Transforming the Nation

by Blake, Raymond B.

• ISBN13: 9780773532144
• ISBN10: 0773532145
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-08-01
• Publisher: McGill Queens Univ

Summary

Brian Mulroney captured the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives and became the first prime minister in thirty-five years - and the first Conservative since Sir John A. Macdonald - to win consecutive majorities. His victory was the largest in Canadian political history, yet his party was almost wiped out in the election following his resignation.InTransforming the Nation, leading Canadian politicians and scholars reflect on the major policy debates of the period and offer new and surprising interpretations of Brian Mulroney. Mulroney had a tremendous impact on Canada, charting a new direction for the country through his decisions on a variety of public-policy issues - free trade with the United States, social-security reform, foreign policy, and Canada's North. The Mulroney government represented a dramatic break with Canada's past.Mulroney received severe criticism for many of his new initiatives and left office with the lowest approval rating of any Canadian prime minister. However, much of the legislation he put in place was both embraced and expanded by the Liberals who succeeded him.Transforming the Nationis a significant contribution to our understanding of the complex world of Canadian public policy during the Mulroney era.

Table of Contents

Policy and Partisanship on the Campaign Trail: Mulroney Works His Wonder, Twice	p. 16
Debts Paid and Debts Owed: The Legacy of Mulroney's Economic Policies	p. 42
Free Trade and Brian Mulroney's Economic Legacy	p. 61
Building or Severing the Bonds of Nationhood?: The Uncertain Legacy of Constitution Making in the Mulroney Years	p. 80
Out of the Blue: The Mulroney Legacy in Foreign Policy	p. 113
Better Late Than Never: Defence during the Mulroney Years	p. 132
Governing through Shifting Social-Policy Regimes: Brian Mulroney and Canada's Welfare State	p. 164
Contained and Redefined: Women's Issues in the Mulroney Era	p. 178
Brian Mulroney and Intergovernmental Relations: The Limits of Collaborative Federalism	p. 205
Brian Mulroney and the West	p. 225
Mulroney and a Nationalist Quebec: Key to Political Realignment in Canada?	p. 250
Dream Catching Mulroney Style: Aboriginal Policy and Politics in the Era of Brian Mulroney	p. 294
Beyond the Blue Horizon: The Strength of Conservative Northern- Development Policy in the Mulroney Years	p. 339
The Mulroney Government and Canadian Cultural Policy	p. 357
Brian Mulroney and the Environment	p. 381
Governing from the Centre: Reflections on the Mulroney Cabinet	p. 393
The Complexity of Brian Mulroney: A Reflection	p. 417
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in Perspective	p. 424
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