We have two significant moments in Canada's political history to note today.First, this will undoubtedly be a big day on the political history front for all my Liberal friends to celebrate. It was, of course, on this date in 2013, that Justin Trudeau was elected Liberal leader. Just two-years later he became Prime Minister of Canada after a strong majority victory in the 2015 election.Since becoming PM, Mr. Trudeau has been a strong supporter of my work in the field of political history and also took time out from a busy schedule in 2011 to assist me in my research for a book paying tribute to my hero, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.So, it is a particular personal pleasure to congratulate the Prime Minister Trudeau on this anniversary.[caption id="attachment_550513" align="aligncenter" width="440"]
Justin Trudeau, his wife Sophie Gregoire and their children Xavier and Ella-Grace celebrate after he won the Federal Liberal leadership, April 14, 2013, Ottawa (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)[/caption]April 14, 1937, David Croll famously resigns from the Ontario cabinetAnother significant moment in Canada's political history took place on this date in 1937 when one of the nation’s greatest-ever ministerial resignation letters became public. Windsor, Ontario’s David Croll, a Liberal member of controversial Ontario Premier Mitch Hepburn’s cabinet chose principle over power by resigning his post.Croll disagreed with the anti-union and heavy-handed approach by Premier Hepburn to a strike by auto workers in Ontario and chose them over his reactionary colleagues. "I would rather walk with the workers than ride with General Motors," Mr. Croll famously said in leaving cabinet in a statement that has been rightly celebrated ever since.Mr. Croll later became a Senator and was summoned to the Privy Council near the end of his life and decades of public service on the advice of then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. In our current era, when standing up for organized labour has become a rarity, Senator Croll’s example is more than worthy of remembrance and honour.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.
Justin Trudeau, his wife Sophie Gregoire and their children Xavier and Ella-Grace celebrate after he won the Federal Liberal leadership, April 14, 2013, Ottawa (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)[/caption]April 14, 1937, David Croll famously resigns from the Ontario cabinetAnother significant moment in Canada's political history took place on this date in 1937 when one of the nation’s greatest-ever ministerial resignation letters became public. Windsor, Ontario’s David Croll, a Liberal member of controversial Ontario Premier Mitch Hepburn’s cabinet chose principle over power by resigning his post.Croll disagreed with the anti-union and heavy-handed approach by Premier Hepburn to a strike by auto workers in Ontario and chose them over his reactionary colleagues. "I would rather walk with the workers than ride with General Motors," Mr. Croll famously said in leaving cabinet in a statement that has been rightly celebrated ever since.Mr. Croll later became a Senator and was summoned to the Privy Council near the end of his life and decades of public service on the advice of then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. In our current era, when standing up for organized labour has become a rarity, Senator Croll’s example is more than worthy of remembrance and honour.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.