The reason he is so detested by some is that he introduced free trade and formed a particularly close relationship with the United States. Apparently unaware of their own inconsistency, Liberal nationalists see everything through stars and stripes-tinted glasses and they simply cannot forgive a man who brought us closer to the most benign super power in history.
That's an amazingly simplistic reduction of Mulroney's past. In fact, I'd say it goes as far as demonstrating the ignorance of Mr. Coren to Mulroney's era as Prime Minister. There are a myriad reasons why Mulroney reached depths of unpopularity unseen in sitting Prime Ministers prior - the FTA is but one reason, the GST is another and the general impression in the population that he was lying through his oh-so-glib chin every time he opened his mouth. (an impression that has yet to be alleviated)
As for calling the United States a "benign superpower", there are many who would disagree with Mr. Coren on that. One need only look as far as Iraq today, or perhaps the mess in Central/South America in the 1980s, where people were subjected to brutal dictatorship sponsored by the US (e.g. Chile's Pinochet), or the violent invasion and occupation of Iraq today.
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