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Canada marked the passing of Brian Mulroney, her 18th prime minister (PM), at a state funeral on March 23 at Montreal’s famed Notre Dame Basilica. Love him or hate him, he’ll at all times be remembered by Canadians for the daring modifications he ushered in throughout his time in workplace from 1984 – 1993 – every thing from the 1988 free-trade settlement with the United States to the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax.
Yet what many Canadians could not learn about Mulroney are his connections to hockey.
Mulroney Could Have Been a Hockey Player
Mulroney grew up in Baie-Comeau, a distant pulp and paper city on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, 420 kilometers northeast of Quebec City. Like most small cities throughout Canada within the Nineteen Forties and Nineteen Fifties, Baie-Comeau had little to provide younger boys moreover hockey, and Mulroney took to the sport.
As Mulroney instructed it, “When I was young, I was a pretty good player, and I was offered a chance to play Junior B.” (From Pat Hickey, “Mulroney chose education over hockey,” The Montreal Gazette, 04/09/2014). Accepting the provide would have meant Mulroney quitting college, leaving his hometown, and transferring to Quebec City. His father instructed him to give attention to his schooling as a substitute since, as he put it, “there is no money in sport.”
With his attribute wit, Mulroney mentioned, “If my father was alive today, I’d take him by the hand and say: ‘Dad, I’d like you to meet P.K. Subban.’”
Mulroney, a Key Player in Return of Quebec Nordiques
After his political profession ended, Mulroney sat on the boards of quite a few firms, together with Quebecor—a media firm that has tried to deliver the Quebec Nordiques again to their former house in Quebec City through the years. It was reported in 2014 that Mulroney, who was then vice-chairman of the Quebecor board, had been heavily involved in the effort and that he and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman shared a mutual respect. Bettman and Mulroney have been reported to have spoken immediately for fairly a while on the file.
While Quebecor misplaced its bid for a franchise in 2016 to the Vegas Golden Knights’ possession group, Mulroney never gave up on the Nordiques returning to Quebec. Speaking then, he mentioned, “In my opinion, it (an award of a franchise for Quebec City) wasn’t for tomorrow—and I haven’t changed my mind. For sure, we will continue to work very hard on this file, and I am convinced that ultimately, the people of Quebec City will be happy”.
Mulroney’s Friendship with Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky and Mulroney were friends for years. Gretzky met him for the primary time when he grew to become chief of the Progressive Conservative Party, and what ensued was a decades-long relationship, a lot of it punctuated with humor.
Just earlier than the third and closing sport of a three-game collection between Canada and the Soviet Union to resolve the winner of the 1987 Canada Cup, Mulroney known as Gretzky to want him and Team Canada luck. When the telephone rang, Gretzky turned to his father, Walter, saying, “You pick up”. His father and the PM spoke briefly earlier than the elder Gretzky handed the telephone to Wayne. After the decision ended, Walter turned to his son and mentioned in disbelief, “Can you imagine? The PM called me!”. Wayne protested, saying, “No, I don’t think he called you; he was calling me.” Walter would have none of it, saying, “No, no, I talked to him,” after which calling his mom to inform her of the PM’s name.
I think Mulroney was a fan of the Montreal Canadiens, though, as I recall, he maintained strict neutrality publicly, or no less than that was his stance exterior his house province of Quebec. Gretzky could have gotten a glimpse of Mulroney’s loyalties to the Habs at a marriage he and his spouse Janet attended, the place they discovered themselves sitting on the similar desk because the PM and his spouse. Mulroney turned to Gretzky and mentioned, “Young man, you remember 1993? That was a great victory for the Montreal Canadiens”. A wincing Gretzky replied, “Sir, I was on the other team; that wasn’t so great for me,” solely to hear Mulroney clarify, “No, no, but it was wonderful for the country.”
Sometimes, it looks as if hockey is the glue that holds Canada collectively. And Mulroney appeared to perceive that. It could clarify not solely why he sought out a relationship with Gretzky but in addition why he and different Canadian politicians have known as the varied incarnations of Team Canada over the many years with phrases of encouragement earlier than essential worldwide video games.
Related: NHL Can’t Hide from the Social and Political Issues of the Day
Gretzky appears to perceive the connection between politics and hockey, too, explaining in his eulogy to Mulroney, “We’re such a proud country, and I relate everything to hockey. And in politics and hockey, you fight, you battle, you drive. And I’m so proud to be Canadian today”.
Deep Ties Between Canadian Politics and Hockey
There is far knowledge within the sport of hockey, which in all probability served Mulroney effectively in politics and made him the statesman he grew to become. As former PM Jean Chretien, a fierce rival of Mulroney, said of his relationship with him, “It’s like playing hockey. You can fight on the ice and have a beer together after that. And we had a lot of things in common.”
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