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Later moral clarity shouldn’t absolve the past, writes Ottawa reader (Mulroney Advises Dirty Hands for Trudeau and a Mask for O’Toole)

As published in the Hill Times: Nov. 11, 2021

The persuasive power of wealth and status remain evident in recent coverage of Brian Mulroney’s advice to current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Opposition Leader Erin O’Toole. The mainstream press ignores Mulroney’s past record as they publicise his current pronouncements.

For example, Mulroney’s NAFTA policies harmed the Canadian economy by prioritizing shareholder rights at the expense of working people in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. As well, his unreported cash payments from German criminal Karl Heinz Schreiber and Mulroney’s subsequent wrist slap from CRA undermined public faith in Canada’s legal and taxation system.

Mulroney also turned his attention to post-secondary education; aware that public funding cuts were making universities more dependent on private money. According to a 2016 joint investigation by the Toronto Star, CBC/Radio-Canada and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists:

“A new $60-million university institute in Nova Scotia celebrating former prime minister Brian Mulroney — and being built with money he personally solicited — got a good chunk of that financing from donors embroiled in international controversy…a number of the power players bankrolling the Mulroney Institute of Government at St. Francis Xavier University have checkered resumés.”

Apparently, when moral clarity comes late in life; all past sins may be forgiven or at least forgotten. To quote the great man himself: "Sir, you had an option!"