Fed body refuses to recognize Mulroney as historic figure

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Call it the Mulroney rule, or maybe the let’s make different rules for Conservatives rule. Members of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada have decided that Brian Mulroney, Canada’s 18th Prime Minister, cannot be honoured until 25 years after his death.

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Only then will they be able to acknowledge him as a “National Historic Person.”

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The shocking news came from Blacklock’s Reporteran independent media outlet in Ottawa that covers the ins and outs of the federal government. They had to file an access to information request to Parks Canada to obtain a copy of the board’s June 4, 2024, meeting where this decision was made.

Mulroney, who served as PM from 1984 until 1993, had died the previous February and this was their first meeting since. Rather than just acknowledge that Mulroney, as a former PM with a substantive policy impact on Canada, was a “National Historic Person,” they made up this new rule, according to the minutes obtained by Blacklock’s.

“Current Board policy does not indicate the period of delay between the death of a prime minister and the articulation of his or her contribution in a Statement Of Commemorative Intent,” the minutes read. “Board members held a lively debate on the number of years that were appropriate to allow for a balanced perspective on a prime minister’s contributions to Canadian history.”

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Apparently as part of the debate, the board discussed Mulroney’s achievements such as securing a free trade with the United States, creating eight new national parks and leading the charge against apartheid in South Africa. They also discussed his introduction of the GST, his failed attempts to get Quebec to sign the constitution and the devastation of the PC Party after he left politics.

The debate they had about him should tell you that he was a significant historical person for this country and should be honoured as such.

Instead, the board chose another path and invented the Mulroney rule.

“The Board ultimately decided the specific guideline should indicate that 25 years after death is the appropriate delay before defining a Statement Of Commemorative Intent for a prime minister,” the minutes state.

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Just in case you’re wondering, this same body has wasted no time in recognizing past Liberal Prime Ministers shortly after their death.

John Turner, who was only Prime Minister from June 1984 until September of that year when Mulroney took over, died on Sept. 19, 2020, and was recognized as a National Historic Person on April 28, 2021. For those keep score that’s 222 days after his passing, or seven months and 10 days.

Pierre Trudeau died on Sept. 28, 2000, and was recognized by the board on April 27, 2001. That’s just 212 days, or seven months, between Trudeau’s death and recognition.

Both men are key historical figures and deserve to be recognized, but why the different standard for Mulroney?

It’s absolutely absurd.

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So, too, is the fact that after Pierre Trudeau died, we immediately had an airport named for him, the federal government gave $125 million tax dollars to set up the Trudeau Foundation and they renamed a mountain after him.

Where are the honours for Mulroney?

Oh, that’s right, he was a conservative, so the rules are different, which is exactly why the board changed the rules at this point in time.

Beyond Mulroney’s many major accomplishments — he privatized Petro-Canada and Air Canada and along the way reduced the number of Crown Corporations from 61 to 38. He secured a free trade deal with Ronald Reagan which then grew it into NAFTA in 1992.

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Mulroney was a key figure in challenging apartheid in South Africa and securing independence for Ukraine. Under Mulroney, Canada’s voice mattered on the world stage. He took over a government that was bleeding red ink and while he didn’t balance the budget the way he had hoped, he put the country on the path that allowed Jean Chretien to put Canada on a path to fiscal sanity.

“Since his passing last year, our family has been deeply moved by the countless Canadians who have come forward to share their stories about our father and why he mattered to them,” read a statement from the Mulroney family to the Toronto Sun.

“Brian Mulroney, twice elected as Prime Minister and rightly remembered as Canada’s greenest leader, not only oversaw the most ambitious expansion of our national parks system, he also left an enduring imprint on our country’s history,” the statement added. “He is, without question, a National Historic Figure in the life of Canada. That will remain as true in 25 years as it is today.”

Beyond politics, Mulroney was a major business leader in this country serving as President of the Iron Ore Company of Canada and later on the boards of several companies including Quebecor, Barrick Gold, Archer Daniels Midland and the Toronto Sun among others.

Mulroney deserves to be recognized, not just by this board, but by the country as a whole. That he hasn’t received greater honours and recognition is a travesty.

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