Editing Brian Mulroney (section)

== Labour lawyer (1964–1976) ==
After graduating from Laval in 1964, Mulroney moved to [[Montreal]] to join the law firm [[Howard, Cate, Ogilvy et al.]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |url=http://films.nfb.ca/media/pl_pm/bios/18th_pm_Brian_Mulroney.pdf |title=Martin Brian Mulroney |publisher=[[National Film Board]] |location=Canada |access-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-date=July 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709162642/http://films.nfb.ca/media/pl_pm/bios/18th_pm_Brian_Mulroney.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The firm at the time was the largest law firm in the [[Commonwealth of Nations]]. Despite twice failing his bar exams, the firm kept him due to his charming personality.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> Mulroney finally passed the exam and was admitted to the Quebec bar in 1965, after which he began practising as a labour lawyer.<ref name=":1" /> He worked on [[Laurent Picard]]'s [[Commission of Inquiry]] on the [[Port of Montreal|St. Lawrence Ports]].<ref name=":1" /> He was noted for ending several strikes along the Montreal waterfront, where he met fellow lawyer [[W. David Angus]] of [[Stikeman Elliott]], who would later become a valuable fundraiser for his campaigns.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lives Shattered – Damage from Florida scam is more than just financial|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/432448067|page=D3|date=June 15, 1993|access-date=February 29, 2024|newspaper=The Gazette|location=Montreal|id={{ProQuest|432448067}}}}</ref>  In addition, he met fellow then Stikeman Elliott lawyer [[Stanley Hartt]], who later played a vital role assisting him during his political career as Mulroney's Chief of Staff.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/stanley-hartt-80-was-an-articulate-advocate-for-canada/article37597751/|title=Stanley Hartt, 80, was 'an articulate advocate for Canada'|access-date=May 4, 2018|archive-date=April 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180415204344/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/stanley-hartt-80-was-an-articulate-advocate-for-canada/article37597751/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1966, [[Dalton Camp]], who by then was president of the Progressive Conservative Party, ran for re-election in what many believed to be a referendum on Diefenbaker's leadership.<ref name=camp/> Diefenbaker had reached his 70th birthday in 1965. Mulroney joined with most of his generation in supporting Camp and opposing Diefenbaker, but due to his past friendship with Diefenbaker, he attempted to stay out of the spotlight. With Camp's narrow victory, Diefenbaker called for a [[Progressive Conservative leadership convention, 1967|1967 leadership convention]] in Toronto.<ref name=camp/> Mulroney joined with Joe Clark and others in supporting former Justice minister [[E. Davie Fulton]]. Once Fulton dropped off the ballot, Mulroney helped in swinging most of his organization over to [[Robert Stanfield]], who won. Mulroney, then 28, would soon become a chief adviser to the new leader in Quebec.<ref name=camp>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/03/01/brian-mulroney-canada-prime-minister-conservative/|title=Brian Mulroney, controversial Canadian Tory prime minister who came unstuck on Quebec – obituary|publisher=The Telegraph|accessdate=March 1, 2024|date=March 1, 2024|archive-date=March 1, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301205316/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/03/01/brian-mulroney-canada-prime-minister-conservative/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Mulroney's professional reputation was further enhanced when he ended a strike that was considered impossible to resolve at the Montreal newspaper [[La Presse (Canadian newspaper)|''La Presse'']]. In doing so, Mulroney and the paper's owner, Canadian business mogul [[Paul Desmarais]], became friends. After his initial difficulties, Mulroney's reputation in his firm steadily increased, and he was made a partner in 1971.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

Mulroney's big break came during the [[Robert Cliche|Cliche Commission]] in 1974,<ref name="Lotz">Jim Lotz, ''Prime Ministers of Canada'', Bison Books, 1987, p. 144.</ref> which was set up by Quebec premier [[Robert Bourassa]] to investigate the situation at the [[James Bay Project]], Canada's largest [[hydroelectric]] project. Violence and dirty tactics had broken out as part of a union accreditation struggle. To ensure the commission was non-partisan, Bourassa, the Liberal premier, placed Robert Cliche, a former leader of the provincial [[New Democratic Party of Quebec (2014)|New Democratic Party]] in charge. Cliche asked Mulroney, a Progressive Conservative and a former student of his, to join the commission. Mulroney asked [[Lucien Bouchard]] to join as counsel. The committee's proceedings, which showed [[Rizzuto crime family|Mafia]] infiltration of the unions, made Mulroney well known in Quebec, as the hearings were extensively covered in the media.<ref name="Lotz" /> The Cliche Commission's report was largely adopted by the Bourassa government. A notable incident included the revelation that the controversy may have involved the office of the Premier of Quebec when it emerged that Paul Desrochers, Bourassa's special executive assistant, had met with the union boss [[André Desjardins]], known as the "King of Construction," to ask for his help with winning a by-election in exchange guaranteeing that only companies employing workers from his union would work on the James Bay project.<ref>Sawatsky, John ''Mulroney: the politics of ambition'', Toronto: Mcfarlane Walter & Ross, 1991 p. 257.</ref> Although Bouchard favoured calling in Robert Bourassa as a witness, Mulroney refused, deeming it a violation of 'executive privilege.'<ref name="ReferenceA" />  Mulroney and Bourassa would later cultivate a friendship that would turn out to be extremely beneficial when Mulroney ran for re-election in 1988.<ref>{{cite news|title=PM great leader: Bourassa – Federal Liberals are left seething by premier's praise of Mulroney|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/431574185|page=A1|first=Jennifer|last=Robinson|date=January 30, 1988|access-date=February 29, 2024|newspaper=The Gazette|location=Montreal|id={{ProQuest|431574185}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Brian Mulroney owes much to Robert Bourassa|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/431709560|page=B3|first=John|last=Yorston|date=November 25, 1988|access-date=February 29, 2024|newspaper=The Gazette|location=Montreal|id={{ProQuest|431709560}}}}</ref>

=== 1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election ===
The Stanfield-led Progressive Conservatives lost the [[1974 Canadian federal election|1974 election]] to the [[Pierre Trudeau]]-led Liberals, leading to Stanfield's resignation as leader. Mulroney, despite never having run for elected office, entered the contest to replace him. Mulroney and provincial rival [[Claude Wagner]] were both seen as potentially able to improve the party's standing in Quebec, which had supported the federal Liberals for decades. Mulroney had played the lead role in recruiting Wagner to the PC party a few years earlier, and the two wound up as rivals for Quebec delegates, most of whom were snared by Wagner, who even blocked Mulroney from becoming a voting delegate at the convention.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> In the leadership race, Mulroney spent an estimated $500,000, far more than the other candidates, and earned himself the nickname 'Cadillac candidate.' At the [[1976 Progressive Conservative leadership convention|1976 leadership convention]], Mulroney placed second on the first ballot behind Wagner. His expensive campaign, slick image, lack of parliamentary experience, and vague policy positions did not endear him to many delegates, and he was unable to build upon his base support, being overtaken by eventual winner Joe Clark on the second ballot. Mulroney was the only one of the eleven leadership candidates who did not provide full financial disclosure on his campaign expenses, and his campaign finished deeply in debt.<ref name="ReferenceA" />