Brian Mulroney wins stunning landslide victory in 1984

Thirty-five years ago, Brian Mulroney and his Progressive Conservatives won a record 211 seats out of 282 in the 1984 federal election on Sept. 4 of that year.

Mulroney ran a successful campaign, promising to pump up the economy, improve ties between Canada and the United States and work toward a better relationship between provincial and federal governments. 

The defining campaign moment came during the 1984 leadership debate when Mulroney challenged Liberal leader John Turner on the issue of patronage.

When Turner supported the last-minute patronage appointments made by his predecessor, Pierre Trudeau, Mulroney attacked Turner: "You had an option, sir, to say no, and you chose to say yes, yes to the old attitudes and the old stories of the Liberal Party."

Mulroney's dramatic election victory saw unprecedented support in his home province of Quebec, where the Progressive Conservatives won 58 of 75 ridings.

Mulroney attacks Turner in 1984 election debate

40 years ago

Duration 3:58

Brian Mulroney and John Turner cross swords in a pivotal debate during the 1984 election campaign. Aired July 25, 1984 on Encounter '84, the leaders' debate ahead of the 1984 federal election.