Canada Changes Course

(5 of 10)

The Liberals barely outpolled the country's third party, the New Democrats. Though early polls showed the N.D.P. losing most of its 31 seats, Leader Broadbent came off so well during the televised debates that the party dropped only one seat. During the campaign, the N.D.P. toned down its reformist rhetoric; instead, Broadbent emphasized job-training programs and women's rights. Having pulled to within ten seats of the Liberals, the New Democrats now nourish dreams of becoming the main opposition party after the next election.

Mulroney's triumph is especially remarkable for a man who, until his election to the House of Commons last year, had never held public office. The oldest son of an electrician, Mulroney (pronounced Mulrooney) was born in the papermaking town of Baie Comeau, 265 miles north of Quebec City. His ancestors had emigrated to Canada from Ireland in the 1840s, when the potato famine wasted their native land. Young Brian grew up speaking English at home and French with his playmates. After dinner, the parents and their six children would gather around the piano and sing Irish songs. During visits to Baie Comeau by Colonel Robert McCormick, publisher of the Chicago Tribune and proprietor of the local paper mill, the silver-voiced boy would be brought out to sing Danny Boy for him. By ten, Mulroney was also honing his oratorical skills in public speaking contests sponsored by the local Rotary club. In an early address, he wisely extolled the virtues of trees. He won first prize.

At 16, Mulroney entered St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, where he majored in political science−and minored in campus politics. He joined the Progressive Conservatives partly because, a friend recalls, the college's Liberal club was dominated by English-speaking "elitists." Even then, Mulroney knew what he wanted: as a sophomore, he was elected Prime Minister in a mock student parliament. In 1958 he served as national vice president of the Youth for Diefenbaker campaign; when the Tory leader swept into office, the precocious Mulroney served as an occasional adviser to the Prime Minister.

After graduating from Quebec City's Laval University law school in 1964, Mulroney joined an eminent Montreal law firm, where he specialized in labor litigation. "Running for office was always in the back of his mind," says Jean Bazin, a law-school classmate and co-chairman of Mulroney's campaign. "But he wanted to get established first." Though he represented management, Mulroney won a reputation among union leaders as a fair negotiator who did not bluster or talk down to them. At Montreal's Mount Royal Tennis Club, Mulroney, then 33, met a Yugoslavian-born engineering student named Mila Pivnicki, 18. Though the age difference initially troubled them, their shared passion for tennis and politics overcame all doubts. They were married a year later. The Mulroneys have three children: Caroline, 10, Benedict, 8, and Mark, 5.

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