Brian Mulroney and Lucien Bouchard were college friends until Bouchard secretly negotiated with Quebec separatists and founded the Bloc Québécois, sparking a 30-year rift. After tariffs and sovereignty disputes, cross-border trips to the US dropped 8 percent year-over-year, costing billions in revenue. The speaker doubts Canadians will forgive quickly.
Chapters
Brian Mulroney, the former prime minister, was once college friends with a guy named Lucien Bouchard. When he got elected, Mulroney made Bouchard ambassador to Paris, brought him into cabinet. Bouchard repaid the favor by secretly scheming with separatists while still sitting in Mulroney's cabinet, and then dramatically quitting to found the Bloc Québécois. Mulroney was furious and was said to have told friends, "He won't come to my funeral." He can do whatever the hell he wants, but he will not come to my funeral. They didn't speak for 30 years. To the outside world, Canadians seem polite. Docile, even. But internally, we are a nation of scorecards. Deeply petty grudge holders. Last March, after the tariffs and threats to our sovereignty, when the border traffic numbers came out, They showed that Canadians were visiting the US far less. Hundreds of thousands of trips abandoned. Billions in lost revenue. And my comments were full of the usual reply guys saying, "You'll be back, just watch next year!" And somehow also managing to misspell the word year. Well, the most recent numbers are out. Visits to the US have not returned. They haven't stabilized. They've dropped even further. Another 8% over last year. Will we ever come back the way we used to? Beats me. I wouldn't put money on it. Oh, incidentally, Bouchard did go to Mulroney's funeral after all, and is said to have offered some very nice words. Maybe one day Canada will forgive. But like Bouchard at that funeral, it'll take a while to get there. And someone's gonna have to die first.
