DYANNE WILSON
QUEstiONs askEd |DI PL OM AT I CA
essentially his diary. It was reading that that got me interested in what this country was like. I was in my teens at the time. My father had kept all these letters. My uncle, Alexander MacDonald, was shot and killed in Afghanistan as he was getting the remainder of his troops back. I had always wanted to go back and see where this battle took place and where he died. I (first) went to Afghanistan in 1988 or 1989. When I was foreign minister, I always had to get back quickly when I travelled, so after that ended, I decided to go back and see these things for myself. DM: What was it like to be foreign minister in the ’80s? FM: There were two secretaries of state at the time, one for foreign affairs and one for domestic affairs, so the secretary of state for foreign affairs, had a lot of things that came under it. That’s the way it was at that time. DM: Was it your dream job? FM: I don’t really think so. Things just
kept happening to me. I didn’t expect to get elected. When I first ran, it was an accident. I was supposed to be helping someone else and when that person didn’t show up, they sent me up to speak. The next thing I knew, I was chosen to be the candidate. It was like I was shoved into it. And no one really took me as being serious. DM: Were you serious? FM: Well, I was just really surprised by it.
On election night, we ended up having a DIPLOMAT AND INTERNATIONAL CANADA
huge party. I was surprised I won. At that time, I was the only woman in the opposition. It was 1972. I had been working in Kingston, at Queen’s University. My family was always interested in the political scene when I was growing up. When Bob Stanfield was elected premier of Nova Scotia, I went to Halifax to see if I could get a job with his new team. I didn’t, but I did get into working at PC headquarters there and after that, I ended up moving to Ottawa and got into the PC headquarters here. I’d go work in provincial elections across the country. We had won elections in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island — so that was four (provinces). During that time, Jean Charest and his wife moved into this building (on Queen Elizabeth Driveway) and I would babysit his children when he and his wife would have to go out to functions. The strangest connections happen. We’ve always remained friends.
FM: I remember I was in Parliament and
DM: You were minister during the Iran hostage crisis (when six American diplomats who evaded kidnapping were taken to the Canadian and Swiss embassies to hide.) What do you remember from that time?
DM: You were the only woman in cabinet. What was it like being in an old boys’ network? FM: I was expected to play my role as a minister and I was expected to play a role as the leader of the women’s movement
I had been told what was happening, but that I couldn’t repeat any of it. So I was in the House (of Commons) but I couldn’t say what was going on and had to pretend I didn’t know anything about it. So I ended up just having to look awfully stupid in the House, giving such far-out answers. It was over Christmas and we met almost up to Christmas Eve and came back right after New Year’s. All of this time, I was being pestered by the press and I couldn’t even discuss it with my own staff. In the end, when I came out, I was blamed for not having done more at the time. It was absolutely frustrating. When it was all over, we were at a ballgame in New York and there was this huge audience at the stadium. They rose and sang O Canada, among other things. It was great but I kept getting blamed at home for not having done enough. It was a very turbulent time, but it’s also one of the memories I will always have.
Meet Paige:
One of Elmwood’s Inspiring Girls “Paige meets the challenges of algebra head-on. She could become an engineer, investment banker or mathematician. No matter what path she takes, it all adds up to a bright future for Paige.” - Mrs. Mulcahy, Math Teacher
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here is one thing that every single girl at Elmwood School has: potential. We see it in the classroom, on the field, in the halls and all around us. We believe that every girl comes to us with untapped potential, and it is our job to help her discover it.
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