Louis-Philippe Brodeur
Template:Short description Template:Use Canadian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Louis-Philippe Brodeur, Template:Post-nominals baptised Louis-Joseph-Alexandre Brodeur (August 21, 1862 – January 2, 1924) was a Canadian journalist, lawyer, politician and judge from Quebec. During his career he served as a federal Cabinet minister in the government of Wilfrid Laurier, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, and puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.Template:Sfn<ref name="anciens-parle">Template:Cite web</ref>
Early life
Born in Belœil, Quebec, he was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1891 election as Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Rouville, Quebec. He represented the riding continuously until his retirement prior to the 1911 election.
Brodeur was a firm supporter of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and came from a Rouges family. His father fought in the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837, and his maternal grandfather was killed in the Rebellion's Battle of Saint-Charles.
Legal and political career
As a young man, Brodeur studied law, graduating in 1884 with an LL.B. from the Université Laval in Montréal.<ref name="anciens-parle" />Template:Sfn He worked as a young lawyer with Honoré Mercier, before establishing his own law firm of Dandurand and Brodeuer with Raoul Dandurand. He also engaged in journalism for Liberal newspapers such as la Patrie and L'Électeur before becoming editor of Le Soir. He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons at the age of 29. After the Liberals won the 1896 election, Brodeur was appointed deputy speaker. He was appointed as a Queen's Counsel in 1899. He became Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada following the 1900 election.
In 1904, he was appointed to the Laurier Cabinet as Minister of Inland Revenue where he introduced antitrust legislation to protect tobacco farmers from the monopolistic practices of the American Tobacco Company.
In 1906, he was promoted to Minister of Marine and Fisheries and reorganized the Montreal Harbours Commission and instituted reforms in the department to reduce patronage and corruption.
Brodeur was a member of the Canadian delegation to the 1907 Imperial Conference in London, and also helped negotiate a trade treaty with France.
In 1910, he became Minister of the Naval Service and was responsible for introducing legislation to create the Canadian Navy. This signified a move towards Canadian independence from Britain. It was opposed by the Conservative Party, which preferred Canada's participation in the Royal Navy. By the end of his term, the new Navy consisted of 233 sailors and two cruisers, one on each coast. The policy of creating a Canadian Navy was also opposed by French-Canadian nationalists such as Henri Bourassa who feared that the Canadian Navy would only be used as a device to engage Canada in British wars.
Prior to the 1911 election, Brodeur retired from politics.
Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
On August 11, 1911, Prime Minister Laurier appointed Louis-Philippe Brodeur of Quebec to the Supreme Court of Canada after the death of Justice Désiré Girouard on March 22. Brodeur was well liked and a close friend of Laurier, though described as having shown "no great skill in politics or law."Template:Sfn
Historians Snell and Vaughan note that Laurier appointees like Brodeur, Louis Henry Davies, and Charles Fitzpatrick, who came from elected office, lacked the well-developed legal reasoning expected of judges and did not "make as useful a contribution to the law" as their more qualified colleagues.Template:Sfn
On October 9, 1923, Brodeur resigned from the Court at age 61 due to poor health and arthritis that impaired his ability to write. Mackenzie King, who described Brodeur as "like a brother or a father," arranged for his appointment as the 13th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, succeeding Charles Fitzpatrick.Template:Sfn
Brodeur died on 2 January 1924, at the Lieutenant Governor's official residence of Spencer Wood in Sillery.Template:Sfn<ref name="anciens-parle" />
Family
Louis-Philippe Brodeur married Emma Brillon, daughter of J. R. (Joseph-Régnier) Brillon, of Belœil, P.Q., in June 1887.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="anciens-parle" /> Their son, Victor, attained the rank of Rear Admiral in the Royal Canadian Navy. The École Victor-Brodeur in Esquimalt, British Columbia, is named after him. Victor's son Nigel attained the rank of Vice Admiral.
Archives
There are Louis-Philippe Brodeur fonds at Library and Archives Canada<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Electoral record
Template:1891 Canadian federal election/Rouville Template:1896 Canadian federal election/Rouville Template:1900 Canadian federal election/Rouville
By-election: On Mr. Brodeur being appointed Minister of Inland Revenue, 19 January 1904
Template:CanElec1-by Template:CANelec Template:End Template:1904 Canadian federal election/Rouville Template:1908 Canadian federal election/Rouville
References
Further reading
External links
- Supreme Court of Canada biography
- Template:Canadian Parliament links
- Template:OL author
- Works by Brodeur, L. P. (Louis-Philippe), 1862-1924 at The Online Books Page
Template:QCLG Template:Speakers of the Canadian House of Commons Template:CA-Ministers of Fisheries Template:CA-Ministers of Defence Template:CA-Ministers of Inland Revenue Template:Fitzpatrick-court Template:Davies-court
- Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada
- Speakers of the House of Commons of Canada
- Lieutenant governors of Quebec
- Liberal Party of Canada MPs
- Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec
- Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
- Lawyers in Quebec
- Canadian King's Counsel
- 1862 births
- 1924 deaths
- Université de Montréal Faculty of Law alumni
- Université Laval alumni
- People from Beloeil, Quebec
- 19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada
- 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada