Conservative Brian Mulroney becomes Prime Minister in 1984
Opposite to Trudeau in many ways
Wanted to be closer to USA and was very close with Reagan, though many Canadians disagreed with close relations to the US
Many Canadians protested in 1985 over joining the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) AKA “Star Wars”
Canada then backed out of SDI, after a couple years
1989 Signed Canada-US FTA allowing free trade with the USA
1992 expanded to include Mexico (NAFTA) (signed by Liberal Jean Chretien 1994)
Upset many people because it meant there would be US incursion but overall, the Trade Agreement helped economy
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a multi-level value added tax of 7% introduced in 1991 in response to a looming deficit
Summary
In 1984 the new Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney replaced Trudeau, who he opposed in many ways. Mulroney was a conservative and wanted Canada to be closer with the US, seeing as he was very close with the US President, Ronald Reagan. Canadians disliked this and when Canada joined the Strategic Defence Initiative, many of them protested this. After a couple years, Canada did end up backing out of the program. Later on, Canada signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US in 1989, and later on expanded that to include Mexico (NAFTA). Many people disliked this because it would mean that there would be US incursion, but the Trade Agreement helped the economy overall. Mulroney then introduces the Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 7 % in 1991 because of an approaching financial deficite.