Most Hated Canadians

Brian Mulroney

Even after 15 years of being out of office, there aren’t too many corners in this country that former prime minister Brian Mulroney’s name is spoken of positively.

And who can blame them?

The Mulroney-negotiated Meech Lake Accord aimed at bringing Quebec into the Constitution failed miserably. Its failure resulted in Lucien Bouchard leaving the Progressive Conservatives and forming the seperatist Bloc Quebécois, a political party with the sole goal of breaking the country up and they’re still at it today.

The Reform Party was also spawned during Mulroney’s reign, also a largely regional party with a prime focus on Western Canada and further splitting the vote for years to come.

Mulroney brought in the hated 7% GST. Polls at the time had 80% of Canadians disagreeing with the tax. Ironically today a Conservative government has reduced it and promises to reduce it further, while the Liberals, who said they’d eliminate it, are defending it tooth and nail. (More on that later here at 101)

In an attempt to achieve a zero rate of inflation, Mulroney allowed the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates, prolonging the recession, making mortgages for many unaffordable and causing many to lose their jobs.

He finally said he would step down as leader, but he did it too late. The PC’s were decimated, keeping just two seats after the 1993 election. Today the Progressive Conservative party as it was no longer exists.

If all that wasn’t bad enough, for years he foolishly let Peter Newman tape conversations with him over the years and came across looking well…foolish when Newman published a book about it. To make things worse we were subjected to a CBC special about it.