‘I wrote it because Canadians have forgotten Flora MacDonald’: Geoffrey Stevens

Geoffrey Stevens and Flora MacDonald's book, Flora!: A Woman in a Man’s World, is one of the best political books published in 2021 in Canada. Stevens says he wrote the book because he wants people to remember MacDonald, who was the most influential woman in Canadian political life in her time (mid-1960s to late-1980s). An excerpt is published here. The book is a finalist for this year's Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.

Flora MacDonald, pictured in 2010 and who died in 2015, was Canada's first female foreign affairs minister. Geoffrey Stevens says MacDonald's final decades were remarkable. 'This high-profile cabinet minister disappeared from public view. She became an unpaid volunteer working in refugee camps in Africa and Asia, in an international campaign to preserve the watersheds of the great rivers of Tibet, and as a teacher and builder of schools and hospitals in remote mountain villages of Afghanistan.'The Hill Times file photograph by Jake Wright

Feature

BY Flora MacDonald & Geoffrey Stevens

May 16, 2022

Following the 1979 election, what I needed most was to get out of Ottawa and away from the crazy, swirling rumour mill during the government transition. While Joe Clark worked on his cabinet, I returned to “my” conv...

To keep reading, subscribe and become a political insider.

Only $7.76 a week for an annual subscription.

Enjoy unlimited website access and the digital newspaper.

Cancel anytime.

Already a Subscriber?

Get Today’s Headlines Newsletter

Your quick scan of the news you need each weekday to be the smartest person in the room.

By entering your email address you consent to receive email from The Hill Times containing news, analysis, updates and offers. You may unsubscribe at any time. See our privacy policy