Brian Mulroney

• Eighteenth Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993.

• Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993.

• After retiring from politics, Mulroney resumed his earlier career as a lawyer and business consultant.

The Mulroney Era: Closer Ties with the United States• opposite approach from Trudeau– he worked to

make closer bonds with the US, became friendly with Reagan and opened up Canada for foreign investment

• Canada, as a NORAD partner, was also asked to be part of the American Star Wars defence plan that would put military defence satellites into space.

• It would be very costly and it promoted militarism, so after much controversy Mulroney said no, but left the door open for Canadian companies to bid on contracts in the project.

The Mulroney Era: Closer Ties with the United States

• Mulroney dismantled Trudeau’s FIRA, the Foreign Investment Review Agency, designed to monitor unsuitable investment in Canada by foreign companies.

• Mulroney replaced FIRA with Investment Canada, an agency designed to encourage suitable investment in Canada.

• Mulroney and the Conservatives initiated NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, with the U.S.A. to remove tariffs on goods crossing the Canadian-U.S. border.

Possible PROS and CONS of NAFTA

• It was hoped that Canada would attract more business from south of the border and have access to the larger American market.

• Canadian businesses feared the potential competition from bigger, more multi-national American businesses.

• Some feared that Canadian businesses would move farther south into Mexico where labour was cheaper and anti-pollution laws are less stringent.

The End of the Cold War and the New

World Order

Ch. 6

The End of the Cold War

• 1980s: major changes in USSR– New leader Mikhail Gorbachev– Proposes reduction in the militaries of

superpowers – too expensive– Perestroika (reconstruction)

• Political and economic changes– Glasnost (openness)

• Governmental transparency, greater freedom of speech

• Censorship was loosened and greater freedom of speech was allowed.

• East Germans, Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, and Romanians demanded similar reforms.

Mikhail Gorbachev

• Was the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the last head of state of the USSR, serving from 1985 until its collapse in 1991.

• His attempts at reform — perestroika and glasnost — as well as summit conferences with United States President Ronald Reagan, contributed to the end of the Cold War.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev

The End of the Cold War• Other communist countries demand

similar changes– Fall of the Berlin Wall

• Divided democratic west and communist east Berlin

• Symbolized the separation of capitalist and communist countries – “Iron Curtain”

• Torn down by citizens of Berlin in 1989

– China• Allowed some economic reforms• People wanted political reforms too, but

government quashed this in the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989

– Several hundred protesters killed by Chinese military

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

Tiananmen Square Protests

The Massacre

The Tank Man

The End of the Cold War

• Fall of the Soviet Union– 1991: Communist Party unable to hold

onto power– Soviet Union (USSR) splits up into 15

different countries– Russia and other former Soviet

Republics become democracies, hold elections

– Cold War is over

The End of the Cold War

New World Order

• USA :The United Nations would take a much more active role as a global police – where necessary, it would use force to punish aggression. (Under the guidance of the U.S.)

• High hopes that an era of peace would follow– Wars continue (Yugoslavia, Middle East,

Africa…)

• Canada’s role as peacekeeper or peacemaker continues

The Gulf War - “Operation Desert Storm”

• In 1990, Iraqi troops invaded the oil rich country of Kuwait. How did the U.N. react?

• Demanded withdrawal

• Threatened sanction

• Under U.S. lead, threatened force then began bombing targets.

Somalia

• Country in East Africa

• 1991-1992: Somali Civil War leads to chaos and starvation

• 1992: United Nations send in troops to make Somalia safe for humanitarian aid missions– Canada contributes forces, including

Canadian Airborne Regiment (CAR)

Somalia

• 16 March 1993: Somali teenager, possible thief, found by CAR soldiers– Teen tortured and beaten to death by

several soldiers• Took “trophy” photos

– Other soldiers and officers knew assault was occurring, did nothing to stop it

• One officer reportedly said, "I don't care what you do, just don't kill the guy“.

• Screams heard around the area

Somalia

• Aftermath– 9 soldiers and officers charged

• 4 found guilty of charges ranging from negligence to 2nd degree murder

• Main attacker attempted suicide, suffered brain damage, unable to stand trial

– Politicians and high-ranking members of the military attempted a cover-up

• Led to investigation, resignations

– Canadian Airborne Regiment disbanded• Culture of racism in regiment• Disturbing videos of hazing rituals surfaced

Rwanda

• Country in central Africa

• 1990-1993: Rwandan Civil War– Conflict between two main ethnicities:

Hutu and Tutsi

• 1993: United Nations peacekeepers sent in after ceasefire reached– Led by Canadian General Roméo Dallaire– Canadian troops also part of the mission

• 1994: Civil war resumes, genocide begins

Gen. Roméo Dallaire

Rwanda

• Gen. Dallaire appeals to UN to send more troops to stop growing genocide– UN and USA refuse – Dallaire had fewer than 300 UN soldiers,

unable to stop genocide

• In just 100 days, approx. 800,000 Rwandans killed, mostly Tutsis

• UN and USA eventually agree to send more troops, but it was already too late