On the sidelines of the 1987 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Vancouver, Brian Mulroney’s official photographer captured what would become his most cherished image of the former prime minister.
As mourners filed past Mulroney’s casket in Ottawa on Wednesday, Bill McCarthy, who has been hired by the Mulroney family to document the ongoing week of memorial services, said the photo included He said the photo showed “the most moving thing” he had ever seen.
McCarthy said Rita McNeil had just finished performing at the summit’s opening dinner and that the RCMP had received a serious bomb threat to the assembled world leaders and needed to clear the room. He said he marched to let people know.
“I remember walking through the kitchen with (then Indian Prime Minister) Rajiv Gandhi behind me and (then British Prime Minister) Margaret Thatcher in front of me,” McCarthy told CBC News this week. told. “In 30 seconds, we will arrive in this room and be detained there.”
Brian Mulroney’s former official photographer Bill McCarthy looks back at his most cherished photos of the prime minister
The Prime Minister was standing next to a grand piano, facing his wife Mira. Mr. McCarthy said Mr. Mulroney was clearly concerned that the incident would embarrass Canada.
“It’s the most moving thing I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Mila Mulroney walked up to him, reached out her hand and grabbed his earlobe and started talking to him.
“It just made him completely focused. And it was just like, ‘Brian, it’s okay. Canada’s not going to be embarrassed, don’t worry.’
McCarthy has the photo framed and hanging in his bedroom, saying, “Ever since then… it has represented love and a very deep bond to me, and it was the same for my wife and I and the Mulroneys.” Told.
Mr. McCarthy said that during the nearly five years he has worked with Mr. Mulroney, Mr. Mila has repeated the same gesture from time to time.
As official photographer, McCarthy was regularly in the room when Mulroney met with foreign leaders and dignitaries.
”“When the kids walked into the room, the world stopped,” he said. “I’ve been in that room many times and he was in a very serious meeting and the door opened and one of the kids came in and the Prime Minister and the President were there. Everyone would stop and the child would be the center of attention.”
“When he was with his family, he was always a father first,” McCarthy said. McCarthy’s son, Adam Scotti, is currently Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s photographer. “There is no question that he valued his family and it always came first in his life.”
Brian Mulroney’s former photographer Bill McCarthy remembers his commitment to the former prime minister’s family
Mr. McCarthy resigned as official photographer before the end of Mr. Mulroney’s final term as prime minister. He said he knew Mulroney would not run again and wanted to serve out his term, but was unable to do so.
“The reason I left PMO is because my wife has a job in Malaysia and I chose to quit my wonderful PMO job, my life’s work, PMO job,” he said. said. “For a year, I thought I couldn’t leave my wife and 3-year-old child.”
Asked this week what it meant to him that Mila Mulroney asked him to take photos for her family, an emotional McCarthy said: “It’s the perfect ending to my time with Ms. Mulroney.” ” he said.
