The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, the 18th prime minister of Canada spoke to a full house at the Oakville Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Week on October 19, 2017. In attendance were the leaders of the Oakville Business Community. He received a standing ovation.
Brian Mulroney was prime minister from 1984 to 1993. His time was marked by the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement as well as the highly unpopular Goods and Services Tax (GST). Ultimately, GST decimated the Progressive Conservative Party. He lost to Jean Chrétien. It wasn't until Prime Minister Stephen Harper that the conservative party was able to lead Canada.
Since he left politics he joined the Montreal law firm Ogilvy Renault. He currently sits on the board of directors, or provided/s consultation to Canadian as well as international corporation which include:
- Barrick Gold,
- Quebecor Inc.,
- Archer Daniels Midland,
- TrizecHahn Corp. (Toronto),
- Cendant Corp. (New York),
- AOL Latin America, Inc. (New York)
- Cognicase Inc. (Montreal).
- Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst (Dallas),
- Forbes Global (New York)
- Power Corp. (Montreal),
- Bombardier (Montreal),
- China International Trust and Investment Corp. (Beijing),
- J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. (New York),
- Violy, Byorum and Partners (New York),
- VS&A Communications Partners (New York),
- Independent Newspapers (Dublin)
- General Enterprise Management Services Limited (British Virgin Islands), and
- Karl-Heinz Schreiber.
His talk to the members of the Oakville Chamber of Commerce focused on:
Brian Mulroney started off by warming up the crowd with a few wonderful tales. He then spoke about leadership. What makes a great leader? He indicated how leaders must look at what is best for the country not just go for what is popular.
Mr. Mulroney's main focus was NAFTA. NAFTA was not popular when it was introduced by him and President Regan. Opponents said the sky would fall. However, it has strengthened and modernized our countries. Under NAFTA - 500 million people create 28 percent of world's GDP. There is 7.8 billion people on earth. The employment rate in the US is at its very lowest rate, 4.1%. More goods and services travel across the US border then was ever imagined when NAFTA was created.
The current fear in the world is ISIS, a group dedicated to destroying democracy. According to Mulroney, the greatest support of democracy is a strong economy. 9/11 changed the world forever; however, it shouldn't create protectionism. This was demonstrated by the opening up of USSR by Mikhail Gorbachev. It created prosperity..
Great leadership must build not destroy. Protectionism creates Destructionism. A great leader must have a vision of what can be, while balancing the current needs of constituency. It is at times highly unpopular, but as a leader; however, what needs to be done must be done. History will always look favourably on the builders and creators.
Mr. Mulroney also touched on our current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his team leading the NAFTA negotiations. He believes that our current Prime Minister will do what is best for Canada.
At the end of his talk, the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney received a standing ovation.
Special guests in attendance includes:
- Bill Davis, Former Premier of Ontario
- Rob Burton, Oakville Mayor
- Perrin Beatty - CCofC
- Lisa Raitt - MP Milton
- John Davidson - Halton Region, Director of Economic Development
Chamber sponsors are Cogeco, Ford Motor Company of Canada, and Enbridge/Union Gas.
The next major event for the Oakville Chamber of Commerce is the Honourable Andrew Scheer, Leader of the Official Opposition and Leader of the Ontario Conservative Party of Canada. He will speak at a luncheon on Thursday, November 9, 2017 at RattleSnake Point.
Brian Mulroney spoke at the Oakville Conference centre.
List of corporations/orangizations that Mr. Mulroney is involved with was from garnered from Wikipedia.