History was made on this date in 1888 when Richard Hardisty of what is now Alberta was appointed to the Senate on the advice of Sir John A. Macdonald. Senator Hardisty was the first-ever Metis-Canadian to serve in the Red Chamber. A Conservative candidate in the 1887 election, Hardisty placed second. A former Hudson’s Bay Company official, he caught the attention of Macdonald and his appointment to the Senate followed. Senator Hardisty was only destined to serve a short period in the Red Chamber. He died in an accident less than two years after his appointment. Sir John A. then replaced Hardisty in the upper house with Sir James Lougheed, the grandfather of Peter Lougheed.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.