Word: mulroney
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...Mulroney has been unable to convince Canadians, who are skeptical about U.S. intentions toward their country, that he enjoys a "special relationship" with President Reagan. The Prime Minister disappointed Canadians when he returned to Ottawa from the 1985 Shamrock Summit in Quebec City without a U.S. commitment to help clean up acid rain. Though he managed last spring to get American agreement to discuss a free-trade treaty between the two countries, many Canadians feel that both he and his government have been too quick to knuckle under to the U.S. on matters such as lumber and steel exports...
What has hurt Mulroney the most has been a steady stream of scandals involving members of his government. Mulroney had barely taken office when then Defense Minister Robert Coates was forced to resign after an Ottawa newspaper revealed that he had visited a West German strip club and shared a drink with an "exotic dancer." Eight months later Mulroney's Fisheries Minister was forced out for allowing tainted tuna to be sold to Canadian consumers. Mulroney's Communications Minister resigned from the Cabinet while the Royal Canadian Mounted Police looked into irregularities in his campaign spending, then returned after...
...improprieties have continued. Early last month Junior Transportation Minister Andre Bissonnette became the sixth member of Mulroney's Cabinet to resign under fire, quitting after he was implicated in a land deal that saw the value of a piece of Quebec real estate triple in eleven days. A fortnight ago several Quebec Conservatives were implicated in an influence-peddling case involving government contracts. A seventh Cabinet member, Minister of State Roch LaSalle, resigned last week after it was revealed that he had been the guest of honor at a dinner at which guests paid $5,000 apiece for the privilege...
...Liberals and the minority New Democratic Party have turned the daily question period in the House of Commons into an opportunity to attack Mulroney. Says Liberal M.P. John Nunziata: "This government has lost the moral right to govern." Still, the Liberals, led by M.P. John Turner, have no program of their own and are struggling to find one. The Prime Minister has attempted to play down the seriousness of some charges by saying, "Everyone knows the Liberals did worse." He has also lashed out at the parliamentary press corps. "The press is chasing its tail every day . . ." Mulroney charged recently...
...Mulroney's fighting words have not reassured party regulars, many of whom see disaster ahead. A survey conducted earlier this month by Angus Reid Associates in Toronto suggests there is ample reason for concern. Mulroney's Conservatives now enjoy the backing of only 23% of Canadian voters, compared with a 50% favorable rating just before the September 1984 election. If an election were to be held now, the Liberals, with 42% support, would form Canada's next government, and the New Democrats, with 33%, would become the opposition. Mulroney, who is expected to conduct a second shuffle of his Cabinet...