Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney dies at 84

A former Canadian prime minister, Brian Mulroney has died at the age of 84, his daughter said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“He died peacefully surrounded by family,” Caroline Mulroney wrote on the post.

Canada’s current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid tribute to Mulroney on X, saying Mulroney “never stopped working for Canadians, and he always sought to make this country an even better place to call home.”

The Progressive Conservative Party (PC) politician was the country’s 18th prime minister and was in office from 1984 to 1993.

His greatest achievement was the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Mexico, the United States and Canada, which came into force in 1994.

Mulroney also strengthened relations with the U.S. and campaigned against apartheid in South Africa.

Mulroney was born the son of Irish immigrants in the province of Quebec and spoke both English and French.

In the 1960s, the lawyer was drawn into politics.

He won an overwhelming election victory with his Progressive Conservative Party in 1984.

However, he fell out of favour during his second term in office because of the ongoing recession, high unemployment, the introduction of new taxes and the failure of a constitutional reform.

The reform is aimed at integrating the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec more closely into the federation with more rights.