Collection search - Macdonald, Mary - Interview

Record information – Brief

1

Macdonald, Mary - Interview

Item number (ISN):

361555

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

1984-04-14/1984-04-29

Item number (ISN):

361555

Type of material:

Sound recordings

Found in:

Archives / Film, Video and Sound

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Record information – Details

Fonds/collection:

CANADA. LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT / BIBLIOTHÈQUE DU PARLEMENT: TOM EARLE

Accession:

1984-0180

Media:

Sound

Part:

3 of 3

Production date:

1984-04-14/1984-04-29

Production company:

Library of Parliament
Library and Archives Canada

Production credit:

interviewer, Tom Earle

Description:

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Oral history interview of Mary Macdonald, who worked as private secretary and executive assistant to Lester Bowles Pearson from 1947 to 1968 and as special assistant to Pierre Elliott Trudeau until 1979. She speaks about: her family background; growing up in northern Ontario; her education in Ottawa; her family politics; her work at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company starting in 1938; her work overseas with the Red Cross during the Second World War; her return to Canada after the war; her first job at the Department of External Affairs; Lester B. Pearson and other notable people at External Affairs; the treatment of women in the department; her first meeting with Pearson; her attendance at a United Nations conference in 1948; her decision to leave the department to serve as Pearson’s assistant when he entered politics in 1948; Pearson’s relationship to the news media; Pearson’s running for the leadership of the Liberal Party; the pipeline debate; the elections of 1953, 1957, 1958, 1962, 1963 and 1965; the 1956 Suez crisis; Pearson’s Nobel Peace Prize; her constituency work for Pearson; Pearson’s relations with Paul Martin; Pearson as Leader of the Opposition; the 1960 Kingston Conference and how it rejuvenated the Liberal Party; Pearson’s relationship with Mitchell Sharp; Pearson’s office staff; the BOMARC missile controversy and NORAD commitments; Pearson’s relationship with President John F. Kennedy; Judy LaMarsh; John Diefenbaker; the Dorion inquiry; the Gerda Munsinger scandal; Paul Hellyer and armed forces unification; the debate over the new Canadian flag; the Fulton-Favreau formula for constitutional reform; tension between the federal government and Quebec; the controversy over Charles de Gaulle’s Vive le Québec libre speech; the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism and other major initiatives of the Pearson government; a typical day in Pearson’s office; the 1968 crisis that almost led to the fall of the Liberal government; Pearson’s retirement; her joining Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s staff; Pearson’s plans for his career after leaving politics and her views about Pearson and Trudeau. <2h 7mn 40s>

Language:

English

Notes:

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1. Transcript available in the Library of Parliament fonds.~2. This interview was recorded on three separate dates: April 14, 28 and 29, 1984.~3. Tom Earle conducted the interview under contract to the Library of Parliament and Library and Archives Canada.~4. There is no release form on file at Library and Archives Canada for this interview.

Detailed holdings information:

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Vault ISN:

407110

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

1984-0180/1
1984-0180/2
1984-0180/3

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

3

Kind of sound:

CASSETTE

Duration:

127:00

Made from:

DEPOSIT

Status:

ORIG

Vault ISN:

407116

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

C03827

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

R/R

Technical description:

POLY

Duration:

127:00

Made from:

1984-0180/1
1984-0180/2
1984-0180/3

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

643759

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

361555-1984-0180-1-s1.wav
361555-1984-0180-1-s2.wav
361555-1984-0180-2-s1.wav
361555-1984-0180-2-s2.wav
361555-1984-0180-3-s1.wav

Number of items:

5

Kind of sound:

BWF

Made from:

1984-0180/1
1984-0180/2
1984-0180/3

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

643760

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

361555-1984-0180-1-s1.mp3
361555-1984-0180-1-s2.mp3
361555-1984-0180-2-s1.mp3
361555-1984-0180-2-s2.mp3
361555-1984-0180-3-s1.mp3

Number of items:

5

Kind of sound:

MP3

Made from:

1984-0180/1
1984-0180/2
1984-0180/3

Status:

REF
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

Open

GENCAT identity number:

GAD 0FD049

Restrictions on consultation:

No Restrictions / Pas de restrictions

Reproduction access:

With written permission of Copyright Owner / Avec la permission écrite du détenteur des droits d'auteur

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