It was on this date in 1896 that Liberal Party Leader Wilfrid Laurier was sworn into office as Prime Minister for the first time. I recently marked the anniversary of his defeat of the Tories, but today is another opportunity - an anniversary to reflect even more on Laurier’s greatness. I have always found it remarkable that in forming his first cabinet Sir Wilfrid convinced not one, but three, sitting Premiers to give up the top political position in their provinces to serve under a federal Prime Minister.  Andrew Blair of New Brunswick, Sir Oliver Mowat of Ontario, and Sir William Fielding of Nova Scotia each left the heights of provincial power at Laurier’s invitation to make the trek to Ottawa. One cannot even imagine an Opposition leader of today being able to attract such talent in one swoop. And so, the Laurier years began. The great man would stay in office as PM until 1911 as his journey through Canada’s political history continued. Birthday alert: Sending our birthday best wishes to MP Joyce Murray. caption id="attachment_571639" align="aligncenter" width="537" In 1896, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier convinced three sitting provincial premiers to give up their posts to join his first cabinet: Andrew Blair, William Fielding and Oliver Mowat/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.