Nova Scotians should have an extra bounce in their collective step today as it was on an October 2 long-ago that their future province’s Assembly met for the first time. This historic event took place on October 2, 1758, marking the beginning of parliamentary democracy in Canada.
“There were three major turning points in the history of democracy: direct democracy, representative democracy and mass democracy,” Tom Axworthy, former head of the Centre for the Study of Democracy wrote in an article published by the good folks at the Canadian Encyclopedia. “In their application to Canada, Maritimers, especially Nova Scotians, played a leading role.”
You can read Tom’s article from the Canadian Encyclopedia at this link: https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/nova-scotia-the-cradle-of-canadian-parliamentary-democracy-feature
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.