caused him to suggest in September, 2000, that all
border posts between the United States and Canada
should be abolished, a suggestion rebuffed by the
United States. The North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) was passed by all three govern-
ments in 1992 and came into effect in 1994.
Constitutional Issues With the passage of the Con-
stitution Act of 1982, Canada assumed full control
over its constitution, ending British legislative au-
thority over Canada. Sovereignist Quebec, however,
refused to approve the new constitution. In 1987,
Mulroney, a committed federalist, proposed the
Meech Lake Accord to settle outstanding difficul-
ties, especially concerning Quebec as well as First
Nations (Canada’s Native American population)
over the Charter of Rights and Freedoms section of
the Constitution Act. In the spring of 1990, it was
clear that no unanimity was to be achieved over the
accord, with Manitoba and Newfoundland refusing
to sign. By June, it was dead. Consequently, in 1992
Mulroney pushed through a document known as
the Charlottetown Accord, which seemed to have
general agreement from all parties. However, when
put to a national referendum, it too failed, leaving
the constitutional issue over Quebec unresolved.
What was worse for Mulroney was the breakaway
of Mulroney’s senior Québécois partner, Lucien
Bouchard, to form his own Bloc Québécois, with the
object of gaining the province’s independence. On
a positive note, just before his resignation in the
early summer of 1993, Mulroney legislated for the
formation of Nunavut as a new territory to be
formed out of the Northwest Territories by 1999.
Nunavut would include most of the Inuit popula-
tion.
Other Issues One of Mulroney’s new tax initiatives
in the 1990’s was the Goods and Services Tax (GST),
to replace the Manufacturers’ Sales Tax. Legislated
in 1989 and imposed in 1991, the GST was similar to
the European value-added tax (VAT) in that services
as well as goods were taxed, but at a rate set at 7 per-
cent, considerably less than the European model
and more in line with sales tax rates. However, be-
cause its range was wider than the old tax, and be-
cause it was added in a much more visible way, the
GST became instantly unpopular, particularly in Al-
berta, where there had been no previous sales tax.
Some of the Alberta Conservative members of Par-
liament deserted the party for the Reform Party,
which, in the 1993 election, had great support in
western Canada. In that election, the Liberals, un-
der Jean Chrétien, campaigned against the tax; how-
ever, once the Liberals were in power, it was retained
as a significant source of revenue.
On the international front, Mulroney’s record is
less controversial. With the collapse of the Iron Cur-
tain and the emergence of newly independent states
across Eastern Europe, Mulroney was particularly
supportive of such states. Also, through member-
ship of the British Commonwealth, Mulroney had
been a fierce opponent of apartheid in South Africa
and saw its crumbling with the installation of a
new leadership under Nelson Mandela. Both Reagan
and Thatcher admired Mulroney’s international
role.Life After Politics In the spring of 1993, Mulroney
realized his unpopularity would severely handicap
the party at the upcoming elections and resigned as
party leader and hence effectively as prime minister,592 Mulroney, Brian The Nineties in America
Brian Mulroney.(AP/Wide World Photos)