It is a very big day on the political history calendar as we mark the birthdays of two Prime Ministers. The Dean of all Prime Ministers, Sir John A. Macdonald of Kingston, marked his birthday on January 11 throughout his life. So the great man is up there in the House of Commons in the sky celebrating his big day today.
Down here on earth, the unstoppable Jean Chrétien turns 92 today and shows no signs of slowing down. Last winter, for example, he brought Liberals to their feet cheering when he took on President Donald J. Trump in his address to his party’s leadership convention in March. He also organized a statement signed by all his colleague former Prime Ministers calling on Canadians to defy Trump by flying the Maple Leaf with pride on February 15’s Flag Day.
Happy birthday from Art’s History to Mr. Chrétien and Sir John A.! Here's a favourite picture of mine, taken the day Mr. Chrétien recorded the audio version of my Sir John A. Macdonald-themed walking tour of downtown Kingston.
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.