Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who forged closer ties with US, has died at 84 WFTV [Video]

TORONTO — (AP) — Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who forged close ties with two Republican U.S. presidents through a sweeping free trade agreement that was once vilified but now celebrated, died Thursday. He was 84.

The country’s 18th prime minister died peacefully and surrounded by family, daughter Caroline Mulroney said in a post on X. Mulroney’s family said last summer he was improving daily after a heart procedure that followed treatment for prostate cancer in early 2023. A family spokesman said Mulroney died at a hospital in Palm Beach, Florida, where he was being treated after a recent fall.

Leader of the Progressive Conservative party from 1983 to 1993, Mulroney served almost a decade as prime minister after he was first elected in 1984 after snagging the largest majority in Canadian history with 211 of 282 seats.

The win would mark Canada’s first Conservative majority government in 26 …