TORONTO (NEWSnet/AP) — Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who forged close ties with two U.S. presidents and supported an extensive free trade agreement during his term, died Thursday.

He was 84.

A family spokesman said Mulroney died at a hospital in Palm Beach, Florida, where he was being treated after a recent fall.

Leader of the Progressive Conservative party from 1983 to 1993, Mulroney served almost a decade as prime minister after he was first elected in 1984 after snagging the largest majority in Canadian history with 211 of 282 seats.

His Progressive Conservative party suffered a devastating defeat just after he left office in 1993. But in the years after the loss, prime ministers sought his advice.

“He had the courage to do big things,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. “He shaped our past, but he shapes our present and he will impact our future as well. He was an extraordinary statesman and he will be deeply, deeply missed.”

It was Mulroney's amiable relationship with his U.S. counterparts that helped develop the free-trade treaty, a hotly contested pact at the time. The trade deal led to a permanent realignment of the Canadian economy and huge increases in north-south trade.

Mulroney was born March 20, 1939, in Baie-Comeau, a town on Quebec’s North Shore. He is survived by his wife, Mila, and four children: Caroline, Ben, Mark and Nicolas.

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