For almost all of the years that Brian Mulroney was Prime Minister of Canada, I worked for the Fédération des francophones hors Québec, a political lobby group based in Ottawa. On numerous occasions, I met him on Parliament Hill, and I was able to “meet” him from a distance during particularly historic or significant gatherings. This was the case on June 6, 1987, at the Ottawa convention center, when all the prime ministers of the Canadian provinces had been summoned to ratify the Meech Lake agreement, negotiated a few months earlier alongside this plan of water of Gatineau Park. I was present (in the New Brunswick delegation, because my two bosses at the Federation were Acadians from this province) to witness this commitment which was to lead Quebec to sign the constitutional agreement in “honor and peace”. ‘enthusiasm’, as he put it. I could see with my own eyes how happy he was to have achieved this feat as he watched his provincial counterparts in turn initial the agreement around the table. We know what happened next, that of the reconciliation aborted due to the too long delay, of three years, given to the provincial Parliaments to vote on the agreement. Not to mention that almost half of the original signatories left office during these years. But I consider that Mulroney still succeeded in his bet, because there was indeed an agreement. You had to have a strong front to sell Quebec across the rest of Canada and give it a respectful place, when Trudeau senior had so nimbly spit on his own cradle and betrayed it. From my point of view, the little guy from Baie-Comeau was the most Quebecois of all Canadian prime ministers. There will never be another like him.
I only had one “intimate” meeting with Brian Mulroney, a few years after he left active politics. It happened in the elevator at Quebecor head office in Montreal. Mr. Mulroney was there to participate in a meeting of the company’s board of directors, on which he sat. I was there for my work at TQS, which had its studios there. I entered the elevator while he was already inside, all alone. I recognized him and immediately extended my hand to him and said: “Hello, very pleased to meet you, Mr. Prime Minister. ” ” THANKS. But I no longer do this work,” he replied in a joking tone, in his distinctive deep voice. “I know,” I retorted, “but for me, you will always remain the Prime Minister. »
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