Mulroney, Brian (1939– )

Canadian politician, Progressive Conservative Party leader 1983–93, prime minister 1984–93. He achieved a landslide victory in the 1984 election, and won the 1988 election on a platform of free trade with the USA, but with a reduced majority. Opposition within Canada to the 1987 Meech Lake agreement, a prerequisite to signing the 1982 Constitution, continued to plague Mulroney in his second term. A revised reform package in October 1992 failed to gain voters' approval, and in February 1993 he was forced to resign the leadership of the Conservative Party, though he remained prime minister until Kim Campbell was appointed his successor in June.

The Meech Lake agreement, a compromise reached to persuade Québec to sign the constitution, acknowledged Québec's separateness and offered more powers and federal funding to all provinces. Not all provinces agreed to the compromise, however, and it collapsed in 1990, contributing to the decline in Mulroney's popularity with the electorate.

In September 1991 Mulroney presented his revised reform package to Parliament, the Charlottetown agreement. Although approved by Parliament in August 1992, it was subsequently rejected by voters in a national referendum in October, which proved his political downfall.