In an interview with the CBC that aired this weekend, Brian Mulroney spoke about Stephen Harper’s public criticism of Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin. He also couldn’t resist the temptation to ramble on about everything else currently happening in Canada. What’s the point of listening to the long interview when you can get all the good stuff right here on The True North Times?
First, Mulroney pointed out that Harper wasn’t really cool when he criticized Chief Justice McLachlin. He talked about how the Supreme Court has an important role in Canada’s justice system and in ensuring Canadians’ freedoms and liberties, so dissing it might not help with those goals. Mulroney probably didn’t realize Harper’s actions sometimes seem contrary to those goals, or maybe he forgot in his old age that this is no longer the “Progressive” Conservative Party of Canada.
Mulroney then went on to comment more on the Conservative, NDP, and Liberal federal leaders. Mulroney’s vocabulary seems to have shrunk since his primetime in Canadian politics because he could initially only muster a statement about how all three leaders are “very tough and effective people.” He then went on to repeat himself in his senility, “[there’s] Prime Minister Harper, who’s tough…” When he finally did remember new words, he remarked that J.T. is attractive and young (do we really need to listen to a radio broadcast with Brian Mulroney to figure that out?). Maybe Mulroney is focusing on beauty as a measure of leadership ability in the hopes that his son Ben will throw his name in the ring sometime soon.
In a match-up between Ben and Justin, Canada is the real winner.
Run for Big Mike
Finally, Mulroney talked about the future of Canada. When asked about marijuana regulation, he yapped a bit then came to a bright and inevitably accurate prediction, “I think the young will rule the world.” It’s clear Mulroney still has great predictive powers. Wait, did I say still? Maybe he developed this skill recently because it’s hard to imagine he could have predicted how much people would hate the GST back in the 90s.
Mulroney then took a moment to note that John Baird is doing an “okay” job dealing with Ukraine, and that Harper is not doing an okay job handling requests for a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women. Of course, Mulroney couldn’t go out just talking about others. In the last bit of the interview, he made a few final self-congratulatory remarks, “do you want to be remembered as some guy who was popular, or do you want to be remembered 50 years from now as somebody who made profound social and economic and political changes in the country, and who thereby shaped his nation in a beneficial way for future generations?” Brian, Imma let you finish, but maybe let’s just stick to the current issues rather than trying to go back and change the past.