Canada marked the passing of Brian Mulroney, her 18th prime minister (PM), at a state funeral on March 23 at Montreal’s famed Notre Dame Basilica. Love him or hate him, he’ll always be remembered by Canadians for the bold changes he ushered in during his time in office from 1984 – 1993 – everything from the 1988 free-trade agreement with the United States to the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax.
Yet what many Canadians may not know about Mulroney are his connections to hockey.
Mulroney Could Have Been a Hockey Player
Mulroney grew up in Baie-Comeau, a remote pulp and paper town on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, 420 kilometers northeast of Quebec City. Like most small towns across Canada in the 1940s and 1950s, Baie-Comeau had little to offer young boys besides hockey, and Mulroney took to the game.
As Mulroney told it, “When I was young, I was a pretty good player, and I was offered a chance to play Junior B.” (From Pat Hickey, “Mulroney chose education over hockey,” The Montreal Gazette, 04/09/2014). Accepting the offer would have meant Mulroney quitting school, leaving his hometown, and moving to Quebec City. His father told him to focus on his education instead since, as he put it, “there is no money in sport.”
With his characteristic wit, Mulroney said, “If my father was alive today, I’d take him by the hand and say: ‘Dad, I’d like you to meet P.K. Subban.'”
Mulroney, a Key Player in Return of Quebec Nordiques
After his political career ended, Mulroney sat on the boards of numerous corporations, including Quebecor—a media company that has tried to bring the Quebec Nordiques back to their former home in Quebec City over the years. It was reported in 2014 that Mulroney, who was then vice-chairman of the Quebecor board, had been heavily involved in the effort and that he and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman shared a mutual respect. Bettman and Mulroney were reported to have spoken directly for quite some time on the file.
While Quebecor lost its bid for a franchise in 2016 to the Vegas Golden Knights’ ownership group, Mulroney never gave up on the Nordiques returning to Quebec. Speaking then, he said, “In my opinion, it (an award of a franchise for Quebec City) wasn’t for tomorrow—and I haven’t changed my mind. For sure, we will continue to work very hard on this file, and I am convinced that ultimately, the people of Quebec City will be happy”.
Mulroney’s Friendship with Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky and Mulroney were friends for years. Gretzky met him for the first time when he became leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, and what ensued was a decades-long relationship, much of it punctuated with humor.
Just before the third and final game of a three-game series between Canada and the Soviet Union to decide the winner of the 1987 Canada Cup, Mulroney called Gretzky to wish him and Team Canada luck. When the phone rang, Gretzky turned to his father, Walter, saying, “You pick up”. His father and the PM spoke briefly before the elder Gretzky passed the phone to Wayne. After the call ended, Walter turned to his son and said in disbelief, “Can you imagine? The PM called me!”. Wayne protested, saying, “No, I don’t think he called you; he was calling me.” Walter would have none of it, saying, “No, no, I talked to him,” and then calling his mother to tell her of the PM’s call.
I suspect Mulroney was a fan of the Montreal Canadiens, although, as I recall, he maintained strict neutrality publicly, or at least that was his stance outside his home province of Quebec. Gretzky may have gotten a glimpse of Mulroney’s loyalties to the Habs at a wedding he and his wife Janet attended, where they found themselves sitting at the same table as the PM and his wife. Mulroney turned to Gretzky and said, “Young man, you remember 1993? That was a great victory for the Montreal Canadiens”. A wincing Gretzky replied, “Sir, I was on the other team; that wasn’t so great for me,” only to hear Mulroney explain, “No, no, but it was wonderful for the country.”
Sometimes, it seems like hockey is the glue that holds Canada together. And Mulroney appeared to understand that. It may explain not only why he sought out a relationship with Gretzky but also why he and other Canadian politicians have called the various incarnations of Team Canada over the decades with words of encouragement before crucial international games.
Related: NHL Can’t Hide from the Social and Political Issues of the Day
Gretzky seems to understand the relationship between politics and hockey, too, explaining in his eulogy to Mulroney, “We’re such a proud country, and I relate everything to hockey. And in politics and hockey, you fight, you battle, you drive. And I’m so proud to be Canadian today”.
Deep Ties Between Canadian Politics and Hockey
There is much wisdom in the game of hockey, which probably served Mulroney well in politics and made him the statesman he became. As former PM Jean Chretien, a fierce rival of Mulroney, said of his relationship with him, “It’s like playing hockey. You can fight on the ice and have a beer together after that. And we had a lot of things in common.”
