Brian Mulroney shelves criticism of PM Harper in rare stump speech

Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney charmed a West Island Conservative audience Wednesday evening, offering a rare speech endorsing the local candidate.

Mulroney also enthusiastically endorsed Prime Minister Stephen Harper just months after he openly criticized the Conservative leader.

Mulroney charmed the audience of 400, joking about being described at an airport as “Canada’s dictator” and laughingly claiming to be considering a comeback in a speech supporting Lac St. Louis Conservative candidate Eric Girard, a former Banque Nationale executive who is also a family friend.

“The issue in the next election is not complicated, it’s leadership. Who do you want leading this country during these tumultuous, difficult, challenging times? Who do you want?” asked Mulroney, who praised Harper’s economic policies.

The outing inspired a buzz amongst political analysts, including Jean Lapierre, who described Mulroney’s performance as a “barn burning speech.” Lapierre did not believe that the Mulroney's endorsement would not have a major effect on the fate of the Conservatives, however.

Other online amateur political analysts attempted to read the tea leaves on social media forums, speculating what the speech might mean within the context of Mulroney’s close business and personal relationship with Parti Quebecois leader Pierre Karl Peladeau.