Future Prime Minister Mackenzie King took to his feet in the House of Commons for the first time on this date in 1909. The former civil servant, who had been brought directly into Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s cabinet as Minister of Labour, was participating in a House debate about hours of work.
“I believe that a man should have not merely an opportunity to live,” he told his fellow MPs, “but that he should have an opportunity to live happily; and that he cannot have if he is oppressed by excessive hours of labour.”
Only a decade later, King would become Liberal leader, and soon after, become Prime Minister.
You can read his maiden address in full at this link.