British politician Winston Churchill had quite the tour of Canada’s Parliament Buildings on this date in 1929. After all, the guide for his sight-seeing occasion was none other than Prime Minister Mackenzie King himself!Churchill was shown the House chamber and also visited the cabinet room, then located in East Block. Prime Minister King made note of Churchill’s visit in his dairy at the day’s conclusion.
“Churchill was visibly deeply impressed by the memorial chamber, read all the inscriptions and tablets,” King wrote. “Also much enjoyed the visit to the Carillon, views from the tower and our Council Chamber, he took pleasure in being seated in my chair at the Council table and in the H. of C.”
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.