Item AAAB1499 - Thomas S. Barnett interview

CALL NUMBER: T1360:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Childhood and Youth in Alberta and British Columbia : 1909-1928 PERIOD COVERED: 1909-1928 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Born in 1909 in Red Deer, Alberta. Family background. The Barnett family in Alberta. Barnett family move to Vancouver, 1918. Barnett's education. TRACK 2: Eyewitnesses description of the return of Canadian troops to Vancouver. Growing up in Genoa Bay, Vancouver Island. Politics in the Barnett family. Barnett's uncle Alfred Speakman an MP. Barnett completed high school in 1925. Mother sick in the Provincial Hospital at Marpole/Oakridge. Worked in sawmills, 1925-26. Barnett spent one year in California, 1926-27. Entered UBC, 1927. CALL NUMBER: T1360:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): A young man's experiences in B.C. : 1925-1942 PERIOD COVERED: 1925-1942 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Barnett as a student at UBC after 1927. The strong influence of Barnett's mother. Also influenced by his high school teacher, Arnold Webster. Met J.S. Woodsworth in 1929 and favourably impressed. Barnett considers entering the ministry, c. 1931. Barnett to the Cariboo as a lay minister, 1933. Effects of the Depression on the Cariboo. Barnett decides against the ministry. Activities of the Student Christian Movement at UBC. TRACK 2: The intellectual climate of Vancouver and UBC in the 1930s. Barnett not a member of any party in the 1930s. Barnett in the Central Interior, 1933-42. Barnett attracted to the Social Credit movement in the 1930s. Barnett a supporter but not a member of the C.C.F. in the 1930s. Friend of C.C.F. MLA John McInnis. Editor of the Wells Chronicle during the 1930s. Barnett moves to Port Alberni in 1942. CALL NUMBER: T1360:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): The I.W.A. in the 1940s PERIOD COVERED: 1932-1953 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Barnett's observations on B.C. politics in the 1930s. Personal impressions of T. "Duff" Pattullo. Barnett a school trustee in Wells, c. 1937-1940. The educational system in Wells in the late 1930s. More about the Liberal government of Pattullo. Moved to Port Alberni in 1942. Joined C.C.F., 1943. Joined I.W.A. and became active in the union. Also on the executive of Credit Union and consumer co-op. TRACK 2: Barnett's work history, 1942-53. Barnett's opposition to the communist control of the Port Alberni local and the B.C. region of the I.W.A. The "cell" operation of the Communist Party. Barnett instrumental in the formation of an anti-communist "counter-caucus" within the Port Alberni local. Barnett tried and acquitted within the union as a union disrupter, 1945. Barnett a candidate in the 1945 federal and provincial elections. More on the communist / non-communist struggle within the Port Alberni local. Barnett's fundamental opposition to "monolithic" communism. Critique of the Communist Party of Canada by Malcolm Bruce. The defeat of the communists in the I.W.A., 1948. CALL NUMBER: T1360:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Federal politics in the 1940s and 1950s PERIOD COVERED: 1942-1957 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Communist leaders in Port Alberni: Alfred Dewhurst, Mark Mosher, Nigel Morgan. Communists not successful in infiltrating the C.C.F. in Port Alberni. Relations between the C.C.F. and the Communist Party. Most Scandinavians were social democrats. The 1945 federal election. A.W. Neill, the former member for Comox-Alberni. More on the 1945 federal election. Did not run in 1949. The Japanese-Canadians as an issue in the 1945 election. TRACK 2: More on Japanese-Canadians. The federal election of 1953: Barnett elected for the first time. Election night, 1953. Took leave of absence from his job at Tahsis Company immediately after election. Barnett's personal financial situation, 1953. Salaries of MPs. Barnett's first trip to Ottawa, 1953. Initial impressions of Ottawa. Getting used to Ottawa. CALL NUMBER: T1360:0005 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): (untitled) PERIOD COVERED: 1953-[no date] RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Living arrangements in Ottawa: The Coburg Street Caucus. Introduction to the House of Commons. Parliamentary openings described. Throne Speech debate described. Barnett's maiden address. Parliamentary decorum in the 1950s. The issue of the recognition of the People's Republic of China. The Quebec "Independents". Barnett's seat in the House of Commons. The "lobbies" of the House of Commons. Informal co-operation between the parties. The development of "question period". TRACK 2: [blank?] (End of interview.)