Today marks one of my favourite anniversaries on the Canadian political history calendar. I very much like recalling this one because it sums up the approach I try to take -- with some slip-ups over the years -- to our political leaders. As readers know, I strongly believe that one should respect all of our Prime Ministers, regardless of party, and their families for their public service.
So, it was on this day in 1927 that the commanding statue of the great Sir Wilfrid Laurier that stands near Parliament Hill's East Block was dedicated. Thousands gathered and Prime Minister King was joined by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) and visiting British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin for the ceremony.
During the ceremony, Sir Robert Borden -- who had sat across from Laurier 18 years as both Leader of the Opposition and Prime Minister himself -- delivered one of the greatest tributes -- rivalled only by Laurier's own in June 1891 in honour of the late Sir John A. Macdonald – to an opponent in our political history.
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Statue of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Parliament Hill/caption
"He (Laurier) was indeed endowed with infinite grace both in speech and action," Borden said. "Like Sir John A. Macdonald he inspired his party with the deepest emotion of love and devoted loyalty; even strong political opponents cherished for him a feeling of warm affection. To me it is a happy memory that although we differed on most questions of public policy, our personal relations were never disturbed, and that from first to last, although I was obliged to own him as a political foe, I was proud to hold him as a personal friend, and perhaps this personal friendship may have assisted not only to maintain, but to increase the amenities of political conflict in the federal arena ... To me the House of Commons was never the same after his gracious presence no longer moved among us. Without distinction of race or party his countrymen hold him in happy memory, and accord him a final fame that will overcome, that shall overbear reluctant time."
One a Liberal, one a Conservative, Borden and Laurier represent what is best about decency and mutual respect in our politics, something sorely -- and sadly -- lacking in our politics today.
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.
Statue of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Parliament Hill/caption
"He (Laurier) was indeed endowed with infinite grace both in speech and action," Borden said. "Like Sir John A. Macdonald he inspired his party with the deepest emotion of love and devoted loyalty; even strong political opponents cherished for him a feeling of warm affection. To me it is a happy memory that although we differed on most questions of public policy, our personal relations were never disturbed, and that from first to last, although I was obliged to own him as a political foe, I was proud to hold him as a personal friend, and perhaps this personal friendship may have assisted not only to maintain, but to increase the amenities of political conflict in the federal arena ... To me the House of Commons was never the same after his gracious presence no longer moved among us. Without distinction of race or party his countrymen hold him in happy memory, and accord him a final fame that will overcome, that shall overbear reluctant time."
One a Liberal, one a Conservative, Borden and Laurier represent what is best about decency and mutual respect in our politics, something sorely -- and sadly -- lacking in our politics today.
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.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.