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By Charlie J. Mayer

In the prologue to his book Right Here, Right Now, former prime minister Stephen Harper writes that his ultimate goal is “to bridge the divide between perception and reality, fact and fiction …” Then, choosing fiction over fact, he falsely portrays former PM Brian Mulroney’s economic record, though careful never to mention him by name.

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As a cabinet minister who served for nine years in the Mulroney government, I feel it is incumbent to correct the record.

I feel it is incumbent to correct the record

“While generally aligned with (Ronald) Reagan and (Margaret) Thatcher during the Cold War, that government (Mr. Mulroney’s) turned out to be surprisingly tepid toward conservative economic reform. Its privatization and deregulation agendas were slow and wary. A timid approach to deficit reduction — limited spending restraint and modest tax increases — proved generally ineffectual.” So wrote Mr. Harper.

It would come as a major shock to president Reagan that the man he personally chose to give a eulogy at his funeral was only generally aligned with him. After all, it was president Reagan who said: “Brian Mulroney led Canada during a remarkable time, a time when conservative leaders dominated the free world. It was a closely knit circle; Brian Mulroney, Margaret Thatcher, Helmut Kohl, and a U.S. president named Reagan.”