Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine
Sir Louis -Hippolyte La Fontaine (or Lafontaine ), 1st Baronet, KCMG ( born October 4, 1807 in Boucherville, † February 26, 1864 in Montreal ) was the first Canadian who became the Prime Minister of the United Province of Canada and the first Chairman of its own parliamentary representation ( responsible government ) in Canada.
Life and work
As a lawyer and statesman La Fontaine in 1830, first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. He was a supporter and member of the Parti canadien Papineau ( Parti patriote later ). After the severe consequences of the rebellions of 1837 against the British authorities, he supported the political reforms in 1841 the newly created province of Canada.
As part of the union of the two in Canada, he worked with Robert Baldwin in the founding of a party for the liberal reformers Upper and Lower Canada. He and Baldwin formed a government in 1842, but came back again in 1843. In 1848 Queen Victoria commissioned him. With the formation of the first government under the new policy of responsible government The formed on March 11, La Fontaine- Baldwin government was fighting for the restoration of the official status of the French language, which had been abolished by the Union Act, as well as to the principles of Responsible government and the principle of double majority voting laws.
While Baldwin Canada's West (Upper Canada ) reformed, La Fontaine approved legislation to abolish the basic rule in the East ( Lower Canada). He granted amnesty to the exiled leaders of the rebellions in Lower Canada. The adopted association but was not accepted by the Loyalists in Canada's East. They protested vehemently and burned the Parliament in Montreal. La Fontaine retired into private life in 1851, but was appointed in 1853 as Chairman of the Supreme Court of Canada East. 1854 Queen Victoria made him a baronet, and in 1855 he was awarded by Pope Pius IX. the Knight's Cross of the Pontifical Order of New Year's Eve.
La Fontaine had married on July 9, 1831 Adèle Berthelot ( 1813-1859 ), after her death he married on January 30, 1861, the widowed Julia Elisabeth -Genevieve Morrison ( 1822-1905 ). During his first marriage was childless, went from the second two sons forth: Louis- Hippolyte ( born July 11, 1862), the second son ( born July 15, 1864) died by me one year. The older son was after the death of La Fontaine a baronet, but died in 1867.
Writings
- Les deux Girouettes, ou l' hypocrisie démasquée, Montreal, 1834 ( online; PDF; 4.3 MB)
- Notes sur l' inamovibilité of curés dans le Bas -Canada, Montreal, 1837
- Analysis de l' ordonnance sur les bureaux spécial du Conseil d' Hypothèques [ ... ], Montreal, 1842
- De l' esclavage en Canada, Montreal, 1859
- De la famille Lauson. Vice - rois et des rois de France lieutenants généraux en Amérique, 1859 ( online; PDF; 3.7 MB)
- The Address to the Electors of Terrebonne, 1840 ( online)
Honors
In the Montreal region, both the Louis -Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge-Tunnel and the Parc Lafontaine was named in his honor so. On Parliament Hill in Ottawa, a statue of La Fontaine and Baldwin was built.
Swell
In English
- Abbott Nish, ME Double Majority: Concept, Practice and Negotiations, 1840-1848, Master's thesis, McGill University, Montréal, 1966
- Leacock, S. B. (1907). Baldwin, Lafontaine, Hincks. Responsible Government, Toronto, 371 p.
In French
- Aubin, Georges ( 2002-05 ). Louis -Hippolyte La Fontaine. Correspondence générale Tome 1: Les ficelles du pouvoir: correspondance entre Louis -Hippolyte La Fontaine and Robert Baldwin, 1840-1854
- Tome 2: Au nom de la loi: Lettres de Louis -Hippolyte La Fontaine à divers correspondants, 1829-1847
- Tome 3: Mon cher Amable: Lettres de Louis -Hippolyte La Fontaine à correspondants divers, 1848-1864