Arthur Milnes holding a photograph of the 18th Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and himself in his home office in Kingston. 09 May 2016 (Johnny C.Y. Lam for The Globe And Mail)Johnny C.Y. Lam/The Globe and Mail
For those Canadians who don't know him, Arthur Milnes is a history geek who has somehow persuaded every living prime minister, with the exception of Justin Trudeau, to plant a tree in the backyard of his modest home in Kingston.
He was the researcher for Brian Mulroney's memoirs; he is a huge fan of Jimmy Carter – the former U.S. president and his wife, Rosalynn, spent a night at Mr. Milnes's home; he worked for Stephen Harper; he was the commissioner of the Sir John A. Macdonald Bicentennial, an impressive title that came with little else; he persuaded Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, Conrad Black, Bob Rae, Paul Martin, Marc Garneau and many others to lead historic walks around Kingston, pointing out Sir John A.'s former haunts.
Mr. Milnes is an indefatigable journalist-author, speaker and one-man promoter of ensuring the country's prime ministers are never forgotten. In 2006, John Turner became the first of the former PMs to plant a tree in Mr. Milnes's backyard.
The trees are a permanent tribute to Canadian leaders and their public service, Mr. Milnes explains. He and his wife, Alison, hope that when they die, students or professors from Queen's University or the Royal Military College could study or live in their house and get inspiration from the trees.
Mr. Milnes is not rich or powerful, but his enthusiasm for our prime ministers is contagious.
Earlier this year, however, something happened to Mr. Milnes.
He went silent, depressed and unable to work after his car was vandalized in an incident believed to be connected to his role in organizing the birthday celebration of Sir John A. – now being accused of racism and even genocide against Canada's indigenous peoples over a policy to starve First Nations people as a way to populate the West with European settlers.
"It was a bad winter," Mr. Milnes says.
Last January, as he was preparing to celebrate Macdonald's birthday at his statue in a Kingston park, he awoke to find red paint splashed on his car and the tires slashed. There was about $6,000 damage. He continued with the celebration, along with other dignitaries, while Idle No More supporters protested and burned the first prime minister in effigy.
Whoever vandalized Mr. Milnes's car has not been found.
"This is scary," he says. "I have been a journalist since 1993. I have worked in politics; I have engaged in political battles all my life and I have never been scared before. It was very terrifying."
Mr. Milnes has found himself in the midst of a growing movement in which the roles of once-revered nation builders are being debated – and their images tarnished – because of their behaviour toward aboriginal people.
In Halifax and at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont., similar discussions are taking place, as they are in England and U.S. cities.
Earlier this month in Halifax, the statue of Edward Cornwallis, prominently displayed in a downtown park, was defaced, also with red paint. Cornwallis was the founder of Halifax, but as governor of Nova Scotia offered bounties for the scalps of Mi'kmaq men, women and children.
The recent vandalism came just after a debate at Halifax City Council in which Waye Mason, the councillor for the area, pushed a motion for a public discussion of how to commemorate Cornwallis in a modern context. He wondered, for example, how Mi'kmaq kids would feel playing in that park.
His motion failed by one vote. "It was 17 white people talking about race issues and taking deeply entrenched positions," he says. "I don't feel like it was our best moment as a city council, that's for sure."
Jon Tattrie, the author of a biography on Cornwallis, believes the statue should come down.
"Ten-thousand years of human history in this land are not about Edward Cornwallis or Samuel de Champlain," Mr. Tattrie says. "They are about the Mi'kmaq people who have lived here for at least 10,000 years ... or maybe 14,000 years. So that's 97 per cent of the human history. But if you look around at our statues and street names and museums, you will not find 97 per cent of them are Mi'kmaq."
Conrad Black, the author and historian, believes in a more measured approach.
"Even Winston Churchill was no prize at recognizing the merits of non-whites – should every statue of him be torn down, even though he was one of the principal defenders of civilization against the Nazis? I trust not."
He adds: "We can't condemn everyone who lived prior to the invention of the light bulb, or electricity, or manned flight either."
For his part, Mr. Milnes is not giving up on his mission to educate Canadians about their leaders. He notes he has never hidden any of the controversial claims about Macdonald.
But he wonders where it all stops: "Should we be cancelling Canada Day celebrations in every community?"