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Rt. Hon. John.G. DIEFENBAKER, past Prime Minister of Canada
John George Diefenbaker's contribution to his country needs no repeating here. His declaration, "I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand up for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of Freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind," was a basis for the Canadian Bill of Rights.
I met Mr. Diefenbaker while I was attending the Canadian Police College in Ottawa on a four-months study scholarship. In the evenings I would stroll through Rockcliffe Village, where the homes of diplomats, politicians and the embassies are situated in idyllic surroundings. As I passed one particular house,I often saw an elderly man in his garden,pulling weeds or trimming bushes and we customarily passed the time of day. It was not for some weeks that I realised that this was the Rt.Hon John Diefenbaker, a past Prime Minister of Canada and a colourful politician.
On my next trip around Rockcliffe I was disappointed that he was not in his garden but screwed up courage enough to go knock on the door. It was answered by his housekeeper who explained that he was away at a meeting. I related my request for a portrait sitting to her and she advised me to write a short note, giving a contact number, and she would explain to Mr. Diefenbaker who had called.
Some days later, during a lecture, a member of the RCMP burst into the room and asked for "Dave Roberts, the New Zealand guy". I was then told to contact Mr. Diefenbaker's secretary at Parliament. The stunned silence and open-mouthed looks attested to the reverance in which he was held and I became not a little apprehensive.
Appointment arranged, I went to Parliament and to Mr. Diefenbaker's suite. I had brought a flash with me as I intended to use bounce flash to soften the lighting. Imagine my horror when I was requested not to use flash as Mr. Diefenbaker's health was not too good and he was not to be startled. I was futher horrified by the low light level in the room. I was using Ilford FP4, which I normally rated at 320ASA and developed in Promicrol developer. Taking a reading for the slowest shutter speed I could hand-hold at and the widest aperture that the camera would give me revealed that I would be rating the film at 6400ASA! There was nothing else to do but to get on with it and I engaged my subject in conversation ranging through his political past to my reasons for being in Ottawa. He was an interested conversationalist and the details were as much about me as about him. When I had finished I thanked him for his generous gift of time and wished him better health. He wistfully replied, "Mr. Roberts, I don't think I'll be around too much longer to help guide Canada's destiny." I was left with a memory of a great and gracious man in the twilight of his life. To my knowledge it is the last portrait taken of him, for scant months later he had passed away.
Rt. Hon. John.G. DIEFENBAKER, past Prime Minister of Canada
John George Diefenbaker's contribution to his country needs no repeating here. His declaration, "I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand up for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of Freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind," was a basis for the Canadian Bill of Rights.
I met Mr. Diefenbaker while I was attending the Canadian Police College in Ottawa on a four-months study scholarship. In the evenings I would stroll through Rockcliffe Village, where the homes of diplomats, politicians and the embassies are situated in idyllic surroundings. As I passed one particular house,I often saw an elderly man in his garden,pulling weeds or trimming bushes and we customarily passed the time of day. It was not for some weeks that I realised that this was the Rt.Hon John Diefenbaker, a past Prime Minister of Canada and a colourful politician.
On my next trip around Rockcliffe I was disappointed that he was not in his garden but screwed up courage enough to go knock on the door. It was answered by his housekeeper who explained that he was away at a meeting. I related my request for a portrait sitting to her and she advised me to write a short note, giving a contact number, and she would explain to Mr. Diefenbaker who had called.
Some days later, during a lecture, a member of the RCMP burst into the room and asked for "Dave Roberts, the New Zealand guy". I was then told to contact Mr. Diefenbaker's secretary at Parliament. The stunned silence and open-mouthed looks attested to the reverance in which he was held and I became not a little apprehensive.
Appointment arranged, I went to Parliament and to Mr. Diefenbaker's suite. I had brought a flash with me as I intended to use bounce flash to soften the lighting. Imagine my horror when I was requested not to use flash as Mr. Diefenbaker's health was not too good and he was not to be startled. I was futher horrified by the low light level in the room. I was using Ilford FP4, which I normally rated at 320ASA and developed in Promicrol developer. Taking a reading for the slowest shutter speed I could hand-hold at and the widest aperture that the camera would give me revealed that I would be rating the film at 6400ASA! There was nothing else to do but to get on with it and I engaged my subject in conversation ranging through his political past to my reasons for being in Ottawa. He was an interested conversationalist and the details were as much about me as about him. When I had finished I thanked him for his generous gift of time and wished him better health. He wistfully replied, "Mr. Roberts, I don't think I'll be around too much longer to help guide Canada's destiny." I was left with a memory of a great and gracious man in the twilight of his life. To my knowledge it is the last portrait taken of him, for scant months later he had passed away.