The 1990s in America

Brian Mulroney

by David Barratt

Identification Prime minister of Canada, 1984-1993

During the 1990’s, Mulroney negotiated Canada’s membership in the North American Free Trade Agreement. He also sought to resolve underlying constitutional problems.

At the beginning of the 1990’s, Brian Mulroney was in his second term of office as Canadian prime minister and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party. He had been reelected unexpectedly in 1988 on the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement platform, despite massive criticism of government corruption, patronage, and his abrasive personal style. His economic policies were close to those of Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) in the United States and Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990) in the United Kingdom.

Brian Mulroney.

ph_Mulroney.jpg

(AP/Wide World Photos)

Negotiations on the extension of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement to include Mexico went ahead in 1990, again with considerable opposition from Liberals, who had once been free trade proponents. Mulroney’s internationalism even caused him to suggest in September, 2000, that all border posts between the United States and Canada should be abolished, a suggestion rebuffed by the United States. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was passed by all three governments in 1992 and came into effect in 1994.

Constitutional Issues

With the passage of the Constitution Act of 1982, Canada assumed full control over its constitution, ending British legislative authority over Canada. Sovereignist Quebec, however, refused to approve the new constitution. In 1987, Mulroney, a committed federalist, proposed the Meech Lake Accord to settle outstanding difficulties, especially concerning Quebec as well as First Nations (Canada’s Native American population) over the Charter of Rights and Freedoms section of the Constitution Act. In the spring of 1990, it was clear that no unanimity was to be achieved over the accord, with Manitoba and Newfoundland refusing to sign. By June, it was dead. Consequently, in 1992 Mulroney pushed through a document known as the Charlottetown Accord, which seemed to have general agreement from all parties. However, when put to a national referendum, it too failed, leaving the constitutional issue over Quebec unresolved.

What was worse for Mulroney was the breakaway of Mulroney’s senior Québécois partner, Lucien Bouchard, to form his own Bloc Québécois, with the object of gaining the province’s independence. On a positive note, just before his resignation in the early summer of 1993, Mulroney legislated for the formation of Nunavut as a new territory to be formed out of the Northwest Territories by 1999. Nunavut would include most of the Inuit population.

Other Issues

One of Mulroney’s new tax initiatives in the 1990’s was the Goods and Services Tax (GST), to replace the Manufacturers’ Sales Tax. Legislated in 1989 and imposed in 1991, the GST was similar to the European value-added tax (VAT) in that services as well as goods were taxed, but at a rate set at 7 percent, considerably less than the European model and more in line with sales tax rates. However, because its range was wider than the old tax, and because it was added in a much more visible way, the GST became instantly unpopular, particularly in Alberta, where there had been no previous sales tax. Some of the Alberta Conservative members of Parliament deserted the party for the Reform Party, which, in the 1993 election, had great support in western Canada. In that election, the Liberals, under Jean Chrétien, campaigned against the tax; however, once the Liberals were in power, it was retained as a significant source of revenue.

On the international front, Mulroney’s record is less controversial. With the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the emergence of newly independent states across Eastern Europe, Mulroney was particularly supportive of such states. Also, through membership of the British Commonwealth, Mulroney had been a fierce opponent of apartheid in South Africa and saw its crumbling with the installation of a new leadership under Nelson Mandela. Both Reagan and Thatcher admired Mulroney’s international role.

Life After Politics

In the spring of 1993, Mulroney realized his unpopularity would severely handicap the party at the upcoming elections and resigned as party leader and hence effectively as prime minister, just as Thatcher had done in the United Kingdom in 1990. After the election, he retired from politics and returned to the practice of law, becoming a senior partner in the Montreal law firm of Ogilvy Renault. He also sat on the boards of various major companies.

Impact

The beneficial effect of NAFTA on the Canadian economy was pronounced. The recession at the beginning of the 1990’s began to lift by 1993, largely as a result of the agreement. Trade with the United States especially continued to grow, and by 2004 the United States and Canada were the biggest trade partners in the world; trade between the two countries was worth some $700 billion annually.

Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative Party lost all but two of its parliamentary seats in the 1993 elections. The change of leadership to Kim Campbell, Canada’s first female prime minister, had no effect at all on the party’s unpopularity, which remained for many years. Reassessment of Mulroney’s national and international contributions has varied widely, and he remains a controversial figure. His recognition of the independence of postcommunist countries has been praised, especially by the Ukraine, as has his help in ending apartheid in South Africa. His environmental policies, also, have come out as forward-looking.

Further Reading

1 

Blake, Raymond B., ed. Transforming the Nation: Canada and Brian Mulroney. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2007. Leading Canadian politicians and scholars discuss the major policy debates of Mulroney’s period of office.

2 

McDonald, Marci. Yankee Doodle Dandy: Brian Mulroney and the American Agenda. Toronto: Stoddart, 1995. One of a number of books and articles highly critical of the influence of big business on Mulroney.

3 

Mulroney, Brian. Memoirs: 1939-1993. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2007. Mulroney’s own account of his political life until his resignation.

4 

Savoie, Donald J. Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney: In Search of a New Bureaucracy. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1994. Examines the common beliefs of all three conservative leaders toward privatization and the reduction of state bureaucracy.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Barratt, David. "Brian Mulroney." The 1990s in America, edited by Milton Berman, Salem Press, 2009. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=1990_1384.
APA 7th
Barratt, D. (2009). Brian Mulroney. In M. Berman (Ed.), The 1990s in America. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Barratt, David. "Brian Mulroney." Edited by Milton Berman. The 1990s in America. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2009. Accessed December 14, 2025. online.salempress.com.