LONDON (Sun Media) -- In what he describes as a "high honour" for his family, former prime minister Brian Mulroney will receive an honorary degree from the University of Western Ontario today.

Fresh off a flight from Ireland, Mulroney spoke frankly with Sun Media last night about his life in politics, his legacy and what the future holds for him.

He also discussed the growing celebrity of his son Ben, who hosts CTV's Canadian Idol, and the possibility he might follow the lead of Justin Trudeau -- the son of another prime minister -- and someday enter politics.

Q: A lot of the students graduating today are too young to have a very clear memory of your time as prime minister (Mulroney left office 14 years ago). How would you describe your time in that office to them?

A: It was an exciting, controversial period in Canada's life and I governed as best I could. We succeeded in important areas like the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement ... and we didn't succeed in others. I've always thought it was much better to work hard to bring about your vision of the country and sometimes not succeed than to not try at all.

Q: When you do receive an honour like this, what goes through your mind?

A: I had a policy of not accepting honorary degrees when I was prime minister. I felt if they were to come they should come after you've done your job and people have a chance to see if you're worthy of one. Since I've been out I've received a number and they're always a great honour, this one particularly so because Western is a great Canadian university.

Q: To many Canadians, you will forever be linked to the unpopular introduction of the GST tax. Do you still consider that to have been a necessary and smart move for the country?

A: Oh, absolutely. The GST is the instrument that has allowed the government to clean up the public finances of Canada by getting rid of the deficit. If you're going to be prime minister, you must not think in terms of popularity. Popularity is meaningless to a politician -- that and 50 cents won't get you a good cigar anymore.

Q: What can you tell me about the memoir you will be publishing later this year?

A: It's the story of my life -- the good, the bad and the indifferent. I've always felt that if all you were going to do with a memoir was say how smart you were and how dumb everyone else was, you shouldn't waste your time writing one. You have to confront (your) mistakes and acknowledge them. And that's what I tried to do.

Q: The late Pierre Trudeau's son has entered politics. You, too, have a high-profile son. Have you ever talked to him about politics and is that something you think he should consider or avoid?

A: He and I talk politics all the time. I've never talked to him to encourage him to enter politics or stay away. He loves what he's doing now. (Laughing) He's so good at it that my claim to fame now is that I'm known as Ben Mulroney's father.