A new biography reassesses the legacy—and tracks the comeback—of our eighteenth prime minister.
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When Brian Mulroney re-signed from politics in 1993, among those who eagerly anticipated his leave-taking were his own domestic staff. In a cringe-inducing farewell scene captured in Stevie Cameron’s 1994 political exposé On the Take, the prime minister and his wife, Mila, bound for the French Riviera, paused to say goodbye to the maids, chef, and butler who had assembled outside the PM’s residence. After helping Mila into the waiting limousine, Mulroney mumbled, “We’re just a phone call away.” An awkward silence ensued. “What’s the number, Boss?” someone said. “Uh, just a phone call away,” Mulroney repeated, and the door slammed shut. As the limousine drove off, one maid couldn’t resist hollering, “Don’t come back!”
It would be hard to find a political career that encompassed more triumphant highs and more devastating lows than that of our eighteenth prime minister. In the 1984 federal election, Mulroney delivered the greatest landslide majority government in Canadian history to the Progressive Conservatives, who won 211 seats. Seven years later, the wrath against his party reached biblical proportions. Western Canadians hated him for selling out their interests by awarding a $100 million maintenance contract for new fighter jets to Quebec rather than Manitoba. Quebecers hated him for failing to deliver on promised constitutional reforms that would have finally recognized theirs as a distinct society. And most of the country hated him for introducing the 7 percent goods and-services tax.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 2018-Ausgabe von The Walrus.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 2018-Ausgabe von The Walrus.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
![MY GUILTY PLEASURE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/ZjBpzYG4o1719492279999/MY-GUILTY-PLEASURE.jpg)
MY GUILTY PLEASURE
I WAS AS SURPRISED as anyone when I became obsessed with comics again last year, at the advanced age of forty-five. As a kid, I loved reading G.I. Joe and The Amazing Spider-Man.
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The Upside-Down Book
In her new novel, Rachel Cusk makes the case for becoming a stranger to yourself
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Pick a Colour
BACK HERE, I can hear a group of women trickle in. Filling the floor with giggles and voices.
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Quebec's Crushing Immigration Policy
Familial separation can have devastating consequences on mental health and productivity
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The Briefcase
What I learned about being a writer from trying to finish a dead man's book
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In the Footsteps of Migrants Who Never Made It
Thousands have died trying to cross into the US from Mexico. Each year, activists follow their harrowing trek
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Blood Language
Menstruation ties us to the land in ways we've all but forgotten
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Dream Machines
The real threat with artificial intelligence is that we'll fall prey to its hype
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Invisible Lives
Without immigration status, Canada's undocumented youth stay in the shadows
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My Guilty Pleasure
"The late nights are mine alone, and I'll spend them however I damn well please"