p>To many western Canadians, Brian Mulroney is regarded as one of the worst Prime Ministers in the history of the country.

Vancouver vocalist Michael Buble isn't one of those critics.

After all, if not for the former Progressive Conservative leader, Buble might still be singing for tipsy executives and exotic dancers.

Five years ago Buble (pronounced Boob-lay) was barely getting by singing at corporate functions and strip bars in Toronto. One of Mulroney's speech writers caught his set at an executive gig and picked up a copy of one of Buble's independent releases.

A few weeks later, the crooner received a call from Mulroney, asking him to sing at his daughter Caroline's wedding.

"You're struggling along, never knowing where you're going to get your break -- and it turned out one of the more irrelevant crappy gigs I did that's where I got discovered," he says.

He's talking about the corporate gig, just for the record.

Anyway, the wedding was attended by some of the biggest names in Canadian political circles, along with a smattering of big shots from the entertainment world.

One of them was multiple Grammy-winning adult contemporary producer/songwriter David Foster, who has worked with the likes of Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Chicago.

Foster liked what he heard and took the young vocalist under his wing, signing him to his Warner Brothers imprint 143 Records.

"When I sang at the wedding, all the songs I'd written and arranged. When I made the first record Dave said he wanted surefire things I could sell," the 29-year-old says.

His self-titled debut album featured 13 covers of pop standards by the likes of Van Morrison, Lou Rawls and the Bee Gees, sung in a classic crooner style a la Frank Sinatra and Paul Anka.

His 2005 followup, It's Time, features more covers by the likes of Leon Russell, The Beatles and Engelbert Humperdinck, along with his own composition, Home.

"The second record is more my way," claims Buble -- even if it is mostly other people's material.

"I wrote five (songs) and because I only put one song I wrote on this record, I lost three or four million bucks, but it was more important to have the best songs," Buble says.

Indeed, Buble stresses it's never been about the money. During his years as a struggling musician, he was offered $100,000 to make a pop album but turned down the cash to keep singing standards.

"I was 23 and I thought no one would think I'm authentic. And I so believed what I was doing. It took another five, six years, and I thought, 'Oh no, what did I do?' but it worked out."

He got into the pop, swing and jazz standards of the 1930s and 1940s as a teenager because his grandfather loved to hear him sing them. He started entering karaoke-type vocal competitions and performing with friends of his grandfather -- a plumber who would do free work for musicians who let the budding star on stage with them.

He spent a decade leading his own groups, performing on the dinner-theatre circuit and playing any gig he could get before his big break at the Mulroney wedding.

Today Buble is an international success story, with his sophomore effort a hit from Japan to his home country, where the album hasn't left the Top 10 since being released in January.

"Seven weeks in and No. 7 in the world. Pretty impressive for a dorky Canadian," he laughs.

Buble believes his success is based around the timelessness of the material he covers and the way it's presented.

"I'm singing about love and sex and heartbreak and no matter where you're from, it's culturally relevant. I think good music transcends all those borders.

"People say it's a big fad, and I say, 'How could it be a big fad since the 1930s?' Good stuff lives forever."

Buble and his 14-piece band perform a sold out show at the Centennial Concert Hall Tuesday.