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E-book
Author Robertson, Gordon, 1917-

Title Memoirs of a very civil servant : Mackenzie King to Pierre Trudeau / Gordon Robertson
Published Toronto, Ont. : University of Toronto Press, ©2000

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Description 1 online resource (xvi, 408 pages, 12 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations
Series Book collections on Project MUSE
Contents Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Part One: From the Prairies to Ottawa, 1917-1941 -- 1. From the Prairies to Oxford, 1917-1938 -- 2. From Oxford to Ottawa, 1938-1941 -- Part Two: External Affairs and Mackenzie King, 1941-1948 -- 3. The Department of External Affairs, 1941-1945 -- 4. Working for Mackenzie King, 1945-1948 -- Part Three: Louis St Laurent and a New North, 1948-1963 -- 5. Working with Louis St Laurent, 1948-1953 -- 6. Canada Discovers the North, 1953-1957 -- 7. Governing the Northwest Territories, 1953-1957 -- 8. The Territories under the Vision, 1958-1963
9. The Emerging North -- Part Four: 'Mike' Pearson and a Changing Canada, 1963-1968 -- 10. Pearson and the Quiet Revolution -- 11. The Symbols and Structure of Canada -- Part Five: Winds of Change with Pierre Trudeau, 1968-1980 -- 12. Pierre Trudeau and a New Style of Governing, 1968-1970 -- 13. Trudeau and the Constitution, 1968-1979 -- 14. Transition and Change, 1978-1980 -- Part Six: Trudeau's 'Power Play, ' Meech Lake, and the Charlottetown Accord, 1980-1992 -- 15. The Trudeau Power Play, 1980-1982 -- 16. Away from Government -- 17. Meech Lake: The Best Hope Lost
18. Meech Lake Dead: Where Next? -- Epilogue -- Notes -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z -- Maps -- The Territories of Canada, 1 April 1999 -- Canadian Arctic Marine Jurisdictions -- The Circumpolar North -- Illustrations
Summary Born in Saskatchewan in 1917, Gordon Robertson worked at the centre of government power from 1945 until his retirement in 1979. He worked directly with Prime Ministers King, St-Laurent, Pearson, and Trudeau, serving as senior advisor to the latter two. Commissioner of the Northwest Territories from 1953 to 1963, he also became the first Deputy Minister of the new Department of Northern Affairs under Jean Lesage. In this memoir he presents a first-hand account of the events and personalities that shaped Canada during the critical post-war period. Robertson tells of Canada's development from colony to nation and the prime ministers who presided over the process. He provides an assessment of each prime minister in action: how they organized the cabinets, what their qualities were and how these related to their failures and successes. Himself influential in many areas of government, Robertson played a key role in the long debate on constitutional reform and national unity. Even after his retirement, he remained active as an unofficial contitutional networker. Gordon Robertson has written no ordinary memoir. Along with the key events and personalities of his day he describes the development of his own ideas about the nature of Canada and its constitutional future. The result is a significant historical document, one that brings much insight to the history of post-war Canada
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Robertson, Gordon, 1917-
SUBJECT Robertson, Gordon, 1917- fast
Subject Civil service -- Canada -- Biography
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Political.
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Historical.
HISTORY -- Canada -- General.
Politics and government
Civil service
SUBJECT Canada -- Politics and government -- 1945- http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85019349
Subject Canada
Genre/Form e-books.
autobiographies (literary works)
Autobiographies
Biographies
Autobiographies.
Biographies.
Livres numériques.
Autobiographies.
Biographies.
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781442677203
1442677201