History was made on this date in 1948 with the news that Canada would recognize the new State of Israel. The announcement was made by Secretary of State for External Affairs, Lester B. Pearson, at an Ottawa press conference. “Israel has given every proof of compliance with the essentials of statehood,” Pearson said.
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.