Brian Mulroney joins board of directors of New York-based pot company

In this Oct. 26, 2016 file photo, former prime minister Brian Mulroney pauses while speaking following the announcement of the $60 million Brian Mulroney Institute of Government and Mulroney Hall at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S. (Darren Calabrese / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

NEW YORK -- Former prime minister Brian Mulroney is joining the board of directors of an American cannabis company.

Acreage Holdings, one of the largest vertically integrated cannabis companies in the U.S., says Mulroney will officially become a board member in November, when the company will list in the Canadian Securities Exchange.

Mulroney, who served as prime minister 1984 to 1993, will join other prominent former U.S. politicians in the board of Acreage, including former House of Representatives speaker John Boehner, and former Massachusetts governor William Weld.

The news comes on the day when recreational cannabis becomes legal in Canada.

In a statement released by the New York-based company, Mulroney says he is pleased that Canada has taken a leadership role in the field in North America, adding that he's "encouraged about the prospects of what the end of prohibition" will mean for the country.

Mulroney's daughter, Caroline Mulroney, is the attorney general of Ontario and has been overseeing the legalization of marijuana in the province.