Prime Minister Arthur Meighen at the memorial event at Vimy Ridge honouring Canadian war dead on July 3, 1921. [Public domain]

Arthur Meighen: Remembering Canada’s unmatched wartime orator

STORY BY RICHARD FOOT

Canada Day feels like a fitting moment to remember Arthur Meighen, one of Canada’s finest statesmen, whose insight and eloquence helped guide the country through the darkest days of the First World War.

As Eugene Forsey, the renowned former senator and constitutional scholar once wrote: “[Meighen] was incomparably the greatest parliamentarian and orator of my time, probably the greatest Canada had ever had, and from the first time, I listened enthralled … The speeches were masterpieces.”

Meighen delivered one of those masterpieces on July 3, 1921—105 years ago on Friday—atop the scarred landscape of Vimy Ridge. Having become prime minister the previous year, Meighen was attending a ceremony to dedicate a Cross of Sacrifice erected on the site, years before the creation of the full monument that stands today.

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Retired Canadian lieutenant-general Eric (Rick) Findley

Canadian Eric Findley on overseeing Norad’s 9/11 response

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

“I have to admit,” said retired Canadian lieutenant-general Eric (Rick) Findley, a former director of operations at the North American Aerospace Defense Command, “that when I first got to Norad, it was relatively quiet. 9/11 changed everything.”

A major-general in September 2001, the helicopter pilot-turned-overseer of continental air defence found himself at the centre of an unprecedented tragedy, one that left the U.S. reeling from a terrorist attack that claimed 2,977 lives.

“It didn’t matter what flag you had on your shoulder,” Findley continued. “It really didn’t matter.” Far more pressing to the Maple Leaf-uniformed senior officer was defending against the surprise threat and rapidly shifting events.

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