It was definitely a good day to be a Quebec Liberal on October 29, 1973. The province’s Premier, Robert Bourassa, earned a convincing majority mandate, winning 102 of 110 seats up for grabs in the National Assembly. René Lévesque and his fledging Parti Québécois were far behind Bourassa, winning only seven seats. In terms of the popular vote, Bourassa and his team had 45 percent while the sovereigntist PQ earned almost 24 precent.
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.