Time & Perspective Quote by Brian Mulroney

A statesman’s favorite magic trick is to make a conflict sound like a plan. Mulroney’s line performs that trick with a calm confidence that’s meant to reassure: profit and preservation, development and restraint, all harmonized by the clarity of “a vision emerging.” The phrasing matters. “I can see now” signals conversion and foresight at once, inviting listeners to trust not just the policy but the narrator. He’s not arguing; he’s testifying. “Emerging” softens the hard edges of Arctic extraction, framing it as organic, inevitable, almost natural - as if the idea is rising from the landscape rather than being imposed on it.

The intent is strategic triangulation. The Arctic is cast as a national economic frontier (“our Arctic resources”), while environmental risk is acknowledged just enough to neutralize critics (“without destroying the environment”). That “without destroying” sets a low bar: it doesn’t promise restoration, stewardship, or Indigenous sovereignty; it promises only not to break the foundation. The environment becomes infrastructure - the base that profits depend on - which is a shrewd way to make conservation sound like fiscal prudence rather than moral obligation.

Context sharpens the stakes. Late-20th-century Canada was learning to speak fluent environmentalism while still courting resource wealth, and the Arctic was increasingly tied to sovereignty, geopolitical positioning, and the romance of northern destiny. Mulroney’s subtext is that Canada can have it both ways because competent governance will manage the trade-offs. The line sells not a specific policy, but the legitimacy of extraction under the banner of modern, responsible nation-building.