The commanding statue of Sir Wilfrid Laurier that still stands near East Block on Parliament Hill was officially dedicated and unveiled on this date in 1927. The importance of the moment, and Laurier’s grand life and legacy, was recognized by the attendance of the Prince of Wales, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, Laurier’s distinguished opponent of past debates, Sir Robert Borden, and sitting Prime Minister Mackenzie King.
“Laurier was, first and foremost, a great Canadian,” Prime Minister King told the audience, which numbered in the thousands. “Of all the personalities in our history, his was the most distinctively Canadian. It embodied much of Canada’s past as well as of its present. It spoke to us of the two great races that have shaped our destiny, and of a broad toleration in religious faiths.”
“’In appearance, he was markedly distinguished,” King continued. “His manner and bearing spoke of the chivalry of his race, and in more particulars than one, he gave to chivalry its highest expression. His great natural endowments were enriched by a nobility of character that made his personality one of rare dignity and serenity... He was singularly devoid of jealousies and prejudices, singularly charitable in his estimates of others, and singularly forgiving. In all things, he was a great gentleman... He was the type of leader whom men delight to follow, and whom a nation is proud to honour.”
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.