Three months after becoming prime minister in 1984, Brian Mulroney welcomed Desmond Tutu, the Bishop of Johannesburg and South Africa’s powerful anti-apartheid leader, to his office in Ottawa.
The meeting not only solidified Mulroney’s longstanding opposition to apartheid, the racist policy that imposed white rule on South Africa’s black majority, but also served as a catalyst for action from Canada’s 18th prime minister. Ta.
“I looked for [Tutu’s] Advice on what role Canada can play in the seemingly stalled effort to free Nelson Mandela and end apartheid in South Africa. “Do you think a middle power like Canada can effectively influence the situation?” I asked him,” Mulroney recalled. 2015 Globe and Mail Opinion article.
“Bishop Tutu responded energetically: ‘I think Canada can play an important, even leading, role in translating morality into political action.'”
Mulroney’s subsequent public denunciation of apartheid and efforts to unite Western opposition to it were never forgotten by the public. Current South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday expressed his sadness at the “death of a leader who holds a special place in South Africa’s history.”
“For us, his death is a great honor for our friend and ally, in a year in which we commemorate the 30th anniversary of freedom and pay tribute to all those around the world who have supported our struggle for freedom. “and democracy.”
“May his soul rest in peace.”
While being a scholar and critic, continue the discussion In recognition of the overall effectiveness of Canada’s actions under the Mulroney government, South Africa awarded Mulroney the OR Tambo Brotherhood Medal in 2015 for his “exceptional contribution to the liberation of South Africa.”
“Special moment”
A year after his meeting with Tutu in Ottawa, and fresh from an initial agreement between Commonwealth leaders to impose limited economic sanctions on South Africa, Mulroney told the Pretoria government that Canada would further He warned that he was prepared to step in.
“Only one country has established skin color as a characteristic of systemic inequality and oppression. South Africa has used this heinous method of classification to determine the basic human rights of individuals and groups within its society. only,” Mulroney said in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly. .
“My government has told Canadians that unless there are fundamental changes in South Africa, we stand ready to impose full-scale sanctions against South Africa and its repressive regime. Otherwise, relations between Canada and South Africa could deteriorate.”This must be severed. ”
Stephen Lewis, Mulroney’s UN ambassador from 1984 to 1988, said the prime minister’s warning to South Africa was a pivotal moment in the General Assembly.
“You have to be present at the General Assembly to understand what happened when those words were uttered,” Lewis said. He reportedly said this in 2014.. “I worked for the United Nations for four glorious years. I had never seen anything like it before, and I have never seen anything like it since. It was an extraordinary moment. .It was a moment of hope for the entire African delegation.”
Federal leaders were not unanimous in their support for sanctions against South Africa.mulroney openly clashed In July 1986, he met with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Prime Minister Thatcher opposed economic sanctions on South Africa, calling them “immoral” and “utterly disgusting”. At a press conference in Montreal, she argued that the best way to end apartheid was through negotiations.
After Thatcher’s resignation, Mulroney told reporters: “We must deal with a regime that is rooted in evil, where an entire generation of people is oppressed and deprived of fundamental rights, freedoms and human dignity. That’s everything,” he said. “That should be unacceptable to all of us in the Commonwealth and to all Prime Ministers.”
A month later, Thatcher agreed to limited sanctions South Africa match.
Mulroney’s push for economic sanctions also encountered opposition within the White House.
US President Ronald Reagan described apartheid as “an affront to human rights and human dignity”, but in 1986 he vetoed a bill imposing new economic sanctions on Pretoria. Congress subsequently passed a resolution overriding President Reagan’s veto.
Mulroney recalled his conversations with the US president in the 1980s, writing in his 2007 memoir that Reagan “viewed the entire South African problem strictly in terms of the Cold War.”
“Over the years, with him [Thatcher] They continually raised concerns with me that Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid leaders were communists,” Mulroney wrote.
By 1988, South Africa’s economy was oppressed by sanctions and companies withdrawing investment.
“The movement to uphold human dignity is now irreversible,” Mulroney said in a speech before the United Nations General Assembly that year. “There is no doubt that fundamental change will come to South Africa. The only question is when, how and at what cost in human lives.
“We must ensure that answers come quickly and peacefully, and that the framework that produces a racially free and democratic South Africa is maintained. For the first time, Mandela’s children will know the gift of freedom.”
‘True friends’
After 27 years in prison, Mandela was released unconditionally on February 11, 1990. The next day, Mandela called Mulroney to thank the prime minister and Canada for advocating for an end to apartheid.
Four months later, Mandela traveled to Ottawa to address a joint session of the House of Commons and the Senate.
“I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the great Canadian people you represent, and I believe we are in complete agreement with you on the issue of South Africa. They are not only loyal friends of our struggling peoples, but great defenders of human rights and the very idea of democracy,” Mandela said.

“Prime Minister, our people and our organizations respect and admire you as a true friend. was greatly strengthened by the leadership provided by the Seven and Francophone Summit.
“I hope you will join other Canadians in continuing our path as we not only fight to end the system of apartheid, but also work to build a happy, peaceful and prosperous future for all.” I am confident that the people of South Africa and Southern Africa will give it to us.”
Four years later, Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically elected president.