Adelard Godbout

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Adelard Godbout

Joseph-Adélard Godbout (born September 24, 1892 in Saint-Éloi , Québec , † September 18, 1956 in Montreal ; usually called Adélard Godbout ) was a Canadian politician and agronomist . From 1929 to 1936 and from 1939 to 1948 he was a Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of Québec . He ruled the province of Québec twice as prime minister; from June to August 1936 and from November 1939 to August 1944. He was then leader of the opposition. From 1949 he served as a Canadian Senator .

biography

Godbout was born in Saint-Éloi, a small village northeast of Rivière-du-Loup . His father was Eugène Godbout, farmer and liberal member of the Legislative Assembly from 1921 to 1923, his mother was Marie-Louise Duret. Godbout received his education at the seminary in Rimouski , then he studied agricultural science in La Pocatière and in Amherst (Massachusetts) . In 1918 he returned to La Pocatière and taught at the agricultural school there until 1930. From 1922 to 1925 he also worked for the Québec Department of Agriculture.

As a member of the Parti libéral du Québec , Godbout won a by-election in May 1929 and, like his father, entered the legislative assembly. He was re-elected in August 1931 and November 1935. From November 1930, he was Minister of Agriculture in Louis-Alexandre Taschereau's cabinet . Shortly after the 1935 elections, a widespread network of corruption in the Parti libéral came to light and Taschereau was forced to announce his resignation on June 11, 1936. Lieutenant Governor Ésioff-Léon Patenaude then appointed Godbout as his successor. This in turn immediately called early elections .

Godbout in the election campaign (1939)

Although Godbout was unburdened and promised a fresh start, his party suffered a heavy defeat on August 17, 1936, whereupon the Union nationale led by Maurice Duplessis provided the government. Godbout was defeated in his own constituency, but remained party leader of the Liberals and was confirmed in this office in June 1938. Shortly after the outbreak of World War II , elections were held again. With the support of the Liberal Party at the federal level , the Quebec Liberals won a clear victory. During the election campaign, they had promised, among other things, that the introduction of conscription was not imminent.

On November 8, 1939, Godbout took over the post of Prime Minister for the second time, and he was again before the Ministry of Agriculture. The provincial government implemented a series of progressive reforms that would form the basis for the Silent Revolution of the 1960s. These included the introduction of women's suffrage at the provincial level (against the resistance of the Catholic Church ), the introduction of compulsory schooling up to the age of 14 and free primary schooling, improvements in labor law, the nationalization of Montreal Light, Heat and Power and the establishment of Hydro Québec and the promotion of French culture and language.

In the elections on August 8, 1944, the Liberals won a larger share of the vote, but the Union nationale was able to win more seats. One of the deciding factors in the electoral defeat was the fact that compulsory military service had now been introduced. Godbout remained Prime Minister until August 30, when he led the Liberals as opposition leaders. The July 28, 1948 elections ended in an even greater defeat for the Liberals, and Godbout also lost his seat. Canadian Prime Minister Louis Saint-Laurent appointed him a senator on June 25, 1949 . He held this office for seven years until his death.

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Godbout, Adelard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Godbout, Joseph-Adélard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian politician
DATE OF BIRTH September 24, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Saint-Éloi (Québec)
DATE OF DEATH September 18, 1956
Place of death Montreal