The following transcript of

William “Bill” Ellis’ interview

on

Memories and Music (broadcast August 30, 1981)

was created by the Sudbury Public Library as part of a

Summer Canada Project

in 1982.

c

SUnBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY

1

"MEMORIES & MUSIC " INCO METALS CO. LTD.

CIGM

ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM

INTERVIEWEE: William Ellis POSITION: Mayor of Sudbury ,

1962-1963.

DATE: August 30, 1981 INTERVIEWER: Gary Peck

TAPE NO : 156 TRANSCRIBER: Wendy Mayhew

DATE OF TRANS: August 1982 SUMMER CANADA PROJECT

THEME: The life of Bill Ellis , with particular emphasis on his political career and term of office as mayor, 1962-63.

G.P. This week my guest will be Bill Ellis a former mayor of Sudbury , who guided the city for the years 1962 and 1963. On the program we'll be talking about politics in general and Bill Ellis ' career in particular. Join Bill Ellis and myself Sunday at one o'clock when Inco Metals Company presents "Memories & Music" .on Stereo 92.7 CIGM-FM.

G.P. Today on "Memories & Music" we have the opportunity, in fact the privilege, of interviewing one of Sudbury's former mayors. Sudbury has had 31 mayors and many have tried for the position and few have been successful. But our guest today is Bill Ellis , mayor of Sudbury from 1962 to 1963. He served two years as mayor of the commu-nity of Sudbury. In just a few moments we'll begin our interview with Bill Ellis , however, first we'll turn the program over to Doug McLaughlin our music host.

(Music)

G.P. Today on "Memories & Music" our guest is Bill Ellis, former mayor of the city of Sudbury , and welcome to the program Mr . Ellis .

B. E. Thank you very much .

G.P. Mr . Ellis , you were born March the 19th, 1914, and you came to Sudbury in 1939. Where did you come from? Where were' you born?

B. E. Well I was born in Marmora, Ontario and lived four or five years in Point Anne and then moved to Belleville in 1923. So I remained in Belleville from '23 until '39.

ELLIS 2

G.P. Until '39. What line of work were you in when you were living in that area?

B.E. I was a buttermaker with a • • • the Belleville Creameries and the Swift Canadian Company.

G.P. And when you came to Sudbury in '39 what was the motivation behind that move?

B. E. Well there was very little work in Belleville or Southern Ontario and I'd heard that there was ••• International Nickel were employing people in Sudbury so a couple of friends and myself we come to Sudbury and we were all fortunate in getting a position or a job.

G.P. So you had friends in the area and really the mining indus-try is what attracted you to the area.

B.E. That's right, that's right.

G.P. So many have been attracted because of that reason.

B. E. That's true.

G. P. You began working with Inco.

B. E. I began with Inco, yes .

G.P. And worked with Inco the rest of your life, I assume.

B. E. Ah, yes up until 1978.

G. P . What line of work were you involved in?

B. E. Well I had worked ••• I started underground, I worked a short time and then I was transferred, I had my station-ary engineer's certificate and I was transfer red to the mechanical department as a stationary engineer.

G.P. And what were the locations where you were working?

B.E. I worked at Frood and Stobie, Murray mine and Garson mine for a short period of time.

G.P. You recall some of the people you were working with, the supervisors?

B.E. Yes I first worked for a man by the name of Joe Butler. He was the assistant master mechanic at Frood and then went on later working for Jim Miles and • • • Campbell Girdwood.

ELLIS 3

G. P. Campbell Girdwood is a name well-known in the area with the Girdwoods having been in Sudbury for a while .

B. E. That's right .

G.P. With their father being a ••• connected with woodworking .

B. E. That's right .

G. P. You ' re married . Is your wife from Sudbury?

B.E . No my wife is from Marmora .

G.P. Marmora , so you met in that area .

B.E. No we met in Belleville . She was going to high school and this is where we met .

G.P. You have a family?

B. E. We have a family of two , two boys .

G. P. Two boys . Are they living in the area?

B. E. One lives in Chelmsford and the other lives in Sudbury .

G. P. So they ' ve also been attracted t o this area and have remain-ed there .

B. E. That ' s right .

G. P. What prompted you to go into, was it the dairy business or to be associated with the dairy operation?

B. E. Well , I was ah , ••• I finished school, ah , I was fortunate in getting a job in a dairy, ah or creamery and I just went on from there .

G. P. So it wasn ' t necessarily an interest in that type of work but there was employment there .

B. E. That's right , yeah, there was very little employment in the 30 ' s . I guess not only in Belleville but many other places .

G. P. It was difficult everywhere, wasn ' t it? Were your parents from that area , were they born in that area?

B. E. Yes , they were . Both my mother and father .

G. P. When you came to Sudbury in 1939 and worked with Inco • • • would you say that you had an early interest in politics or was that something that was acquired over a period of time?

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ELLIS 4

B.E. No that was acquired and there was a fellow by the name of Dave Younger, he used to be a high school teacher, and so he got me interested in politics and I was ••• oh the Ratepayers' Association and so on and then we needed services in the area and some of, some of my friends felt that I would be able to get them and of course they were behind me and elected me .

G.P. Supportive of you. All right, I'll, we'll, we'll turn the program over to Doug McLaughlin, our music host, and when we return we'll talk about your political career in Sudbury. First , however, we'll hear from Doug McLaughlin .

(Music)

G.P. Bill Ellis , a former mayor of the city of Sudbury , is our guest today on "Memories & Music ." Mr . Ellis prior to the music interlude you were talking about the motivation. You were explaining why you became involved in politics.

B. E.

G.P.

B. E.

G.P.

B. E.

G.P.

B. E.

G. P.

B. E.

I believe you became a councillor for the township of McKim in 1953.

That's right.

And you remained as councillor until ' 57?

'57 , I was elected reeve of the township then.

In '57. Who was the reeve when you were councillor?

Ah , Carl Nesbitt . Carl Nesbitt .

Carl Nesbitt . One of the schools in New Sudbury being named after him.

That's right.

What , what kind of man was Carl A. Nesbitt?

Well Carl was a very nice man . He was very fiery ; he had a quick temper and flew off the handle easy , easily but very knowledgeable and sincere and worked on behalf of the public .

G.P. What kind of background did he have? What did he do for a living?

B.E . Ah, he was a timekeeper with Inco primarily at Stobie mine .

G.P. Now you were elected reeve in '57, your plans were to run against Carl Nesbitt?

ELLIS 5

B.E. I was • • • yes that's right .

G. P. And he was transferred just • . . B. E. And he was transferred . Inco opened up in Thompson ,

Manitoba , and he was transferred up there.

G. P. Did you have any opponents when you ran in ' 57?

B.E . Yes , I did .

G. P. Can you recall who they were?

B. E. Yes , Cecil Fielding.

G. P. Cec Fielding ran .

B.E. That ' s right .

G. P. He was the only opponent .

B. E. At that time , yes .

G. P. Now what was it like to be councillor for the t ownship? What kind of work were you involved in?

B. E. Well there was all kinds of work . Ah, ••• people had all kinds of problems; at least , they fel t they were problems . At that time there was only one area that had sewer and water - that was Gatchell and all other areas had wells and septic tanks or/and outhouses . So there was a lot of work involved then .

G. P. Right . The township was broken into four areas . You mentioned Gatchell had sewer and water .

B. E. Ah , yes and then there was New Sudbury , Minnow Lake , and Lockerby .

G. P. And you were a councillor for Minnow Lake .

B. E. That's right .

G.P. Would you say that it was very time consuming being a councillor at that time?

B. E. Yes , it was . But it was also very enjoyable .

G.P. Oh I'm sure it must've been .

B. E. And ah , you know I had the opportunity of meeting an awful lot of people and ah , and I really enjoyed that.

ELLIS 6

G.P. Did your responsibilities change in a dramatic way when you became reeve?

B.E. Ah, well yes. It was much similar although it had the whole township to contend with rather than just one area. So you might say there w.as more than four times as much work.

G.P. And you'd have to be the kind of person who could pull together your council in a sense because you were working with other councillors.

B.E. That's right, that's true.

G.P. What were some of the maj or problems facing McKim town-ship, as a township when you were reeve?

B.E. Well I suppose the biggest problem was water and sewer and, of course, the other things that go along with it. But they were the biggest problems.

G.P. When, when you became reeve in '57 was your term at that time one year?

B.E. One-year terms, yes.

G.P. So you ran in '58.

B.E. '58 and '59.

G.P. Did you have opponents in '58?

B.E. I did and I just can't think of who they were at the time.

G.P. And '59 you had opponents.

B.E. That's right.

G.P. You were successful in those three elections . Then in 1960, amalgamation occurred?

B.E. That's right.

G.P. For those who, perhaps, were not in the area at that time or do not recall, what was amalgamation when we are talking about this?

B.E. Well, that was when the city of Sudbury amalgamated with all of McKim township, half of Neelon township and Frood Mine .

G.P. What motivated that? What brought it about?

ELLIS 7

B.E. Ah, there was the mlnlng revenues that were going to the government and because of amalgamation we felt that the mining revenues would be coming to the city of Sudbury through taxation .

G. P. Was that the case? Did it seem to work out that way?

B.E. Well eventually it worked out that way .

G. P. But it took a while .

B. E. It took quite a number of years .

G. P. Were you a supporter of amalgamation?

B. E. No I wasn't .

G. P. At the time .

B. E. No .

G. P. Why would you not be?

B.E. We felt that by being small and ••• we could accomplish things just as well or maybe better and we were getting a much larger grant from the provincial government . So it was felt that we could do better on our own.

G.P. I would assume though once amalgamation occurred you still being involved in politics you worked to help to make it work .

B. E. Yes , that's right .

G. P. Looking back do you feel that amalgamation was good?

B. E. Ah ,.

G. P. Or is it difficult to say .

B. E. I would say yes it was . One has to keep up with the times and yes it would be better.

G.P. Were, were many people opposed to amalgamation in 1960?

B.E. Yes , I think the majority of the general public were opposed to it.

G.P . Then how did it occur .

B. E. I think that it was primarily the government that wanted it and ordered it.

ELLIS 8

G. P. The provincial government felt that amalgamation was necessar y and they were the supporters of it .

B. E. That ' s right , that's right .

G. P. Was the city of Sudbury in favour of it as you recall?

B. E. Ah , well , of course, the city of Sudbury, the council of the city of Sudbury had applied f or amalgamation . Ah , however , just prior to it becoming law the maj ority of council then did not want . So ah , •••

G.P . There was a change of heart .

B. E. Ah , when I think , they figured , when they realized what the cost was going t o be they didn ' t want it .

G. P. Joe Fabbro was mayor at that time .

B. E. Ah , yes .

G. P. Prior to amalgamation?

B. E. That ' s right .

G. P. And he was a supporter of it .

B.E. He was a supporter of it .

G. P. This reminds one a little bit of regional government in the sense that there was opposition to it when it , it occurred as well back in ' 73.

B. E. I would say much similar, right .

G. P. You ' ve had the opportunity of going through two, two such devel opments . Well, amalgamation occurred in 1960 and •• now the township would then have an opportunity, it would be part of the city of Sudbury, so it would be included in wards of the city.

B. E. That ' s right , yes .

G.P . And what would this ward have been then?

B.E. This was ahTays Ward 1.

G.P. Ward 1.

B. E. Right.

G.P. Did you run in Ward 1 when amalgamation occurred?

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ELLIS 9

B.E. No I run for Board of Control, which was . . . G.P. Ran for the Board of Contro l . What was Board of Control?

B.E. It was primarily a finance committee and they dealt with the budgets and ••• I would think, primarily, the finance committee.

G.P. So it was really an important part of that city council in a sense or an important part of municipal government .

B. E. I would say so, yes .

G.P. And one of the differences you had to run at large, You had to get votes from across the city as opposed to a particular ward.

B.E.

G.P.

B.E.

G.P.

B.E.

G.P.

From the whole city, yes.

Entire city. Do you recall who ran in Minnow Lake in that year?

Ah, •••

Just to put you on the spot all of a sudden.

No, no I just can't.

No your interest then was to garner votes across the city. How many wards were there with amalgamation? For example, would Minnow Lake be one ward, would New Sudbury be one , Gatchell and Lockerby did they come in as separate wards?

B. E. At the beginning yes in 1960 and then when I was mayor there was some friction between the so-called old city of Sudbury and McKim township and when I become mayor then I had the wards changed, whereby parts of the town-ship and part of the city would become one, one ward. So a representative, there wasn't the in and the outs, was the alderman in particular they represented part of the township and part of the city.

G.P. So tha t helped to break down the division after a period of time.

B. E. That's right.

G.P. You mentioned , you introduced the phrase "the in and the out." Were you the first mayor from the out-lying area, were you the first mayor • • •

B. E. Yes, I was.

G.P. Elected from the, from the township?

(

ELLIS 10

B. E. Yes , I was .

G. P. Were there more wards representing the f ormer city , as opposed t o t he townships , or was it evenl y balanced?

B. E.

G. P.

B. E.

G. P.

B. E.

G. P .

B. E.

G. P.

B. E.

G. P.

B. E.

G. P.

B. E.

No , evenly balanced .

In terms of population though •

Of course , the population was a • • •

Would be concentrated in the city .

Right .

In the city . You were on Board of Control for two years .

Ah , well •

'60 , '62 .

' 60 and ' 61 and then I was on Board of Control for four or five years after '60 .

All right but on the onset it was for two years .

Two years , yeah .

Were they two-year terms?

They were two-year t erms and , of course , I was f ortunate and I headed the polls on Board of Control and I was automatically then Deputy Mayor .

G. P . And you were Deputy Mayor then to •••

B.E. Bill Edgar .

G. P. Bill Edgar . All right now in 1962 you became mayor of Sudbury and I think what we ' ll do is take a break now and turn the program back to Doug McLaughlin . When we return we ' ll pursue that aspect of your political career and we ' ll get some insight into what it was like to be mayor of the city of Sudbury . But first we'll hear from Doug McLaughlin .

(Music)

G. P. Bill Ellis, the mayor of the city of Sudbury for ' 62 , ' 63 , is our guest today on "Memories & Music . " At the onset of the program , Mr. Ellis , I mentioned that Sudbury has had 31 mayors. A number of people have gone after the position but as I indicated we ' ve had only 31 . What was it like to be mayor of the city? I imagine it was quite an honour .

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ELLIS 11

B. E. Well , it was definitely an honour . Ah , again with the amalgamation there was a tremendous amount of work , ah , getting services to the public and of course all of the public wanted the services in one year .

G. P. Yes .

B.E. And that just wasn ' t possible so it had to be a little bit in each area and , of course , I guess it's still the same thing today.

G. P. When amalgamation occurred in 1960 , Bill Edgar became the mayor and I think Bill Edgar his only opponent \.,ras Joe Fabbro who he beat by over a thousand votes in that year , I believe , that was the case .

B. E. Yes I would think so .

G. P. In 1960 . You have given some thought to running f or mayor at that time .

B.E. Yes , I was willing to run for mayor at the beginning of amal gamation and I wasn ' t able to get a leave of absence from International Nickel so then I run for Board of Control .

G. P. Successfully ran for Board of Control .

B. E. Yes , I was elected and headed the polls and automatically was Deputy rlayor .

G. P . Deputy Mayor with , with Bill Edgar .

B.E . With Bill Edgar , yes .

G. P . So your interest in , in being mayor of the city went back to amalgamation and it was only logical , I suppose , that you would run in 1962.

B. E. Yes, ah • . . G. P. You had that interest .

B.E . I did , yes .

G.P. Bill Edgar did not run in ' 62 .

B.E. He run for Board of Control and was elected ah , • • • so

G. P. So both of you just transferred your positions .

B. E. That's right .

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ELLIS 12

G.P. Did he top the polls?

B.E. Ah, no he did not.

G.P. But he was elected as Board of Control and you came in as mayor. You had two opponents that year.

B.E. Yes , Peter Guimond and Abbie Gagnon .

G.P. What was it like to campaign back in ' 62?

B.E. Well, there was a lot of door knocking and of course going to different meetings and organizations. I met the public, I met the people and secured their support and was elected.

G.P. We talk today of political machines would you have a machine then in terms of a number of people working for you?

B.E.

G.P.

B.E.

G.P.

B.E.

Not as such, no.

No, you'd be doing a lot of the door knocking yourself.

Right, right.

Would you have meetings where the three candiates would appear together?

Yes, we did in the various schools throughout the area and we had meetings ••• The Ratepayers ' Association put these meetings on and of course we would attend and solicit support at these meetings .

G.P. Would there be debates or would it ever reach that stage?

B.E. Oh yes, oh yes . Some of these meetings were pretty hot and heavy.

G.P. Pretty hot and heavy and I suppose that was to the advantage of the audience.

B.E. Right.

G.P. It would be good entertainment in a way as well I would imagine. All right you sucessflully defeated Peter Guimond and Abbie Gagnon in 1962. During your two years as mayor of the city, what were some of the maj or projects that a, that you undertook as mayor? Well one you indicated earlier was reorganization of the boundaries whether that was a maj or project • • •

B.E. No I wouldn't say that was a major project . It was trying to get the bus companies to give passes or transfers so that one person could ride throughout the whole city on one ticket, and there were three or four different companies so there were three or four dif ferent charges if one wished

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ELLIS

G. P.

B. E.

G. P .

B. E.

G. P .

B. E.

G. P .

B. E.

G. P .

B. E.

G. P.

B. E.

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to travel from one end of the city t o another .

Desmarais was one of the companies?

Desmarais. Sudbury Bus Lines .

Sudbury Bus Lines . Delongchamp .

Delongchamp , which was a Frood Bus Line , and Barbeau, he had the Minnow Lake Bus Line .

And Carter .

And Carter he had New Sudbury .

And your intention was to bring the four of them together and work out an arrangement so tha t the transfers c ould occur .

That ' s right .

And that was one of our campaign planks , I believe .

That was one of my campaign promises .

And how did that work out?

Not too well . The companies had agreed to form one c ompany and you might say at t he last moment Desmarais or Sudbury Bus Lines , they withdrew and they submitted a contract of their own .

G. P. What was the nature of tha t contract?

B. E. It wasn ' t as good as the one submitted by the other comp-anies .

G. P . From, from a monetary point of view they were exactly the same , though were they not? There was something c ommon about the two .

B. E. Ah, yes they were exactly the same excepting Desmarais was going to be operating on a retainer or a management fee and if I recall correctly the fee was $25 , 000 a year for 10 years then after 10 years would own all of the equipment of the bus company .

G. P. The city opted for the other contract .

B. E. That's right .

G. P. Now why were you in favour of"of the latter bid .

ELLIS 14

B. E. Well it was a better contract , I felt , and the maj ority of c ouncil felt , because of the • • •

G. P. 10 year period?

B. E. Of the ten year period and Desmarais would or could have all new equipment at the end of that term and the citizens of Sudbury would be paying for it .

G.P . That was one of your main concerns as mayor .

B. E. That ' s right .

G. P . Were there other projects that were undertaken as well?

B. E. Well , of course, there was the sewer and water

G. P. Continuing that work.

B. E . Continuing that work , yes .

G.P . Now when you became mayor you were unfortunately beset with health problems .

B. E. Yes , just before New Year ' s Day I •••

G. P. The day before inauguration .

B. E . The day before inauguration , I had a coronary and I ended up in hospital for 5~ weeks .

G.P . A very inauspicious way of beginning your term .

B. E. Well , yes it was and ah , after a couple of days I was want-ing to get out and get back at the work again but that didn ' t materialize until 5~ weeks .

G. P . Now I understand that you didn ' t accept that , that heart attack .

B. E. No I didn't . It had to be someone else and of course I went right back to work again and in April I had another one and that time I accepted it .

G. P . Now that , that probably I would imagine made you quite cautious as mayor , you were not able to get as involved as you really would like to.

B. E. Well .

G. P. I'm sure you were very involved but that would always be in the back of your mind I suppose.

(

ELLIS

B.E. Yes, it was . I learned to slow down .

G. P. Pace yourself.

B. E. Right .

G.P. In 1964 you ran for mayor , '64?

B.E. '64 , yes .

15

G. P. For the term of ' 64 , ' 65 . Your opponents that year , it was quite a packed field , I believe .

B. E. Yes , there were 5 altogether : Sammy Rothschild , Joe Fabbro , Ernie Proulx .

G. P. Maxy Silverman.

B. E. Maxy Silverman and myself .

G. P. And yourself and as the incumbent with a packed field you would expect that the advantages would be in your • • • the advantage would be in your favour .

B. E. I thought so , yes.

G. P . However Joe Fabbro won that election .

B. E. That ' s right .

G. P. What were the reasons for that , for his victory and your defeat?

B. E. I would say that there were two factors , I didn ' t think of them at the time . But enough people told me that they did not vote for me for health reasons and, of course , the bus issue was the other one .

G. P . The public •• • the bus issue was it because they didn ' t understand the bus issue?

B. E. I would say, yes . Plus the fact that the Sudbury bus drivers who were going to be out of a job , they worked against me and, of course , Fabbro , he sees the opport-unity .

G.P. And was able to take advantage of that.

B.E. That's right .

G. P. They were a unionized company, I believe?

B. E. That ' s right.

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ELLIS 16

G. P . That was one factor and the other factor was the health problem .

B. E. Yes people felt that they didn't want to be a part and parcel of having another heart attack .

G. P. At the onset you would think they were just trying to console you but over the years you had enough people tell you that.

B. E. That's right , that's true .

G. P. That you've accepted the sincerity of that .

B. E. That's right .

G. P. Did you enjoy your term as mayor?

B. E. Yes , I did . I enjoyed my • •• all of my experience and time , you know , on council.

G. P. Running for mayor in 1962, what would it have cost approx-imately?

B.E. I would say in round figures about $2,000 .

G. P . Around $2,000. Today considerably more .

B. E. Yes , it would be .

G. P . Now pursuing your political career beyond 1963, you ••• I think you again you were elected to Board of Control .

B.E. Yes I, there was a vacancy in 'n3 or ' 64 rather and I was appointed by council to fill that vacancy and then I went on the following year and was elected to Board of Control.

G. P. Have you, were you on , were you on council after that?

B. E. I remained on council up until the r egional government .

G. P. Until 1972 .

B. E. That's right and of course i n ' 72 or ' 73 there was a vacancy on regional council and I was appointed again to fill that vacancy for the balance of that term.

G. P. What prompted you not to run f or regional government?

B. E. Well , I spent a tota l of 18 years on council and I felt that that was pretty well 10ng enough .

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ELLIS 17

G. P. You had gone through amalgamation and perhaps it was concerning you that you just didn ' t want to go through this major readjustment as well, would that be part of it?

B.E . Well , I think maybe that the • ••

G.P . The longevity or particularly the longevity .

B. E. Yes , right . I think so .

G. P. Now you ' ve had an opportunity of knowing a number of the mayors through the years , have had an opportunity t o see some of them as councillors . I think what we ' ll do is we ' ll take a break now and when we return perhaps you could share with us your observations about some of the previous mayors , your successors , and some of your pre-decessors . But first we'll turn the program over to Doug McLaughlin .

(Music )

G. P. Bill Ellis , mayor of Sudbury , during the term 1962- ' 63 and Mr . Ellis your predecessor , your immediate predecessor was Bill Edgar and I understand that you and Mr . Edgar are very good friends . What was Bill Edgar like , or what is he like as an individual and what was he like as a mayor?

B.E . Well I would say that Bill Edgar is one of the nicest men in Sudbury . Bill Edgar , I would say that his only fault was that he just couldn ' t say no and he wanted to be doing something for everyone and , of course , with money problems that just wasn't possible .

G. P. With financial restraints in the community .

B. E. Right, right .

G. P . But he was a mayor for the people . He was working for the people in the community .

B.E . Yeah, right and I suppose having been a teacher or he was a teacher at the time and he knew what people should have and he tried his utmost in order to get the things that the public wanted .

G. P. That helps to account for his success .

B.E. I would think so , yes .

G. P. How many years were you in politics?

B. E. A total of 18.

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ELLIS 18

G.P. That's a long time and of course you still have your foot in the ring in a sense because you're on the Committee of Adjustment, I believe.

B.E. Yes I am.

G.P. For the region.

B.E. For the region, that's right.

G.P. What's your work like on that committee?

B.E. At the beginning of ••• of regional government it was quite heavy but when I say quite heavy, we met almost once a week but now it's down to oh, two and sometimes three meetings a month. So it has slackened off consider-ably.

G.P. What's the nature of your work on that committee?

B.E. Ah, for land splits and minor variances where people wish to add on to a home that doesn't meet the by-law require-ment and the committee has to give this approval.

G.P. And the members of that committee are appointed by council.

B.E. They are appointed by council and it's a semi-judicial body. Our decisions have to be or can be appealed to the Ontario Muncipal Board and they are the only ones who can overrule our decisions.

G.P. I assume that you are enjoying that opportunity of being on the committee.

B.E. Yes I am.

G.P. Keeps you in contact with the people.

B.E. It's meeting the public and continuing to see and work for the public, yes.

G.P. Probably in your blood, isn't it?

B.E. That's right, that's right.

G.P. Looking back, Mr . Ellis, over a career spanning 18 years, you have fond memories of your association in politics~ It can be frustrating but it would be my view that you certainly enjoyed the experience.

B.E. I enjoyed it all, every, I wouldn't say every minute of it. There were frustrations but on the whole yes I enjoyed it very, very much.

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ELLIS 19

G. P. Good . Mr . Ellis on behalf of our listening audience I would like to thank you very much for agreeing to be interviewed today . It's been a pleasure meeting you and I ' ll look forward to ••• meeting you perhaps , you know , at the committee of adjustment any how . A number of people have made the comment that I should come over and interview you for the program and they have fond comments that they make about you so its certainly been a pleasure on my part .

B.E . It's a pleasure being interviewed Gary and I enjoyed every moment of it .

G.P . Thank you very much .

156 - Ellis - 001156 - Ellis - 002156 - Ellis - 003156 - Ellis - 004156 - Ellis - 005156 - Ellis - 006156 - Ellis - 007156 - Ellis - 008156 - Ellis - 009156 - Ellis - 010156 - Ellis - 011156 - Ellis - 012156 - Ellis - 013156 - Ellis - 014156 - Ellis - 015156 - Ellis - 016156 - Ellis - 017156 - Ellis - 018156 - Ellis - 019William Ellis title page.pdfThe following transcript ofWilliam “Bill” Ellis’ interviewonMemories and Music(broadcast August 30, 1981)was created by the Sudbury Public Library as part of aSummer Canada Projectin 1982.