Former Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, right, recently gave a series of media interviews in which he was critical of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, also shown in this 2007 photo. Photo: Jean Levac/Postmedia News On the day of Jack Layton’s funeral, I was standing outside Roy Thomson Hall when I saw Jean Chretien walking up the sidewalk by himself.
I stopped him and asked why he thought so many people had gathered for Layton.
Well, Chretien said, Layton was a little guy, a man of the people. Kind of like me. I am a little guy, a man of the people. Me.
He launched into a discussion of his own career, pivoting from Layton to himself in less than a minute, which seemed very strange, considering we were there to bury Layton.
I don’t tell this story to make Chretien look bad, but because it illustrates something about political leaders. People with normal egos don’t end up running the country.
To become prime minister of Canada normally requires decades of work, patient scheming, shameless upsucking, ruthless downkicking, subtle backstabbing and the development of an appealing — or at least acceptable — false face to show the public.
Only people with an extraordinary will to power can sustain the effort.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and Brian Mulroney, chairman of the board at Quebecor Inc. listen to presentations at the launch of the NHL season on TVA Sports network Wednesday, September 3, 2014 in Boucherville, Que. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)
Consider Stephen Harper. He won a seat in the House by defeating the Progressive Conservative MP who gave him his first job in politics. Then, as a fresh-faced Reform MP, he undercut leader Preston Manning with media leaks, the kind of thing he would never tolerate from one of his backbenchers.
Prime ministers are prickly about their achievements, jealous of their rivals and not always capable of setting aside grudges, even when they really really should.
This spring, for example, the family of the late Herb Gray needed to undertake delicate discussions before his funeral to make sure Chretien, Paul Martin and Justin Trudeau could all be seated appropriately in the synagogue.
Behind closed doors these guys all fume at sleights and jealously read each others’ reviews.
Brian Mulroney shocked cabinet ministers and premiers with the depth of his animus toward Pierre Trudeau after his predecessor scuppered the Meech Lake Accord.
In retirement, he privately expressed hot resentment at the fact that Canadians gave Trudeau a pass for his various sins.
“I suppose if you’re Pierre Trudeau, it must be kind of difficult to get up in the morning and look in the mirror and know you’ve seen perfection for the last time all day,” he told Peter Newman in the Secret Mulroney Tapes.
But any lingering resentment toward Trudeau appears milder than his feelings toward Harper.
Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney and daughter Caroline arrive at the church for the state funeral for the late Jim Flaherty in Toronto on Wednesday, April 16, 2014. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn)
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Mulroney’s 1984 election victory — the largest majority in Canadian history — the Conservatives sent out a fundraising email from British Columbia MP Ed Fast, which failed to include the words Brian, Mulroney or Progressive.
Mulroney celebrated the anniversary by giving a series of media interviews, tickling Harper’s ribs with a stiletto in each.
He told Postmedia’s Mark Kennedy, that the Conservatives should be careful with Justin Trudeau.
“He’s a good-looking kid,” Mulroney said. “He’s smart. He’s been elected. He’s flawlessly bilingual. He has a lovely wife and three beautiful kids. You know, what’s not to like with this picture?”
Justin makes Harper’s people angry, in part, they say, because he has no policy.
Not true, said Mulroney. “His policy is that he’s not Stephen Harper,” cheerfully forecasting Harper’s electoral demise.
“In 1984, all I had to do was mention Pierre Trudeau’s name and I got 50,000 more votes. My policy was that I wasn’t Pierre Trudeau. And 10 years later, Jean Chretien’s policy was that he wasn’t Brian Mulroney.”
In this file photo, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney says goodbye to Pope John Paul II. GAZETTE PHOTO BY JOHN MAHONEY
On Don Martin’s CTV show, Mulroney chided Harper for his foolish attack on Beverley McLachlin.
“You don’t get into a slagging contest with the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, even if you thought that he or she was wrong. You don’t do that.”
And he attacked Harper’s conduct of foreign affairs, something the prime minister is seeking to emphasize as we head toward the next election.
“When Canada, for the first time in our history, loses a vote at the United Nations to become a member of the Security Council … to Portugal, which was on the verge of bankruptcy at the time, you should look in the mirror and say: ‘Houston, I think we have a problem.’ “
Mulroney also said he would hold a commission of inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women, which Harper has refused to do.
It’s not surprising that Mulroney believes these things, and why should he hold his tongue?
Not only did Harper call a commission of inquiry that brought Mulroney low, he clumsily issued a fatwa against him, and routinely boasts that his European trade deal is the biggest in Canadian history, a claim that would be met with derisive laughter if Ottawa wasn’t so full of toadies.
The desire for power, not love of the leader, is what binds together every political coalition. Trudeau has the Big Mo at the moment, and so looks good to those who would like to govern, while the prime minister looks like he’s on the way out.
When he leaves, or is obviously weakened, we can expect to see the old fault lines between progressives and conservatives come to the surface again.
smaher@postmedia.com
@stphnmaher
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