It is a big day in Canadian political history as we pause, as always, to mark the birthday of one late Prime Minister, while also marking the maiden address in the House of another.It was on this date in 1919 that Canada’s 15th Prime Minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau was born. He went on to be first elected to the Commons in 1965 and three years later was Prime Minister, destined to serve almost 16 years in Canada’s highest political office.Pierre Trudeau is special to me as I wrote to him when I was a high school student and he phoned my parents’ house as a result and invited me to have coffee with him in Montreal. It was the fall of 1984 (photo below). That a Prime Minister would honour a teenager with such a meeting says a great deal about Mr. Trudeau’s character. I felt – and still feel – very privileged to have been able to meet privately with one of our nation’s leaders.And, today is also an important anniversary for another Prime Minister I came to know well. It was on this date in 1962 that John Napier Turner, then a newly elected MP from a Montreal riding, delivered his maiden speech in the Commons. Mr. Turner would go on to serve a quarter-century in the House and was even elected to represent ridings in three provinces: Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. You can read the late John Turner’s first speech in the House at this link.Also below is a picture of myself with Mr. Turner, in 2006, when he became the first Prime Minister to plant a tree in my now famous garden. In the years that have followed, six other PMs have also performed ceremonial tree plantings on my property and I am still waiting for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to visit for his. Over to you, Prime Ministers![caption id="attachment_591208" align="aligncenter" width="511"]
Art Milnes and Pierre Trudeau, 1984[/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.[caption id="attachment_591244" align="aligncenter" width="514"]
John Turner planting a tree in Art's yard, 2006[/caption]
Art Milnes and Pierre Trudeau, 1984[/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.[caption id="attachment_591244" align="aligncenter" width="514"] John Turner planting a tree in Art's yard, 2006[/caption]