The great Howie Meeker, an NHL legend both on the ice and in the broadcasting booth (along with his sidekick “Peter Puck”) was born on this date in 1923.
A lesser known part of his career, however, is his service as a Member of Parliament from 1951 to 1953.
When a by-election was called in the Ontario riding of Waterloo South in 1951, Canada’s federal Tory leader, George Drew, personally invited this Maple Leafs’ star to be his party’s candidate. Mr. Meeker agreed, was victorious and went on to continue playing for the Leafs at the same time he sat in Canada’s greatest arena, the House of Commons. Only one other Canadian, Red Kelly, also of the Leafs, has ever performed such double duty as both MP and NHLer.
I had the honour of interviewing Mr. Meeker in the 1990s for an article I wrote for the Toronto Star about this unique intersection of Canada’s national sport and politics. He laughingly recalled the friendly banter he and Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent would engage in on the floor of the House each time the Leafs played against the PM’s beloved Habs.
So, here’s to the memory of Howie Meeker the parliamentarianon his birthday!
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.