Fearless Leader
Donor
The recent death of Canada's 18th Prime Minister has caused me to revisit several old TLs of mine about what I consider to be an under-explored area of Canadian history. I'd love any thoughts people have about the following idea:
POD: Rather than withdraw, Brian Mulroney uses his position as "king maker" in the 1976 Progressive Conservative Leadership convention to elect Claude Wagner to become the new leader of the party with some kind of guarantee of a key cabinet post/deputy PM slot. Thus Wagner takes Joe Clark's place and likely leads the Progressive Conservatives to a small, but comfortable, majority government in April 1979. However, shortly after becoming Canada's 17th Prime Minister, Wagner receives the crushing news of the cancer diagnosis which claimed his life in both OTL and TTL. One of his final acts is to return the favour and nominate Brian Mulroney to be his successor.
Mulroney, having run for and won the seat of Ottawa-Carleton during a by-election in 1976, and then having won his home riding of Manicougan in 1979 (Wagner having won more seats in Quebec than Joe Clark in OTL), easily fends of Clark and others to secure the PC nomination to succeed Wagner and thus becomes Canada's 18th Prime Minister roughly 5 years earlier than OTL. How does Canada change as a result?
A few obvious possibilities spring to mind:
-Without the deficits PET ran in the 1980s, Canada's likely on much stronger economic footing in OTL.
-An earlier Free Trade Agreement with the US is definitely a possibility.
-The first Quebec Independence Referendum is likely slightly closer than OTL, but I don't think Mulroney would be completely hands off like Clark was planning to be.
-The biggest possibility for change would be the patriation of Canada's constitution. TTL's document will likely have substantial differences from OTLs without Trudeau Sr.'s influence. The provinces seem the likely winners in this scenario IMO. Is it enough to win over Quebec and prevent the rise of the BQ?
-The NEP likely doesn't see the light of day or is heavily modified to preserve PC strength in Alberta. Does this doom Mulroney in eastern Canada or can he hold on? Does this strangle the rise of the Reform Party?
-Who takes over from Trudeau? Is his endorsement enough to get his supposed successor Donald Stovel Macdonald across the finish line, or does John Turner swoop in? Assuming earlier Free trade negotiations, one could imagine a somewhat chaotic scenario in which Macdonald oversees a fracturing of the Liberal party between those who support Free Trade and those who do not (perhaps led by a somewhat opportunistic Turner).
POD: Rather than withdraw, Brian Mulroney uses his position as "king maker" in the 1976 Progressive Conservative Leadership convention to elect Claude Wagner to become the new leader of the party with some kind of guarantee of a key cabinet post/deputy PM slot. Thus Wagner takes Joe Clark's place and likely leads the Progressive Conservatives to a small, but comfortable, majority government in April 1979. However, shortly after becoming Canada's 17th Prime Minister, Wagner receives the crushing news of the cancer diagnosis which claimed his life in both OTL and TTL. One of his final acts is to return the favour and nominate Brian Mulroney to be his successor.
Mulroney, having run for and won the seat of Ottawa-Carleton during a by-election in 1976, and then having won his home riding of Manicougan in 1979 (Wagner having won more seats in Quebec than Joe Clark in OTL), easily fends of Clark and others to secure the PC nomination to succeed Wagner and thus becomes Canada's 18th Prime Minister roughly 5 years earlier than OTL. How does Canada change as a result?
A few obvious possibilities spring to mind:
-Without the deficits PET ran in the 1980s, Canada's likely on much stronger economic footing in OTL.
-An earlier Free Trade Agreement with the US is definitely a possibility.
-The first Quebec Independence Referendum is likely slightly closer than OTL, but I don't think Mulroney would be completely hands off like Clark was planning to be.
-The biggest possibility for change would be the patriation of Canada's constitution. TTL's document will likely have substantial differences from OTLs without Trudeau Sr.'s influence. The provinces seem the likely winners in this scenario IMO. Is it enough to win over Quebec and prevent the rise of the BQ?
-The NEP likely doesn't see the light of day or is heavily modified to preserve PC strength in Alberta. Does this doom Mulroney in eastern Canada or can he hold on? Does this strangle the rise of the Reform Party?
-Who takes over from Trudeau? Is his endorsement enough to get his supposed successor Donald Stovel Macdonald across the finish line, or does John Turner swoop in? Assuming earlier Free trade negotiations, one could imagine a somewhat chaotic scenario in which Macdonald oversees a fracturing of the Liberal party between those who support Free Trade and those who do not (perhaps led by a somewhat opportunistic Turner).