This a big anniversary day for Canada’s Conservatives to mark with pride.  It was, of course, on this date – exactly 15 years-ago – in 2006 that Stephen Harper and his new Conservative Party won the federal election and assumed office.  This was the first Conservative government in 13 years. The minority victory was a remarkable one for Conservatives, particularly when you consider that the new party had been in existence less than three years.  To go from a splintered conservative movement in Canada, to government in that short a time was an incredible accomplishment.  And, the success becomes all the more impressive when you consider that Mr. Harper held office for almost ten years, becoming Canada’s sixth longest-serving PM in the process. So happy anniversary to Mr. Harper and his team! caption id="attachment_535554" align="alignnone" width="500" Stephen Harper 2006 (screengrab)/caption Speaking of anniversaries, today is also the birthday of former Ontario Premier Mike Harris.  So happy birthday to Mr. Harris. All in all, a good anniversary day for Canadian Tories!   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.