Ontario had a new Premier on this date in 1943 with the swearing in of Col. George Drew as the 14th Ontario to hold the province’s top political job. A lawyer by trade, Drew served with great distinction during the First World War.After serving as Mayor of his hometown of Guelph, Ontario, provincial politics beckoned. The victory of his Progressive Conservatives in 1943 meant that Premier Drew ushered in a remarkable 42-year stint of PC governments in Ontario.He held the Premiership until 1948 when he stepped down to successfully contest that year’s federal PC leadership. Col. Drew went on to lead his party in the 1949 and 1953 campaigns. Both times he and his party were bested by Prime Minister Louis St.-Laurent and his Liberals. After leaving federal politics, Drew would serve as Canada’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.He passed into history in 1973.
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.
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.