(07/05/10) -

Trudeau Best, Mulroney Worst for Canadians

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Pierre Trudeau remains the favourite recent former head of government for Canadians, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 38 per cent of respondents think Trudeau has been Canada’s best prime minister since 1968.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Pierre Trudeau remains the favourite recent former head of government for Canadians, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 38 per cent of respondents think Trudeau has been Canada’s best prime minister since 1968.

Jean Chrétien is second with 13 per cent, followed by Stephen Harper with 11 per cent, Brian Mulroney with seven per cent, Paul Martin with three per cent, Joe Clark with two per cent, and Kim Campbell with one per cent.

Trudeau—a member of the Liberal party—headed the federal administration from 1968 to 1979, and from 1980 to 1984. During his tenure as prime minister, Trudeau envisioned the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Canada patriated the constitution from Britain. The 1982 constitution was signed without Quebec. Two different efforts by the Mulroney government—the Meech Lake Accord in the 1980s and the 1992 Charlottetown referendum—failed to bring the province into the constitution.

Mulroney was regarded as the worst prime minister by 24 per cent of respondents—up five points since May 2009—followed by Harper with 18 per cent, Trudeau with 12 per cent, Chrétien with 10 per cent, Kim Campbell with eight per cent, Clark with six per cent, Martin with five per cent, and John Turner with one per cent.

Mulroney—a member of the Progressive Conservative party—served as prime minister from 1984 to 1993, winning two majority mandates. His government cancelled the National Energy Program—developed by Trudeau—which proved extremely unpopular in Western Canada, and negotiated two separate free trade agreements.

Mulroney’s second term was marked by an economic recession and the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). In the 1993 Canadian federal election, the governing Progressive Conservatives—led by Campbell—were reduced to just two seats in the House of Commons.

Shortly after leaving office in 1993, Mulroney accepted thousands of dollars in cash from German-Canadian businessman Karl-Heinz Schreiber. This year, an inquiry conducted by former justice Jeffrey Oliphant concluded that the former prime minister contravened his own ethical standards when he accepted cash payments from Schreiber, and described the business relationship between the two men as "inappropriate."

Last month, New Democratic Party (NDP) lawmaker Pat Martin called for Mulroney to be stripped of the Order of Canada—the highest order administered in the Canadian system of honours—saying, "I think his reputation is tarnished to the degree where even the term honourable is suspect."

Polling Data

We would like to ask you some questions about the people who have served as prime minister of Canada since 1968. Which of these politicians do you think has been Canada’s best prime minister?

We would like to ask you some questions about the people who have served as prime minister of Canada since 1968. Which of these politicians do you think has been Canada’s worst prime minister?

Complete Poll (PDF)