A history student came in yesterday looking for primary sources for the October Crisis – in particular Trudeau and his “just watch me” comment to the media. CBC has a fabulous online archives – which goes back to at least the 1930s – of archival radio and tv broadcasts. You can watch Tommy Douglas talking on TV about the importance of government-funded health care, or Trudeau talking to reporters during the October Crisis. Fabulous primary sources. The focus is interviews, news and current affairs programs to which CBC holds or has obtained copyright. CBC is currently negotiating Internet rights with many different organizations, including trade unions, artists and writers, so sadly, no Mr Dressup.
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I think I had this student (or another one with the same assignment). I had real difficulty finding secondary sources on the subject, at least when it came to articles: I tried ASP and the big history and politics databases with practically no luck. Were you asked about those, and did you have more luck?
Hi Matthew
I did get asked about secondary sources and found books in the catalogue. You might have to use different terminology – the October Crisis is a term given to the event after the fact (I think) but searching for Trudeau or Canada and War Measures Act might bring up results. You could also search some of the Canadian indexes like CPI if they go back far enough. Might have to get into print indexes! Also biographies of Trudeau should have mention of this. Many of the secondary sources are in French, which makes things more challenging.
Books were OK, but the assignment called for articles specifically. I’m pretty sure I did try War Measures Act and “just watch me” as searches, so I guess I was just looking in the wrong indexes. Thanks for the tip!