More than 100 new members of the Order of Canada were announced by Governor General Mary Simon on this date in 2019. Heading the list was our nation’s past Prime Minister, Stephen J. Harper. The 22nd Prime Minister was named a Companion of the Order. His citation is below.
“Stephen Harper was the 22nd prime minister of Canada. Uniting the centre-right political mosaic of the country, he co-founded the modern Conservative Party of Canada and became the longest-serving Conservative prime minister since Sir John A. Macdonald. Under his watch, Canada emerged from the global financial crisis faster than any other world-leading economy, with federal taxes at their lowest level in 50 years, a balanced budget, significant investments in health care and infrastructure, and an international free-trade network that reached Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. He remains a sought-after thought leader for conservatives around the world. “
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.