By John NaterHe served as Solicitor General, Secretary of State for Canada, Leader of both the Government and Opposition in the Senate, but the position for which the history books record the name of Arthur Meighen is that of Canada's 9th Prime Minister.A son of St. Marys, Ontario (in the riding I am proud to represent), today marks the 147thanniversary of the birth of Arthur Meighen.In Spring of 2019, the last remaining elm tree on Parliament Hill was removed by Public Works in preparation for the renovations to Canada's historic Centre Block.  This tree was planted during or very close to the first premiership of Arthur Meighen.  Over the years, different statues would stand in the shade of that century-old elm, but never that of Arthur Meighen.When Meighen's statue was viewed by various officials, it was deemed too hideous to take its place on Parliament Hill and spent years in a government storage facility.  In 1987, a group of St. Marys residents would lobby the government to send them Meighen's statue to be placed in a local park. With the support of Mayor Jamie Hahn and M.P. Harry Brightwell, the statue of Arthur Meighen finally saw the light of day in his beloved hometown on September 15, 1987.When the historic elm tree was felled, twigs were sent to the Elm Recovery Project at the University of Guelph.  These twigs were grafted onto saplings to study why this tree in particular survived, while most others succumbed to Dutch Elm Disease in the 1970s.  One such sapling is now planted at the base of Arthur Meighen's statue in St. Marys.  While Arthur Meighen was never honoured with a statue on Parliament Hill, a small piece of Parliament Hill is now honouring his statue.Birthday alert: Sending out birthday greetings to Ontario MP Navdeep Bains.[caption id="attachment_566304" align="aligncenter" width="196"] Portrait of Rt. Hon. Arthur Meighen[/caption][caption id="attachment_566305" align="aligncenter" width="178"] Statue of Rt. Hon Arthur Meighen[/caption]