In 1987, Bill McCarthy was appointed official photographer to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Over the next five years, McCarthy captured thousands of moments, from family meals to meetings with world leaders, with blanket access to the daily life of a prime ministership that was both unprecedented and unique among PMO staffers.

Bill McCarthy has kindly provided us with a selection of images from those years:

 

Prime Minister Brian Mulroney with Queen Elizabeth II, 1987

 

Election night, 1988

 

With daughter Caroline, Montreal, 1988

 

In the North during the 1988 campaign

 

Visiting care workers during the 1988 campaign

 

With son Nicholas, 1989

 

With Queen Noor and King Hussein, Ottawa, 1989

 

US President George H.W. Bush, Mila and Brian Mulroney, Kennebunkport, 1989

 

Mila and Brian Mulroney in the Prime Minister’s Office, 1990

 

Nelson Mandela arriving in Ottawa, June, 1990

 

With Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa during the Meech Lake negotiations, 1990

 

With Ronald and Nancy Reagan, 1990

 

With Raisa and Mikhail Gorbachev, 1990

 

With Margaret Thatcher in 1990

 

 Ben and Mark Mulroney with their Dad and President Bush at the Toronto Skydome, 1991

 

 In Ireland, 1991

 

With George H.W. Bush in 1991

 

Mulroney editing a speech with a Thomas D’Arcy McGee quote, 1991

 

At Stanford University, 1991

 

Mulroney family Christmas card, 1992

 

The Mulroneys with Jean and Michèle Charest

 

Full circle: at St. FX in June 2023, taken by Bill’s son, current PMO photographer Adam Scotti

 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney at St. FX , 2023/Adam Scotti

 

An airport walk in Calgary during the 1988 election campaign/Bill McCarthy