“He was very, very warm and engaging to everybody. I think that’s what made him so popular and allowed him to win.”
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For Peter Trent, the former mayor of Westmount where Brian Mulroney and his family lived for decades, one of his strongest memories of Canada’s 18th prime minister are the children’s sports banquets the municipality held twice a year.
“We called them banquets, but we served hot dogs,” recalls Trent, who served as a councillor in Westmount since 1983, and later as mayor, on and off, between 1992 and 2017. There would be about 500 kids and their parents squished into Victoria Hall for the presentations of awards. As the father of four small children, Mulroney was often in attendance.
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“I would hand out these prizes, and Mulroney would attend these things even when he was prime minister, he would just be in among the crowd, with his kids,” Trent said. “He didn’t want any special attention, he was just there to watch his kids get these little prizes for some sporting event. He loved Westmount, he loved being there. …
“With his deep voice he had a presence, a very warm presence. Nobody got the impression he was stuck up or aloof. He was very, very warm and engaging to everybody. I think that’s what made him so popular and allowed him to win.”
On a political level, Trent said Mulroney’s easy affability, along with his ability to shift his political leanings to serve the needs of Canadians, were the secrets to his success.
“What I liked about Brian most of all, he showed that whether you’re left wing or right wing, you need to move toward the centre in Canadian politics, and that’s what he did. He moved from a rightist position to a more centralist position, right across Canada.
“That’s what got him to make a smashing victory way back in 1984 — his ability to be a rassembleur, to join people together, unlike, I must say, the current Conservative Party.”
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Mulroney was born the son of Irish-Canadian parents in Baie-Comeau, and served multiple roles over the years with the United Irish Societies of Montreal, the organizer of the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. Ken Quinn, past president and historian of the organization, remembers Mulroney giving the keynote speech at the St. Patrick’s Society annual luncheon in 2019.
“The room was packed. He spoke with great eloquence, which is probably why he was often called upon to give eulogies for world leaders.” He was also very personable, Quinn remembered.
“For the brief moment I had his attention, it felt as if I was the only person in the room with him.”
Mulroney was also remembered in Montreal for his quiet philanthropy. Just under four months ago, he and his wife, Mila, gave a personal gift of $1.5 million to the foundations of the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal, the Montreal Heart Institute and the Montreal Clinical Research Institute, each of which received $500,000. Mulroney had received medical treatment at all three institutions and served on the board of the Montreal Heart Institute for 20 years.
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“Like many others, I have been affected by disease,” Mulroney wrote at the time. “I want to reiterate how grateful I am to have been cared for by the competent and talented teams at these two hospitals and this research institute.”
Pierre Karl Péladeau, CEO of the media and telecommunications giant Quebecor where Mulroney served as chairman of the board of directors since 2014, paid tribute in a statement released Thursday night.
“In the late ’60s, he was a trusted adviser to my late father, Pierre Péladeau, and became an invaluable mentor to me,” Péladeau wrote. “It was a privilege to be able to count on his vast experience and wisdom. His sound counsel played an important role in Quebecor’s growth and its present-day success.”
Jakob Stausholm, the CEO of Rio Tinto that purchased the Iron Ore Company of Canada, also issued a statement honouring Mulroney’s contributions.
“He also left an important legacy for Rio Tinto as president of Iron Ore Company of Canada between 1977-1983, while the iron ore industry was experiencing significant upheavals and changes,” Stausholm wrote. “During that term, he emphasized labour relations and became somewhat of a household name in his native North Shore region of Québec and the Atlantic provinces.
“He’ll surely be remembered as a transformational leader who showed what you can accomplish when you have the courage of your convictions.”
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