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Description
This book explores the life and times of Roméo LeBlanc, one of Canada's most popular and successful politicians and statesmen. Probably best known as the long-standing fisheries minister in Pierre Trudeau's cabinet from 1974 to 1982, LeBlanc's career spanned the golden era of Liberalism in Canada. He capped his career during the nineties as the country's twenty-fifth governor general.
Historian Naomi E. S. Griffiths spent many years reading through LeBlanc's papers and interviewing many of his colleagues to explore the worlds he moved in -- Paris in the late forties and early fifties, world capitals during his time as a journalist, and then Ottawa. As a writer with an in-depth knowledge of the Acadian communities of the Maritimes, she knows his roots very well. Her biography covers his early years in New Brunswick where he was born into rural poverty, his years as a journalist in Ottawa, his heyday as a minister in Trudeau's cabinet, and his years at Rideau Hall. Along the way, Ms. Griffiths reveals many intriguing insights about her subject's contemporaries, including Lester Pearson, Pierre Trudeau, and Jean Chrétien. She also discusses the importance of LeBlanc's Acadian heritage in animating all that he did.
This engrossing biography illuinates the life of one of Canada's most beloved politicians and statesmen and, with it, a fascinating era in our history.
Contributor Notes
NAOMI E. S. GRIFFITHS is recognized for her pioneering work in the fields of Acadian and women's history. She was a professor in the department of history at Carleton for many years, and she is the author or co-author of nine books, including The Context of Acadian History. She lives in Ottawa, Ontario.
Editorial Reviews
"...long overdue...a seamless account of a complicated man. It's an important book filled with history well worth reliving."
— Atlantic Books Today
"The title of the book attracts your eye, but the contents will feed your curiosity...The author, Canada's leading authority on the Acadian experience, reconstructs LeBlanc's life with gentle affection and careful attention to the little things that mattered to her subject."
— Chronicle Herald, The Nova Scotian
"Through LeBlanc's experiences and observations, Griffiths describes the inner workings of the Liberal governments of Lester Pearson, Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chrétien. She pays particular attention to the importance of LeBlanc's Acadian heritage in animating all that he did.
Her biography illuminates the life of one of Canada's most beloved politicians and statesmen and, with it, a fascinating era in our history."
— Telegraph Journal
"The Golden Age of Liberalism succeeds in two important particulars. It reveals the deep and abiding love that LeBlanc, a francophone, felt for Canada in an age when Quebec nationalism, even separatism, was fashionable among the chattering classes. It also shows his lifelong commitment to his Acadian people, whom he cherished as an identifiable and important, if often overlooked, minority in Canada."
— Literary Review of Canada
