Hector-Louis Langevin
Sir Hector -Louis Langevin, KCMG, PC, QC, CB ( born August 26, 1826 in Quebec, Lower Canada, † June 11, 1906 ) was a Canadian lawyer and politician of the Conservative Party. As one of the Fathers of Confederation, he is among the pioneers of the Canadian federal government established in 1867. From 1867-1874 and 1877-1896 he was a deputy in the Canadian House of Commons. Almost a quarter of a century he has held various ministerial positions in the cabinets of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald and John Abbott.
Biography
Langevin had seven siblings. His eldest brother, Jean Langevin was from 1867 to 1891 Bishop of Rimouski. After schooling Langevin studied law, while still a student, he was from 1847 to 1849 chief of the weekly newspaper Mélanges religieux, the official organ of the diocese of Montreal. In 1850 he was admitted as a lawyer. In addition to this main occupation he devoted himself to journalism continues. So it was in 1849 chief editor of the Journal d'agriculture and in 1857 the Courrier du Canada in the year. From 1872 to 1875 he wrote for Le Canadien, from 1889 for Le Drapeau.
Langevin's political career began in 1856 with his election to the City Council of Quebec. From 1856 to 1861 he was mayor of his native city. In addition, he was a candidate in 1858 for election to the lower house of the Province of Canada, and sat down by the constituency Dorchester. 1861 and 1863 he succeeded each re-election. Between 1864 and 1867 he was a member of the Government of the Province of Canada, as Minister of Justice ( Solicitor General ) and Postmaster General. In the discussions about the creation of a federal state Langevin played a key role. He took in 1864 at the Charlottetown Conference and at the Quebec Conference in part, two years later, at the London Conference.
Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald called Langevin after the entry into force of the Canadian Constitution on 1 July 1867 in the first Canadian cabinet. In the first Canadian general election three months later, he won the Conservative Party a seat in the constituency Dorchester. He has also been a deputy in the National Assembly of Quebec, to dual mandates at the federal and provincial level were in 1874 finally no longer allowed. In the cabinet for Langevin to December 1869 Secretary of State for Canada and, as such, especially for relations with the United Kingdom responsible. Then he was up to November 1873 Minister of Public Works, given the numerous infrastructural an influential task. In addition, he served for a short time, the offices of the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs ( May 1868-December 1869 ) and the Minister of Defence (May / June 1873).
Because of the Pacific scandal was forced to resign the Conservative federal government in November 1873. Since Langevin was suspected to have been involved in the scandal, he could not find any constituency in which he would have had a realistic chance at the general election in 1874, so he decided against a candidacy. In January 1876 he stood as a candidate in a by-election in the constituency of Charlevoix. With voter complaint for tortious interference of the Catholic Church, which was confirmed in February 1877 by the Supreme Court, Langevin could not take up his mandate. In the Redial in March 1877, he still won, only to lose his seat in Parliament and a half years later, at the general election in 1878 again. In November 1878 he finally won in a by-election in the constituency of Trois- Rivières.
Just one month earlier Langevin Macdonald appointed him in the third Canadian Cabinet, first as Postmaster General. Following a cabinet reshuffle in May 1879, he again took over the Ministry of Public Works. Due to the recent scandals and electoral defeats, he lost influence, as a staunch Federalist, he increasingly came with the nationalists in the province of Quebec in conflict. 1885 was not enough his influence to prevent the execution of the Métis rebel leader Louis Riel. As one of the few Quebec Conservatives in 1887 he was able to defend his House seat. In August 1891, the new Prime Minister John Abbott Langevin dismissed as minister after allegations of corruption in connection with contract awards to companies McGreevy & Bros. and Larkin, Connolly, and Co. had been made against him. At the general election in 1891, he took up both in Trois- Rivières and in Richelieu and won both times. In Richelieu he had prevailed over the later prime minister of Quebec Lomer Gouin. Finally, he decided to continue expressing Trois- Rivières. 1896 renounced Langevin re-election and retired from public life.
After the Langevin Langevin Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa is named, the work of the Canadian Prime Minister. Also his name carries the Langevin Bridge in Calgary.