Mulroney not able to let go

Alright, I’ll admit it. I can hold a grudge like it’s nobody’s business. I still have no want to see several people from my high school days who had a little of the “holier than thou” attitude. But there’s one person, who just doesn’t know that sometimes enough is enough.

That person is Brian Mulroney.

The ex-Prime Minister had some turbulent times while he occupied the Country’s highest elected office, and could never seem to get his government off the ground, as they lurched from scandal to scandal. (Remind you of any, oh I don’t know, current government?)

There is no doubt as well that Mulroney had some great successes in office (NAFTA) and some defeats that would make the best among us whimper and slink into a corner to lick our wounds.

Mulroney’s greatest defeat was undoubtedly the Meech Lake Accord. Meant to bring Canada together and get Quebec’s signature on the constitution, Mulroney instituted the constitutional talks thinking (like most Canadian politicians) if he played into Quebec’s hand, he would haul down a major victory.

It wasn’t to be.

After the accord was signed by the 10 premiers, public opinion polls across the country showed that people were generally in favour of the signed deal. However, as citizens began to get the crux of the accord they noticed what has now become a defining term in Canadian politics- Distinct Society. Many people still opposed to the term believe that it grants Quebec some sort of special treatment from the federal government. The accord fell apart after that and problems with provincial government’s (notably Newfoundland and Manitoba) inability to ratify it in their houses of Assembly.

There’s your little history lesson on the Meech Lake Accord. Back to business.....

I’ve never seen a person hold a grudge so hard as Mulroney. He is back in the spotlight, granting an interview to CTV’s Lloyd Robertson on the eve of the release of his memoirs.

During the interview (set to air Sunday evening) Mulroney blames the failure of the Meech Lake Accord on one person- Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Mulroney’s arch rival of Canadian politics has come back into the spotlight with him, but if you think the Conservative would hold back on any criticism of the now deceased leader, think again.

Not only does Mulroney tear a strip off PET for torpedoing the Accord, but he also accuses the oft-hated Liberal Leader as being a Nazi Sympathizer. These allegations have never been proven and are both hearsay and conjecture. When Trudeau didn’t comment about Nazi war crimes and the unspeakable horrors they committed, no one actually knew the extent of what was ACTUALLY happening. I’m not picking up for the ex-PM, just making a statement of fact.

I won’t read the memoir. Anyone who writes a twelve hundred page book about himself seems a little suspect to me. I wouldn’t doubt but PET isn’t the only one that is made to bear Mulroney’s failings. I’m sure there’s a heaping helping of criticism for Lucien Bouchard and Clyde Wells– but to me it’s just a diatribe of a man who has never accepted responsibility for his own failings and is content to take pot shots at a man who cannot defend himself.