Future Canadian Senator Georges-Casimir Dessaulles was born on this date in 1827. He would go on to live what turned out to be a lengthy life of public service, passing into history when he was 102.
An important businessman in his Quebec town of Saint-Hyacinthe, Dessaulles would become mayor and later represent his fellow residents in the Quebec National Assembly for one term. In 1907 he was named to the Red Chamber on the advice of Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
Senator Dessaulles would serve 23 years as a Senator and only twice spoke in debate, a record of silence rare for a politician at any level of government.
In 1928 Prime Minister Mackenzie King helped celebrate the good Senator’s milestone 100th birthday. This was a history making event as Dessaulles would be only one of two Senators to ever make it to 100. You can read more about his life and legacy at this link provided by the Senate of Canada - here...
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.