OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper will publicly reach out to Brian Mulroney, and by extension his Tory predecessor's powerful sphere of influence, in a video to be shown this week at a gala.
Sources close to the event tell The Canadian Press that Harper recorded a congratulatory message that will be aired Thursday at the celebration of Mulroney's historic 1984 electoral victory at the helm of the Progressive Conservative party.
The video will represent the prime minister's first gesture of solidarity with Mulroney in two years.
Harper can't attend the event because he will be delivering a speech in New York City that night.
Bill Pristanski, chief event organizer, said they tried everything they could to make it possible for the prime minister to attend, but insiders say it's doubtful Mulroney would want Harper there in the first place.
Relations between the two men have been severely strained since Harper launched a public inquiry into Mulroney's business dealings with German lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber and directed his cabinet to cut off contact with the former prime minister 2007.
More recently, staff in Harper's office were dispatched to quietly and anonymously advise reporters that Mulroney was no longer a member of the party in what was seen as a clumsy attempt to distance Harper from Mulroney as the inquiry unfolded.
That inflamed tensions in the Conservative caucus, where a number of politicians loyal to the former prime minister pushed back against the Harper entourage.
Now barely six weeks after the inquiry stopped hearing from witnesses, and the threat of an election hanging overhead, Harper's office is actively working with organizers to transmit a message of party unity.
"Mulroney is still a significant figure in Canadian public life," said Conservative historian and author Bob Plamondon, who is attending the event.
"In closed quarters, he still maintains connections with a substantial chunk of the Conservative coalition. He's the most successful Conservative politician in Quebec, bar none."
Mulroney himself has called for the event to be a moment of conservative solidarity.
"Obviously it's in the interests of all Conservatives -- Progressive Conservatives and the latter-day group -- to come together in support of common principles," Mulroney told The Canadian Press last month.
Cabinet ministers from that "latter-day group," such as Government House Leader Jay Hill and ministers of state Diane Ablonczy and Gary Lunn are expected to attend. Harper's wife Laureen will be there as the prime minister's personal representative.
Former prime minister Joe Clark, external affairs minister under Mulroney, will be there as well as Quebec Premier Jean Charest.
They'll be among a crowd that is estimated at 700, but is likely to swell, as hundreds with connections to his two successive governments snap up tickets.
"Now is the moment to celebrate together what we achieved as the Conservative party for all Canadians," said Revenue Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn, who sat in Mulroney's caucus.
"It's time to let these things go and celebrate together."
While the attempt at unity will unfold on the floor of the hotel ballroom, another subtle dynamic will also be at play.
Conservatives with potential leadership ambitions, such as Environment Minister Jim Prentice, Defence Minister Peter MacKay, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, and Transport Minister John Baird will be prominent figures in a powerful crowd. Although there is no leadership race on the immediate horizon, politicians are keeping their options open and jotting down names.
"Any successful Conservative leader who has achieved power has done so by building a national coalition of interest," said Plamondon.
"If you're seen to be distancing yourself from Mulroney's entourage, I think you're diminishing your chances of success."
One notable absence from the shindig will be the government's leader in the Senate, Marjory LeBreton.
Once a close confidante of Mulroney's and one of his staunchest defenders, LeBreton was forced to carry Harper's tough love message on Mulroney as a member of cabinet.
That carried with it a personal sting that Mulroney and his friends have not yet forgotten, according to intimates of the former prime minister.
