The Best Prime Minister Ever Is...

NOT BRIAN MULRONEY.

In advance of his memoir, Brian Mulroney has attacked the late Pierre Trudeau for not serving in the miltary during World War II and, as the Great Chin sees it, not suppoting Jews.

Despite conventional wisdom, military service is not a prerequisite for elected office. Where does Brian Mulroney think he is? The United States? You could subsribe to the idea that fascism is the future of humanity, the dark boot kicking a face, but we re not quite there yet. You dont have to have killed someone or ordered someone to kill someone to be a leader.

Interesting how he brings Jews into the fold. I cant help but think that a part of his demagogery is in service for Harper and the Conservatives and the impending elections. This current government more than any other Canadian government, has been vocal about publicizing their support for the state of Israel and getting involved in Mid-East politics as part of their effort to make Canada, a middle power, into a real player. Which is also the reason why were stuck in Afghanistan til at least 2009.

The rest of the article is below but this part is my favourite:

"Mr. Trudeau's government was the architect of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and brought home Canada's Constitution from Britain, even though Quebec refused to sign it.

Mr. Mulroney negotiated the free-trade agreement with the United States and introduced the Goods and Services Tax."

Hilarious. Whether or not you liked his policies, Trudeau was a visionary, a big thinker. He came up with a constitution for Canada (along with other things like decriminalising homosexuality, contraception and abortion in 1969 and adopting a policy of official multiculturalism and bilingualism).

Mulroney came up with a tax.

He should stick to watching his son host Canadian Idol.

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070905.wmulro0905/BNStory/Front/home

Mulroney lashes out at Trudeau
Fresh comments about late PM's wartime activities fan flames of long-running feud

BRIAN LAGHI

From Thursday's Globe and Mail
September 5, 2007 at 11:49 PM EDT

OTTAWA — The late Pierre Trudeau wasn't morally fit as a leader because of his failure to support the war against Nazi Germany, says former prime minister Brian Mulroney.

In an interview to promote his soon-to-be-published memoirs, Mr. Mulroney takes direct aim at his long-time foe, whose intervention is widely considered to have derailed Mr. Mulroney's Meech Lake constitutional accord.

"[Mr. Trudeau] is far from a perfect man," Mr. Mulroney said in an interview with CTV News.

"This is a man who questioned the Allies when the Jews were being sacrificed, and when the great extermination program was on, he was marching around Outremont [Montreal] on the other side of the issue."

The interview is part of a two-hour documentary that the network will broadcast Sunday, on the eve of the release of Mr. Mulroney's autobiography, Brian Mulroney: Memoirs.

Mr. Mulroney's remarks underscore the long-running animosity between two men who authored landmark changes in Canadian society.

Mr. Trudeau's government was the architect of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and brought home Canada's Constitution from Britain, even though Quebec refused to sign it.

Mr. Mulroney negotiated the free-trade agreement with the United States and introduced the Goods and Services Tax. His comments about Mr. Trudeau came in a portion of the documentary that reviews the failure of the Meech Lake accord, a deal aimed at getting Quebec's signature on the Constitution.

In the interview, Mr. Mulroney resurrects Mr. Trudeau's adamant opposition to conscription during the Second World War, when the latter was in his early 20s.

Asked by CTV news anchor Lloyd Robertson whether Mr. Trudeau's opposition might be seen as a product of the times in Quebec, Mr. Mulroney said Mr. Trudeau wasn't alone in his opposition.

"But they aren't around 50 years later to say: 'I'm Captain Canada'," he said.

"Look, out of 11 million citizens of this country, there were a million people — young men from British Columbia to Newfoundland — who rose to fight the Nazis. The most evil machine ever known to man, trying to exterminate the Jews, everybody knew that, and all these young Canadians rose and went overseas to fight them. Pierre Trudeau was not among them. That's a decision he made. He's entitled to make that kind of decision. But it doesn't qualify him for any position of moral leadership in our society."

Mr. Mulroney's remarks regarding Mr. Trudeau's opposition to the draft in the Montreal riding of Outrement appear to be a reference to the latter's decision to campaign for anti-conscription candidate Jean Drapeau during a 1942 by-election.

A recent book by retired academics Max and Monique Nemni detail the young Trudeau's resistance, noting that he spoke passionately against the candidacy of a military official put up by the Liberals.

At the time of the war, Mr. Trudeau's status as a student allowed him to avoid regular service, and he was instead part of the Canadian Officers' Training Corps. He was kicked out of that unit for disciplinary reasons and moved to another group, but was never called up.

Lloyd Axworthy, a cabinet minister in the governments of Mr. Trudeau and Jean Chrétien, called the comments "low-level remarks."

"I think it is really unbecoming and unfortunate that a former prime minister of Canada is using his new pulpit to even old scores in a way that the person can't respond," said Mr. Axworthy.

"I think if one talks about moral leadership, it's not exclusively derived from going into battle. Some of the most effective moral leaders of our time, like Mahatma Gandhi, were pacifists and conscientious objectors and promoted non-violent means as a solution."

Mr. Trudeau's son Justin declined to comment, and said he would not be addressing the matter in the future.

This latest barrage follows a book in 2005 by author Peter C. Newman, in which Mr. Mulroney called Mr. Trudeau a "son of a bitch" for undermining the Meech Lake accord. Mr. Mulroney has also said that Mr. Trudeau aimed to prevent his successors from succeeding where he failed.

He was similarly critical in the interview.

"He called me a weakling, he called us cowards, he called the premiers snivellers — well, you name it," said Mr. Mulroney. "It was all there, it was a vicious personal attack."

Mr. Mulroney did, however, praise his former antagonist when he died seven years ago. At the time, Mr. Mulroney expressed respect for the depth of Mr. Trudeau's beliefs, and the tenacity with which he defended them.

"I find that's rather strange," said Warren Allmand, a Montreal city councillor and former Trudeau cabinet minister. "Mulroney must have been a child at the time and Trudeau wasn't very old himself."

"I don't consider Mr. Mulroney a great historian," he said. "He may have had certain success as a politician but I don't know if he's known to be a historian."

He noted there were many young men who didn't fight in World War II, including Mr. Allmand's own father. He worked in the railway industry and was told he was needed more on the home front.

"It would appear that what Mr. Mulroney is trying to do is knock down Pierre Trudeau to put himself in a better light," he said.

"Let Mr. Mulroney's accomplishments speak for themselves and let Mr. Trudeau's accomplishments as a political leader speak for themselves. I don't believe in knocking down other people, especially when it doesn't even relate to their period of government.

"Some people would attack Mr. Trudeau for bringing in the War Measures Act, others would support him for that. These are policies in which you can have an opinion."

With a report from Joanna Smith

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