Today is one of my favourite days on the political history calendar. Thanks to an Act of Parliament, each November 20 has a special name. It is, after all, the birthday of our 7th Prime Minister, making it Sir Wilfrid Laurier Day.
I have long considered both Laurier and his rival, Sir John A. Macdonald of Kingston, to be our greatest Prime Ministers. Both had the vision, political skill, and the courage and compromise needed to cement a permanent northern nation on the North American continent distinct from the United States.
By the time both Prime Ministers had passed into history (Sir John in 1891 and Sir Wilfrid in 1919) – after their combined service as PMs of 34 years – the young Dominion they both crafted could move forward with confidence and panache, a country envied – as it is today – the world over.
Happy Sir Wilfrid Laurier Day!caption id="attachment_555557" align="alignleft" width="386" A youthful Wilfrid Laurier/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.