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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. It gained this nickname because of the Irish background of the two leaders, and due to the meeting being held on St. Patrick's Day. The summit was capped by a famous televised event where Mulroney, Reagan and their wives sang When Irish Eyes are Smiling, which publicly exemplified the camaraderie between the two leaders.
The event is considered a major political-cultural episode in Canada, mostly on the basis of the perceived symbolism of the summit. Documents later revealed the US felt much the same way about the importance of the summit, seeing it as an excellent chance to mend relations between the two countries in the post- Trudeau era. In one memo written preparing for the event, George Shultz called it "a potential watershed."
Among the many issues discussed in a busy 24-hour schedule were military planning, upgrading the DEW line to use modern electronics, a landmark agreement on the control of acid rain, and the formal signing of the "Canada-US Declaration on Goods and Services", the first major step towards the 1988 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.
Background
The Mulroney-Reagan bond was favourably contrasted in Canada with that between the Prime Minister's and President's predecessors. While Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister he had cool relationships with Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Reagan, due to disagreements over economic and foreign policies, and Trudeau received either negative attention or no notice at all in their presidential memoirs. The Shamrock Summit was 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 was credited with raising Canada's standing with both Reagan and the United States. The legacy of this was when Mulroney eulogized at Reagan's state funeral in 2004, became the first foreign dignitary to eulogize at a funeral for an American president.
Despite its achievements, the Mulroney-Reagan relationship has bred some resentment among those who felt it was improper for Canadian-US relations to be too intimate. Describing the "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" moment, Canadian historian Jack Granatstein argued 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." Commentator Eric Kierans observed that "The general impression you get, is that our prime minister invited his boss home for dinner."
References
- Ferguson, Will (1997). "11". Why I Hate Canadians. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Douglas & McIntyre. pp. 112–113. ISBN 1-55054-600-7.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - Steele, Andrew. "Mr. Angry and Mr. Happy". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved April 13, 2010.
- "Shamrock Summit seen as 'turning point' for U.S.-Canada relations", CBC News, 18 August 1999
- Thompson, John Herd; Randall, Stephen J. (2010-05-31). Canada and the United States: Ambivalent Allies. University of Georgia Press. p. 265. Retrieved 2014-01-14.
- Ferguson, Will (1997). "11". Why I Hate Canadians. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Douglas & McIntyre. pp. 112–113. ISBN 1-55054-600-7.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - Steele, Andrew. "Mr. Angry and Mr. Happy". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved April 13, 2010.