A big one today on the calendar, one that my Liberal friends in particular will wish to celebrate.  However, I expect that a lot of folks in all parties will quietly agree with the importance of this date. So, it was on this date in 1887 that future Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier was named his party’s leader, replacing Edward Blake. Laurier would then spend the next nine years in opposition, before his election as PM in 1896. Sir John A. Macdonald and he faced off against each other in the 1891 campaign, with the Father of Confederation winning. Despite differing party views, our two greatest Prime Ministers – Macdonald and Laurier – had a mutually respectful relationship behind the scenes. During his opposition period, Laurier, amongst his countless other achievements in a long and storied life of public service to Canada, also proved an important innovator when it came to the political craft.  A few years after his election as party leader, Laurier organized the first-ever national party convention that took place in 1893.  This allowed the Liberals to nail down policy, organization and other plans together that would help guide them to victory three years later.  Laurier also traveled far and wide in the young country, cementing the loyalty of rank-and-file Liberals and regional party leaders along the way. For me, Laurier, along with Macdonald (of Kingston), is my Canadian political hero.  His call to action for the young Canadians of his day should always be remembered. “Canada first, Canada last, Canada always," he told an audience gathered before him at Toronto’s Massey Hall.  It is a challenge that still inspires today. Happy anniversary Sir Wilfrid. Birthday Alert from Art’s History: Sending out birthday greetings to Newfoundland MP Churence Rogers, BC’s Marc Dalton and Ontario’s Pierre Poilievre. caption id="attachment_562462" align="aligncenter" width="454" The New Nation, helmed by the Old Pilot/caption 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.