Harper honours Mulroney - once a rival, now an inspiration

"Then they (see) them through against attacks motivated by misunderstanding, misinformation or just plain old political opportunism.

"And, in due time, they are recognized and rewarded. So it is with Brian Mulroney."

Harper drew parallels between Mulroney's government and his own.

The prime minister said Canada is showing leadership in the world by fighting terrorists in Afghanistan, and by becoming the first country to strip funding from the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

He compared that to the days following Ukraine's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991.

Harper said at the time, some around Mulroney's cabinet table suggested Canada should take a cautious approach and wait to see what other countries did.

"(But) Brian Mulroney disagreed. Under his leadership Canada took a stand," Harper said.

"We stood against oppression. We stood for freedom. . .

"You can rest assured . . . that Canada's new government will uphold this tradition."

Harper mentioned Mulroney in the same breath as Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and the late pope John Paul as world leaders in the fight against communism.

Mulroney gave a stirring speech that called immigration - from Ukraine and around the world - the source of energy and creativity that makes Canada a great nation.

He described a conversation with Soviet leader Mikhael Gorbachev in 1991, where he explained why he would proceed with recognizing Ukraine even before the U.S. did. He said he owed it to Ukrainians in Canada, and to those struggling for freedom in their homeland.

"I told (Gorbachev) directly and bluntly that the forces of freedom were burning in Ukraine," Mulroney said.

"And I was going to encourage them, not extinguish them. . . We did what we believed was right, and I believe history may prove that we were."

On domestic politics, Mulroney alluded to Harper's ambitions. In the same breath he took a dig at the only other living Conservative who was elected as prime minister: Joe Clark.

Mulroney began with a reference to the length of his own term in office.

"Nine years . . . That's not a bad thing, Stephen. It's a nice, round number. It beats the hell out of nine months," Mulroney said.

Clark - who was a leadership rival to Mulroney and who does not support the new Conservative party under Harper - saw his minority government collapse in 1979 after only nine months.

Harper's praise of Mulroney was a far cry from 1991.

Back then, Harper had been an office assistant to a Progressive Conservative MP from Alberta and defected in order to run against his former boss under the upstart Reform party banner.

Harper and other new Reformers considered the old Tories as too liberal, too Quebec-obsessed, and too indifferent to the economic challenges facing Canada.

There was an ironic and visual reminder at Wednesday's event of the 15-year split in the Conservative movement.

In a downstairs ballroom at the Chateau Laurier hotel, Mulroney was awarded the Order of Kniaz Yaroslav the Wise - the highest honour Ukraine's government can bestow on a foreigner.

While Harper was toasting his new political role model downstairs, his old political ally was at a separate event in the same building.

Reform founder Preston Manning was attending a gala for the small-c conservative think tank named after him.

Harper made a brief visit to the Manning event.

The two men posed for pictures with their wives, and the prime minister moved on to the gala in the downstairs ballroom.

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