Fonds F2690 - Peter Milliken fonds

Peter Andrew Stewart Milliken was born and raised in Kingston, Ontario. He was educated at Queen’s, Oxford, and Dalhousie Universities. In 1973, he was called to the bar of Ontario and enrolled as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ontario. Mr. Milliken was a partner in a Kingston law firm from 1973 until 1988 before his election to Parliament. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1988 as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Kingston and the Islands and was re-elected in 1993, 1997 and 2000.

He has held several positions including, in opposition, Party Critic for Election Reform and Associate Critic for Seniors, Assistant Party House Leader (House Business), Vice-Chairman of the Special Committee on Electoral Reform and Member of the Standing Committee on House Management. In government, Mr. Milliken has served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Government House Leader, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs and Co-Chair of the Special Joint Committee on a Code of Conduct.

In 1996, he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Committees of the Whole House and in 1997, Deputy Speaker of the House and Chairman of the Committees of the Whole House. On January 29th, 2001, he was elected 34th Speaker of the House of Commons. He is also the Chair of the Board of Internal Economy.

In 1997, he was awarded the Padre Laverty Award from the Queen’s University Alumni Association in Kingston where he resides. In November, 1999, he was awarded the Agnes Benidickson Award from the Ottawa Branch of the Queen’s University Alumni Association.

In May 2001, he received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the State University New York at Potsdam, and on June 13, 2003, was appointed Honorary President of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada – Hamilton Branch. On July 19th, 2003, Mr. Milliken was named Honorary Commander of the Fort Henry Guard.

Peter Milliken was re-elected in the 2004 General Election, and acclaimed Speaker of the House of Commons on October 4, 2004.

He was again re-elected in the 2006 general election and as Speaker of the House of Commons on April 3, 2006.

In 2008, Peter Milliken was once again elected as Member of Parliament for Kingston & the Islands and on November 18 re-elected Speaker of the House of Commons. Finishing his career as the longest-serving Speaker of the House of Commons, he retired from politics in 2011.