Honoré Mercier

Honoré Mercier ( * October 15, 1840 in Iberville, Quebec, † October 30, 1894 in Montreal ) was a Canadian politician, journalist and lawyer. 1873/74 he was a liberal MP in the House of Commons, from 1879 he sat for the Parti libéral du Québec to the National Assembly of Quebec from 1883 and had held the party chairman until 1892. Mercier was the ninth Prime Minister of the Province of Quebec. He reigned from 29 January 1887 to 21 December 1891 until a financial scandal forced him into his party to resign. The subsequent trial confirmed his innocence.

Biography

Professional activity and entry into politics

Father Jean -Baptiste was a farmer who held liberal ideas and was imprisoned during the rebellions of 1837, because he had helped two insurgents to flee to the United States. Mercier graduated from the Jesuit Collège Sainte -led -Marie in Montreal in 1865 and was admitted as a lawyer. During his studies he was from 1862 to 1864 editor of the newspaper Le Courrier de Saint- Hyacinthe. In his newspaper articles, he spoke out against plans to create a Canadian federal government because he feared that the situation of French Canadians would deteriorate thereby.

Mercier settled in the town of Saint -Hyacinthe. He introduced a law firm and was considered one of the best criminal lawyers. By the time most his rejection of the Confederacy a neutral assessment. In 1867 he married Léopoldine Boivin, but died two years later; second marriage with Virginie Saint- Denis in 1871 closed. A year later, he took up for the Liberal Party at the general election in 1872 and won the constituency Rouville. As he often did not stick in the parliamentary debates on the party line, he lost the support of his own party and did not run two years later in the early general elections. In 1878 he tried again, but lost almost the conservative opposition candidates.

Political rise

Henri- Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, Québec, the Prime Minister, Mercier appointed on 1 May 1879 Deputy Minister of Justice ( solicitor general). A month later, he was elected Member of Parliament for Saint- Hyacinthe in the National Assembly of Quebec. But on October 31, 1879 broke the Liberal provincial government. In the following years, Mercier won within his party increasing its influence and released in January 1883 Joly as Chairman from. In the same year he founded the newspaper Le Temps.

The execution of the Métis rebel leader Louis Riel on November 16, 1885 sparked in wide circles of the population of Québec outrage. Mercier sparked the French-Canadian nationalism and renamed the party the following day in Parti national order. Thus he wanted to strengthen his liberal base disillusioned with conservative dissidents. The Parti national, who was not officially connected with the Liberal Party at the federal level should, against the centralization efforts of the Federal defend the autonomy of Québec, but also the French and Catholic identity.

The elections in October 1886 ended with a narrow victory Mercier. The conservative government of Louis -Olivier Taillon held out for a few weeks in power, but eventually took Mercier on January 29, 1887 Office of the Prime Minister. They were joined less conservative than expected, which is why his party soon took its rightful name.

Peak and decline

When Prime Minister Mercier led for the first time in 1887 by joint conferences of the Canadian provincial governments. Together with Oliver Mowat of Ontario was one of the first prime minister who defended the principle of provincial autonomy within the Canadian Confederation and spoke up in favor of abolishing the claimed by the federal government veto on the legislation of the provinces. By increasing internal colonization, the construction of new railway lines and the development of education, he tried to promote the economic development of French Canadians and to stop the emigration.

The Liberals won again in the provincial elections in June 1890, significantly expanded their majority. Mercier traveled in the summer of 1891 to negotiate in various European countries to negotiate loans for the economic development of Québec. On his return in September 1891 he was involved in the Chaleur Bay scandal. Ernest Pacaud, treasurer of his party, had led subsidies that were intended for the accelerated completion of a railway project in the party coffers. Despite his assertion that he knew nothing of the transaction, Mercier was released on December 16, 1891 by Lieutenant Governor Auguste- Réal Angers. Five days later came Charles -Eugène Boucher de Boucherville his successor.

In March 1892, the Liberals lost the early elections and the party chairmanship passed to Félix- Gabriel Marchand. Although an investigation report came to the conclusion that Mercier was not to blame, he was charged with fraud. The ensuing court case, which was accompanied by incessant political attacks of his opponents, ended on November 4, 1892 with his acquittal. Although Mercier again enjoyed the sympathy of the population, but was suffering from diabetes and financially ruined. Finally, he died on October 30, 1894 at the age of 54 years. A 70,000 -strong crowd accompanied his funeral procession to the cemetery of Notre- Dame-des- Neiges.

Mercier's daughter Élisa ( from his first marriage ) married Lomer Gouin 1888, the Québec from 1905 to 1920 ruled as prime minister.