On This Day in Canada’s Political History: Edward Blake becomes Ontario’s second Premier

It was on this date in 1871 that parliamentary legend Edward Blake – one of the truly great House of Commons performers in Canada's history – took office as Ontario’s second Premier.And, for my part, and despite the fact he served less than a year as Premier, I’ve felt since my early 20s when I roamed the Ontario Legislature as a young political assistant, that Blake’s portrait there is the best of any past Premier.  (Though the one of Ernest Drury comes close. But I digress).There he is, standing in debate, commanding the chamber, ready to slay any foe who dared to take him on.Blake gave up power at Queen’s Park and made his way to Ottawa, succeeding Alexander Mackenzie as federal Liberal leader.  But, while Blake was brilliant, he was no match for the wily Sir John A. Macdonald, and the Old Chieftain defeated Blake twice.For decades, Blake was known as the only Liberal leader never to have become Prime Minister.  Things only got a wee bit brighter for him when Stéphane Dion and Michael Ignatieff joined him in sharing that dubious distinction.The fact that he never became Prime Minister, however, does not diminish the great man’s legacy.  It was he, after all, that ensured that a bright youthful MP by the name of Laurier would succeed him as Liberal leader.If that’s not a great legacy to have, then nothing is.caption id="attachment_529255" align="aligncenter" width="476" Edward Blake/captionArthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist.  He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also proudly served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy.  A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel. 



Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.