Voting started on July 20, 1872 in what was Canada’s second post-Confederation election. It was still the era of staggard voting dates but when the polls closed on October 12 Sir John A. Macdonald and his Tories were again victorious. It was a narrow victory, however, as the Grits under Alexander Mackenzie made important gains. Most importantly, the seeds of the removal of Macdonald as Prime Minister were planted in this election. Railway interests had secretly funded the Tory campaign. That would soon explode in what became known as the Pacific Scandal and would drive Sir John A. from office two-years later.
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.