When writing his best-selling book, Memoirs, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney performed a great public service by openly discussing the problems he had once faced with alcohol. Even today, he receives letters from Canadians, who, after reading his frank and open account of his battle, have found inspiration in his story.
I will quote from these passages in his autobiography at length.
“I realized I would have to come to grips with the fact that I had developed what could only be described as a serious drinking problem,” he wrote frankly. “Over the years in Montreal, and in my frequent travels to isolated mining towns, what had begun as pleasure in a few drinks after work or before dinner was progressing rapidly toward a need to be fuelled frequently by some alcohol at lunch, dinner, and in the late evening. So far, I had not gotten into any serious difficulties either at work or socially because of the drinking, but my conduct was becoming unpredictable and worrisome and I realized I had entered dangerous territory. I was forced to confront the fact that I couldn’t maintain my present lifestyle and achieve my goals if I didn’t take drastic and quick action.”
“Excessive drinking affects people differently,” he continued. “It has little impact on some, but it can be severely damaging for others …. I realized that I was in the latter category. As I thought about the lives and the marriage I was increasingly placing in jeopardy, I felt weak and ashamed.”
The former Prime Minister then concluded his account.
“On June 24, 1980 – celebrated in Quebec as St- Jean-Baptiste Day – I quit drinking. To this day, more than twenty- seven years later, I have never had another drop,” he wrote. “At first, I told no one of my decision, although Mila, of course, quickly noticed the change. I attended no self- help group meetings. I firmly resolved that day that I would never again place in peril the well- being of those who loved and supported me, especially my wife, children, and other family members. I also wanted my young children, then six, four, and one, to be proud of me when they grew older, and I knew that would not be the case unless I changed course immediately.”
“I suffered from a weakness, an illness, and a combination of time and willpower made me better. Not cured, just better. It also made me extremely sensitive to people with similar problems, and I have met many such in the private sector and during my time as prime minister. I hope that recounting my own battle to overcome the problem was of some assistance to them, just as I hope that this account will help others combat this tough disease.”
This was a remarkable personal glimpse into a Prime Minister’s most private of experiences and history will honour Mr. Mulroney for telling it. By doing so he has provided comfort and resolve to other Canadians battling addictions in their own lives.
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.