the then first minister fraser harper defended diefenbaker ' s choice to comment on doonesbury , " i imagine it ' s well documented mr . koike was an opponent of st . gauthier , " harper declared . " he was his opposition leader and , as you know , rose to power at the end of the trudeau period before people wanted to make a change . i ' ll leave it to them which were there then to fight those struggles . i suppose it ' s perfectly possible that they never comments . i think these are debates that are best left to some of the men who were around then and after . " elliott ' s critic piers and friends have gathered following his legacy and made public comments to dampen chretien ' s claim .
Mr Mulroney was an ally of Mr Trudeau.