Future Prime Minister Louis St.-Laurent’s voice was first heard in the House of Commons on this date in 1942. He had accepted Prime Minister Mackenzie King’s invitation to enter the federal cabinet as Minister of Justice upon the death of Hugh Lapointe, King’s most important Quebe colleague. Only six years later, St.-Laurent, who never wanted a career in politics, would be sworn-in as Prime Minister.
You can read Uncle Louis’s maiden remarks in the Commons at this link.
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.