New book looks at Lougheed and Métis grandmother | CityNews Calgary

The Indigenous roots of one among Alberta’s longest serving and best-known premiers is explored in a brand new guide specializing in the ancestry of Peter Lougheed and his Métis grandmother.

“The Premier and His Grandmother” is written by Doris Jeanne MacKinnon, an instructional from Red Deer, Alta., who research the vital function Indigenous girls have performed in Prairies historical past.

The response to her earlier guide, “Métis Pioneers: Marie Rose Delorme Smith and Isabella Clark Hardisty Lougheed,” prompted MacKinnon to jot down concerning the Lougheed household.

“As I delved into her history, I don’t recall knowing myself that Peter Lougheed had an Indigenous grandmother,” MacKinnon stated in an interview.

“As I would share the story of my earlier book, I would ask, ‘Do you know this?’ And most people didn’t.”

Peter Lougheed served as premier from 1971 to 1985, making him Alberta’s second-longest serving premier after Ernest Manning.

His tenure included locking horns with former prime minister Pierre Trudeau over oil and gasoline revenues, the introduction of the Alberta Bill of Rights, creating the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund and serving to create the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which affirmed present Indigenous and treaty rights.

MacKinnon stated she based mostly data in her guide on “mining the provincial archives” and from conversations with Lougheed’s son, Joe.

“It delves into a bit of the time when Peter was in office and also some of the activity of the Métis in Alberta in particular, because a lot of their political activism led to where we are today,” she stated.

“It touches on a bit of history of the Métis activism in Alberta and, of course, on Isabella’s history itself.”

Isabella Clark Hardisty Lougheed moved to Calgary when she was in her early 20s to stay along with her uncle, Sen. Richard Hardisty.

She met and married lawyer James Lougheed and her husband was appointed to the Senate in 1889 and labored to grant provincial standing to Alberta in 1905.

Joe Lougheed stated his father was quietly pleased with his Métis roots, however it wasn’t one thing he talked about publicly.

“Dad was never wearing this on his sleeve, nor was anyone in our family. It is part of our history,” Lougheed stated.

“It’s not something he sought to gain any benefit from and it was always a quiet part of his history and I think that’s beautiful in a way. I think he would find this current debate over claiming Indigenous ancestry to be very appalling.”

Lougheed stated he needs he may have requested his father if his heritage had any affect on his politics, together with working towards constitutional standing for Indigenous individuals.

“I guess the question mark about this book is what did my father’s ancestry maybe do to colour his politics?” Lougheed stated.

“I never had the opportunity to talk to him about it. We’ll never know. Did his ancestry enter his mind? I suspect it might have.”