Governor General David Johnston dedicated a special glass window in the Senate on this date in 2012 that honoured the Diamond Jubilees of both Queen Victoria (1897) and Queen Elizabeth II (2012). “Canada has changed dramatically since the diamond jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria, but what remains is our bond with the monarchy. Today, we have an opportunity to strengthen our historical bonds with the Crown,” the Governor General said at the ceremony. “It is wonderful to see that this window, one of the first projects announced for the Diamond Jubilee, has become a fixture in the Senate of Canada. Let it be a reminder of the dedication to duty and service long held by these two queens, as well as an inspiration to those who serve Canadians.”
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.