Today is an important anniversary for all politicos, regardless of party preference, to celebrate.  It was, of course, on this date in 1961 that the famous Commonwealth Conference that would see South Africa leave the organization because of that nation’s odious system of Apartheid, got underway in London.The background is that South Africa had declared itself a republic (following a referendum in which only whites were permitted to vote).  Becoming a republic meant that the country would have to apply to remain a member of the Commonwealth.Our own Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker, took the unprecedented step of joining with African and Asian nations at this conference in calling for South Africa to be stripped of its Commonwealth membership.  Canada's position certainly stood out - the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Rhodesia (then run by a white government) - all favoured keeping South Africa in the Commonwealth.At the conference, Diefenbaker proposed that South Africa only be re-admitted to the Commonwealth if it joined other states in condemning apartheid in principle.   (CBC's archives have an interesting piece on the 1961 conference.)Diefenbaker's admirable stand was a remarkable demonstration of Canada’s increasing confidence on the world stage, and a moment that brought great acclaim for our country.  (Ultimately, when it became clear the debate on the matter wasn't going South Africa's way, the country withdrew its application.)Upon arriving back in Ottawa after the conference, Prime Minister Diefenbaker was driven from Uplands Air Force Base directly to a conference of Young Progressive Conservatives.  He was greeted as a hero and a future prime minister, Brian Mulroney, was one of the YPC members in the audience.  As we all know, Mr. Mulroney and Canada would later play a significant role in the war against Apartheid in the 1980s and 1990s.  South Africa was only re-admitted to the Commonwealth in June 1994, roughly 3 weeks after Nelson Mandela was sworn in as president.[caption id="attachment_543418" align="aligncenter" width="436"] Commonwealth Conference, London, 1961[/caption]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.