When the leader of Canada’s national Progressive Conservatives, Colonel George Drew, got to his feet in the Commons on this date in 1952 he had the Crown on his mind. With the coronation of the new Queen on the horizon (it would take place in June 1953), Drew looked forward to a new Elizabethan age.
“For us and for others the Crown is a symbol of stability in this very unstable world,” he told the Commons in replying to the St. Laurent government’s Speech from the Throne.
You can read more of Col. Drew’s remarks as recorded in Hansard below.
George A. Drew (Leader of the Opposition): Mr. Speaker, I know that the members of this house will all warmly welcome the reference in the speech from the throne to the coronation of Her Majesty the Queen on June 2 next.
At a time of great uncertainty and rapidly changing conditions throughout the world, this historic event will symbolize, not only for us but for all mankind, the long continuity of this form of democracy which is the cherished possession of Canadians and all the nations of the Commonwealth. For us and for others the crown is a symbol of stability in this very unstable world.
We all remember as well the charm, spirit and vigour with which our new Queen carried out her many duties during the time that she visited Canada only a few months ago with her gallant husband. The tragic death of her father, who sacrificed his life in the service of his people, brings to the throne a young woman, trained for her great responsibilities, and expressing both in her private and her public life those traditions of decency and human understanding which have pre- served our monarchy through all the storms of recent years.
As we look forward to the reign of the second Elizabeth, which will likely extend well beyond the lives of most of us here today, I feel sure that there is in the heart and mind of every one of us the earnest hope that the spirit of adventure and great achievement which distinguished the reign of the first Elizabeth may be renewed and may bring glory and renown to this new Elizabethan era.[caption id="attachment_1486400" align="alignleft" width="202"] George Drew[/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.