text: You guys grasp of history seems limited. Yes, Mulroney ran big deficits basically inherited from PET, but in the end he and his Minister Jim? Wilson brought the GST which was the biggest, toughest sell for ending deficits. Then Chretien lied and campaigned against the GST and slaughtered Kim Campbell only to keep the GST. Then Paul Martin and Chretien later took all the credit for slaying the deficits through a combination of Mulroney's GST and a huge downloading of costs onto the backs of the provinces.