One of the most significant Indigenous leaders of his generation is celebrating his milestone 70th birthday today. Matthew Coon Come, who rose to Canadian and international prominence while serving as grand chief and chairman of Quebec's Grand Council of the Crees starting in 1987. He led a skilled (and ultimately very successful) campaign as his people demanded that their rights be respected as Quebec built and operated the James Bay hydroelectric project. Mr. Coon Come went on to serve as National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations between 2000 and 2003.
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.