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Maurice Brydon Foster fonds

Description
Start Date: 
1957
End Date: 
2000
Date Range: 
1957-2000
Physical Description: 

ca. 95 m of textual records

2 videocassettes

1 film

1 cassette

Arrangement: 
Fonds is arranged in four series: correspondence, files, audio-visual, and printed materials.
History Biographical: 

Dr. FosterMaurice Brydon Foster, the son of Duncan N. Foster and Agnes Mary (Anderson) Foster was born on September 8, 1933 at Bloomfield, Ontario in Prince Edward County.  He grew up on a dairy farm and took his elementary and secondary education in Bloomfield and Picton.  He attended the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Ontario and graduated in 1957 as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.

In 1957, Dr. Foster established a general farm practice as a Veterinarian at Carnduff, Saskatchewan.  Later, he moved to Northern Ontario and continued to practise Veterinary Medicine at Desbarats.  He was active in community affairs including service as Chairman of the District School Board.

He was first elected to Parliament on June 25, 1968, as the Liberal candidate in the Federal Riding of Algoma which had been previously held by the late Right Honourable Lester B. Pearson.  He has been re-elected to represent the Algoma Constituency in every general election since then.  He has served on several committees of Parliament relating to resources and agriculture.  He was Vice Chairman of the External Affairs and National Defence Committees (1976) and was chairman of the Special House of Commons Committee on the Northern Gas Pipeline.  He has also served as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections and as Chairman of the Ontario Liberal Caucus.

He was Deputy Chief Whip during the minority government from 1972-1974.  In 1974, he was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Resources and guided several important pieces of energy legislation through parliamentary committee including the bill to establish Petro-Canada.

He served as Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association from 1977 to 1979 and was leader of the Canadian Delegation to conferences held in Ottawa, Jamaica and New Zealand.  From 1979 to 1982, he served as Canadian Regional Representative of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.  He also served for several years as Vice-Chairman of the Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Association.

In February 1984, he became Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board and piloted the Crown Corporation Act through Committee.

After the General Election of September 1984, he was appointed Agriculture Critic for the Liberal Party by the Right Honourable John Turner.  In January 1986, he also assumed the responsibilities of Critic for the Canadian Wheat Board.

As Agriculture critic, he chaired the National Liberal Task Force on Agriculture, traveling extensively across Canada, meeting with farmers and farm leaders.

Dr. Foster was re-elected for a seventh successive term in November 1988 and was reappointed Opposition Critic for Agriculture.

He announced his retirement in January 1993.

Dr. Foster and Prime Minister Jean Chretien ca. 1993In February, 1994 he was appointed Special Adviser to the Prime Minister dealing mainly with issues relating to the Parliamentary Caucus.  Foster retired from his position in the Prime Minister's Office in 2001. 

Dr. Foster married Janet Kerr of Picton, Ontario.  They have four children (Peter, Andy, Peggy and James) as well as fourteen grandchildren.

Dr. Foster passed away Saturday, October 2, 2010, surrounded by his loving family, after a valiant 3-year struggle with pulmonary fibrosis.

 

Scope Content: 

Fonds comprises records that document all aspects of Dr. Foster's political career as Member of Parliament (including his work as Agriculture Critic for the Liberal Party in the 1980's, the National Liberal Task Force on Agriculture and the Canadian Wheat Board).  Includes correspondence, reports, submissions, reports, press clippings, memoranda, and draft reports.

The fonds documents the many phases of Foster in his five terms as a Member of Parliament of Algoma.   In many ways they illustrate the daily work of a very active MP.  The fonds contains  extensive files on environmental concerns, uranium production, the Liberal Party of Canada, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, natural resources and agriculture. The collection is an invaluable resource for historians, political scientists and researchers studying the history of Canada and in particular the regional interests and concerns of Northern Ontario and its people.

Repository: 
aua
Admin
Custodial History: 

Accession 5021 (QUA) / Accession 2013-093 (AUA) donated to Queen's University Archives by Maurice B. Foster in 1988.  Transferred with permission of the Foster family to Algoma University in August 2013

Accession 5131 (QUA) / Accession 2013-094 (AUA)  donated to the Queen's University Archives by Maurice B. Foster  in July 1993.    Transferred with permission of the Foster family to Algoma University in August 2013.

Accession 5012.1 (QUA) / Accession 2013-095 (AUA) donated to the Queen's University Archives by Maurice B. Foster.  Transferred with permission of the Foster family to Algoma University in August 2013.

Accession 5034.5 (QUA) / Accession 2013-096 (AUA) donated to the Queen's University Archives by Maurice B. Foster.  Transferred with permission of the Foster family to Algoma University in August 2013.

Accession 1993-049 (QUA) / Accession 2015-037 (AUA) donated to the Queen's University Archives by Maurice B. Foster.  Transferred with permission of the Foster family to Algoma University in July 2015.

 

Access Restriction: 

Access to the fonds is by written permission from Dr. Maurice B. Foster.  The fonds is closed until ten years after Dr. Foster leaves public life (1994).

Repro Restriction: 

Use of the fonds is by written permission from Dr. Maurice B. Foster.  The fonds is closed until ten years after Dr. Foster leaves public life (1994).

Conservation: 

Minor conservation performed on fonds. The material was transferred into acid-free folders and boxes; staples, metal clips and non-archival enclosures removed.

Description Level: 
Geographic Access: