to have landed the quad version of the jump in competition. Then came the mistake, when he doubled a planned quad loop, leaving Malinin to make changes on the fly over the second half of the program in an attempt to make up the lost points.

After putting his hand down on his triple lutz, Malinin landed a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination before a quad salchow-triple axel in sequence — a pair of huge jumping passes that sent his technical score soaring.

Malinin capped the recovery of his program with a backflip during his choreographed sequence, a move that had been banned until this season because of its inherent danger. It was expected all along but nonetheless sent a roar through the crowd, just as Malinin’s program came to an end and a steady stream of stuffed animals were thrown onto the ice.

“It was really hard for me in the middle of the program to think what I have to do — what I need to do,” Malinin said when asked about the early mistake. “I just went full autopilot through there and I’m glad I made it out.”

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AP sports:

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Leclerc wins US Grand Prix and late penalty gives Verstappen 3rd place over Norris in title chase

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Charles Leclerc earned Ferrari its first United States Grand Prix victory since 2018 with a clever start and a commanding drive Sunday, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen strengthened his lead in the F1 season championship by finishing third ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Verstappen earned the podium only after Norris was given a five-second penalty for leaving the track to pass Verstappen in the final laps.

Verstappen immediately complained about the move, while Norris insisted Verstappen also left the track. Norris’ pass came after the two drivers had battled for the final podium spot and critical championship points over several laps and Verstappen had stubbornly refused to give ground.

The penalty and fourth place finish cost Norris valuable points in the title chase. Verstappen stretched his championship lead over Norris from 54 points to 57 with five grand prix and two sprint races left.

Leclerc earned his third win of the season and Ferrari pulled a 1-2 finish with his teammate Carlos Sainz in second. Kimi Raikkonen had been the last Ferrari winner at the Circuit of the Americas in 2018.

But the bigger battle was raging behind them as Verstappen and Norris fought over every inch of the final dozen laps.

Verstappen has not won a grand prix since June and Norris has steadily chipped away at his lead as the Red Bull car has faded. Yet Verstappen still stretched his lead by five points over the weekend by also winning Saturday’s sprint race.

Norris will leave Austin knowing he squandered a big chance to gain ground. He had even earned pole position for Sunday’s race.

Verstappen started right beside him, and it was their battle into the first turn that saw both cars run wide, leaving room for Leclerc to pounce on the opening.

The Ferrari driver jumped from fourth and straight into the lead.

Norris complained Verstappen forced him off the track at the start to begin a battle that would be fought over the entire race.

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AP auto racing:

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