The living legend that was John Diefenbaker was having anything but a good day on this date in 1978. In fact, his day was so bad, the great man was silenced – something his political opponents had fail to do over the decades. I will let the Canadian Press continue the story. “John Diefenbaker had nine teeth removed yesterday as doctors attempted to deal with an infection and other problems that have kept the former prime minister in hospital for about two weeks,” a CP story reported. “A spokesman described the removal of the teeth at Ottawa Civic Hospital as major surgery. The 82-year-old MP for Prince Albert entered hospital after being flown home from the General Hospital in Saint John, N.B., where he was treated for fatigue and bladder problems.”
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.