The Right Honourable Arthur Meighen, our 9th Prime Minister and one of the greatest parliamentarians of his generation, was born on this date in 1874. He grew up in St. Marys, Ontario and later studied at the University of Toronto. After practicing law, Meighen entered politics and was elected to the House of Commons at the age of 34. The young man quickly made his mark in debate with even Laurier, perhaps the greatest “House of Commons Man” of the era, praising the future PM’s oratorical skills.
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.