By Kira D.
St. Francis Xavier University is a small university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Every year it hosts a national dinner in a different Canadian city to celebrate everything that St. FX represents to the Canadian identity. This year, on October 23rd, the national dinner was held at the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary and it gave six high school students from Calgary, of which I was one, the opportunity of a lifetime: to interview former Prime Minister of Canada, the Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney, who graduated from St. Francis Xavier University in 1959. Mr. Mulroney was the leader of the Conservative Party from 1983 to 1993. He was elected into office in 1984, and served as our Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993. Some of his most notable contributions to our country are the Canada-U.S Free Trade Agreement and the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).Mr. Mulroney, when he walked into the room, commanded the attention of everyone present. He smiled at the high school reporters and made everyone feel comfortable as we moved into a close circle and introduced ourselves. We had twenty minutes to ask him anything we wanted. The first question posed was asking Mr. Mulroney for his advice for young citizens who are interested in politics. He didn’t need any time to think and immediately stated that the most important thing is for students to focus on is their studies. Politics is something that can be done later on, whereas education is needed to open any doors into future careers. For any political standing you need high grades, and to graduate with honours, which cultivates the respect that you will need to make it in this highly competitive field. When asked about what extra-curricular programs are helpful for future hopeful politicians, Mr. Mulroney once again knew exactly what to say. He declared that Debate and Drama programs are the most important. When asked why, he stated that politicians are all actors, and both drama and debate include improvisation, theatrics and a thorough understanding of what you are doing.
The conversation turned more political when the former Prime Minister was questioned on how the Progressive Conservative Party has evolved since he was in office. Mr. Mulroney shook his head and laughed and said that the party has become more right of centre and that split was brought around by the Reform Party. However, the Progressive Conservative Party is still ideologically consistent with his Conservative Party, since both have the same thoughts on major issues and use the same political techniques and reasoning. The conversation was brought into the present and the near future when Justin Trudeau was brought up. Mr. Mulroney kept the smile on his face, however, his demeanour turned slightly to the aggressive side, and he became the politician that I was expecting at the start of the interview. Mr. Mulroney stated that Trudeau is a nice, young man, who has no opposition in the Liberal Party. The former Prime Minister has gone on public record before this interview and said that anyone who underestimates Mr. Trudeau will do so at his own peril.
The last question posed to Mr. Mulroney was about the problems of high school students all over the country; more specifically, those of students who are not yet of legal age to vote, but who wish to make a contribution to political change. Mr. Mulroney said that there is a voting age for a reason; however, there is a high school senate for students under the voting age to deal with issues that come to their attention. One of the current issues brought to the table was bullying, and Mr. Mulroney declared that bullies should be dealt with severely, not just with a slap on the wrist. He also noted that young people are part of the bullying problem as well as part of the solution, and for any change to come about, it needs to come from our generation.
With those words of wisdom, our interview with the former Prime Minister ended; however, we were all still invited to attend the dinner seminar, with Mr. Mulroney as the keynote speaker. Along with the former Prime Minister, Naheed Nenshi, the mayor of Calgary; Katie Lang, an economist on CNN; and Frank McKenna, former premier of New Brunswick and ambassador to the United States, spoke in favour of Western Canada, of Calgary and what we in Alberta have done for the rest of Calgary.
This entire experience was amazing, and one I will never forget. It was incredible to attend an event with so many innovators and history-makers and to hear them speak. I am so thankful to St. Francis Xavier University, to Mr. Brian Mulroney and to Western Canada High School, who allowed me to represent them as a high school reporter.
