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The Shamrock Summit was the colloquial name given to the 1985 meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and US President Ronald Reagan in Quebec City. So-named because of the Irish background of the two leaders, and due to the meeting being held on St. Patrick's Day, the event is considered a major political-cultural episode in Canada, mostly on the basis of the perceived symbolism of the summit. It was also a prelude to Mulroney's efforts to create far closer links between Canada and the United States, culminating in the 1988 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.
Mulroney enjoyed a close friendship with Reagan at the time; both men considered themselves conservatives politically, and shared a common agenda on many issues, notably Free Trade. This relationship was favourably contrasted in Canada with that between the Prime Minister's and President's predecessors, Pierre Trudeau and Richard Nixon, though it also bred some resentment among those who felt it was improper for Canadian-US relations to be too intimate. The camaraderie between the two men was most prominently displayed in the most famous event of the summit, when Reagan and Mulroney engaged in a duet of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling". Commentator Eric Kierans observed that "The general impression you get, is that our prime minister invited his boss home for dinner." Canadian historian Jack Granatstein said that this "public display of sucking up to Reagan may have been the single most demeaning moment in the entire political history of Canada's relations with the United States."
Further adding to the controversy was Mulroney's insistence that he greet the President upon his arrival, and not Jeanne Sauvé, the then Governor General of Canada. This was perceived in the media as evidence of suspicions that Mulroney was slowly elevating the stature of his office, giving it more presidential trappings and aura. As well, at one point during the summit, Reagan was rumoured to have mistakenly referred to Mulroney as "Byron Muldoon". This became Mulroney's regular nickname in Frank Magazine for the remainder of his time in office.
References
- Ferguson, Will. "11". Why I Hate Canadians. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Douglas & McIntyre. pp. 112–113. ISBN 1550546007.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - Steele, Andrew. "Mr. Angry and Mr. Happy". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved April 13 2010.
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