As always on Art’s History we pause to recall the maiden House speeches of our 23 Prime Ministers. And today, it is William Lyon Mackenzie King’s turn. He had been recently appointed by Sir Wilfrid Laurier to serve as Canada’s first-ever Minister of Labour when he took to his feet in the House on this date in 1909.
It is interesting to note that King's life-long rival and political enemy, Arthur Meighen, also participated in the same debate that day. You can read King’s remarks at this link.
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Mackenzie King campaigning/caption
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Mackenzie King with his parents, in Scarborough/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.
Mackenzie King campaigning/caption
caption id="attachment_597039" align="alignleft" width="515" Mackenzie King with his parents, in Scarborough/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.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.