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whole thing but I certainly looked through it and examined a lot of the questions in question period and the responses until I finished at Queen's and then I let the subscription lapse. There was no point in shipping it over to England." That early interest in ques- tion period contributed to a the- sis Milliken wrote while at Queen's University, which Franks still refers to as "the best thing written on question period up until that time." Milliken was one of Franks' first stu- dents at Queen's, one of four in a class on parliamentary government that also included the late Jerry Yanover, a childhood friend of Milliken's and a legend on Parliament Hill for his knowledge of parliamentary procedure rivalled only by Milliken's own. "It was almost a dream to teach," recalls Franks. "Partly because those two students knew more about some aspects of Canadian Parliament than I did." From Queen's, Milliken headed to As is the custom, losing Progressive Conservative candidate and cabinet minister Flora MacDonald went over to the Ambassador Hotel in Kingston, Ont., to congrat- ulate Liberal Peter Milliken on his first election win on Nov. 21, 1988. From there it was back to Halifax to Dalhousie University where he stud- ied law. However, before he had even graduated, he was offered a job with a local Kingston law firm, known at the time as Cunningham Little. Once again, Milliken's photographic memory proved to be an asset, although "I came and watched the House I think for the first time when I was in Grade 7, Grade 7 or 8 — I'm not sure which it was — and found it very interesting." Peter Milliken Oxford University where he studied at Wadham College and surprised his fam- ily by joining the rowing team. "Peter was always what you would probably have referred to as a nerd or a suck in high school," says brother Bill. "He wore thick, horn-rimmed glasses and was pretty bookish. One of the things that we found really miraculous is that when he went away to Oxford after his career at Queen's, he actually rowed and he was a member of the first eights for Wadham College. For him to be doing something athletic was actually unimaginable for us." it sometimes irritated his law partners, says his brother. "He drove his law part- ners crazy too because he never seemed to be around or working very hard. He would drive in from a canoe trip with shorts on and shaving himself with an electric razor while he was driving the car, slip on a pair of pants and legal robes over the top of a T-shirt, and walk into court and deliver a case. Because he had it all in his head. He only had to read the file once." Milliken's memory also comes to the fore in canoe trips, says Franks, who shares Milliken's love of white- water canoeing. As well, he has an unlimited repertoire of limericks — some of which aren't printable — has memorized the psalms from The Book of Common Prayer and the lyrics to Gilbert and Sullivan operas, notes Franks. "Sometimes we get regaled with psalms on canoe trips, sometimes with limericks, and sometimes with Gilbert & Sullivan." In an April fundraiser, Milliken even took to the stage, singing the role of Ko-Ko in The Mikado. In 1988, Milliken's budding interest in politics, nurtured by volunteering on election campaigns, flowered when he won first the Liberal nomination for the riding of Kingston and the Islands then scored an upset win over Conservative cabinet minister Flora MacDonald. "I ended up running almost by accident in 1988," recalls Milliken. "I won the nomination, then a bit to my surprise won the election." From his maiden speech in the House, which he chose to deliver on the procedure of closure, Milliken appeared destined for the speaker's chair. As a backbencher, his roles often revolved around House procedure — whether it was serving as deputy speaker or as parliamentary secretary to the govern- ment House leader. In 2001, Milliken was elected speaker — a job he would go on to hold through both Liberal and Conservative governments, until he announced this spring that after 22 years as an MP he wasn't going to run again. www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com JULY 2011 29 hOuse Of cOmmOns