Joseph-Édouard Cauchon

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Joseph-Édouard Cauchon

Joseph-Édouard Cauchon , PC (born December 31, 1816 in Québec , † February 23, 1885 in the valley of the Qu'Appelle River , Northwest Territories ) was a liberal Canadian politician and journalist . He sat in the parliament of the province of Canada , was mayor of the city of Québec and a member of the national assembly of Québec . At the federal level he was a member of the lower house from 1867 and from 1872 to 1877 , with a senator in between . For a short time he was a member of Alexander Mackenzie's cabinet . After all, he was lieutenant governor of the province of Manitoba from 1877 to 1882 .

biography

Cauchon came from one of the oldest French Canadian families. He received his education at the renowned Petit Séminaire de Québec . Although he was admitted to the bar in 1843, he never practiced this profession and instead embarked on a career in journalism. Cauchon first worked for the newspaper Le Canadien , before founding Le Journal de Québec in December 1842 , which advocated liberal reforms. He was the owner of the newspaper until 1862, and remained editor until 1875 .

Cauchon's political career began in 1844 when he was elected to the House of Commons for the Province of Canada . His legislative proposal, introduced in 1855 to convert the House of Lords from an appointed to an elected chamber of parliament, was approved by parliament and became legally binding the following year. In the government led by Allan MacNab and Étienne-Paschal Taché , he headed the commission for the development of the extensive crown lands from January 1855 . He resigned in April 1857 after the government refused to finance the construction of a railway line along the north bank of the Saint Lawrence River .

From June 1861 to May 1862, Cauchon was again a Minister for State Building Projects in the Government of the Province of Canada, this time under George-Étienne Cartier and John Macdonald . From January 1866 to January 1868 he also served as mayor of Québec. His parliamentary mandate ended in June 1867 with the dissolution of the Province of Canada and the establishment of the Canadian state. In September of the same year, Cauchon was elected as a Conservative candidate in both the Canadian House of Commons and the National Assembly of Quebec. He was commissioned by Lieutenant Governor Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau to form the provincial government. This project failed because of the English-speaking minority because he rejected the formation of a separate Protestant education system. The contract to form a government was then awarded to Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau .

Prime Minister John Macdonald appointed Cauchon senator and its first speaker in November 1867 . These appointments met with criticism from conservatives and liberals alike, which is why he preferred to attend the meetings as an "independent conservative". Despite his unpopularity, he remained a speaker until June 1872, with the exception of two short breaks totaling eleven days in length. He gave up his Senate seat to vote in the 1872 general election and won the Quebec-Center constituency.

In 1873 Cauchon wanted to be appointed lieutenant governor of Québec, which the federal government rejected because of his many political enemies. He also had no success with his request to become chairman of the Conservative Party in Québec. These rejections led him to join the Liberal Party in January 1874 . A month later, he gave up his mandate in the National Assembly because dual mandates were no longer allowed at the federal and provincial levels. The new liberal Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie accepted Cauchon as President of the Privy Council in December 1875 . From June 1877 he was Minister for Domestic Taxes.

Cauchon also caused internal tensions in his new party. Wilfrid Laurier , who had risen to become Québec's leading liberal, was able to push through his removal as minister in October 1877. As compensation, he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, the swearing-in took place on October 8th by Governor General Lord Dufferin . While his predecessors had occasionally intervened in the affairs of government in the province, Cauchon was content with a representative role. His tenure as lieutenant governor ended on September 29, 1882. He had become wealthy through speculation in railroad companies, but in 1884 a fall in the stock market forced him to sell his villa in Winnipeg . He then moved to the valley of the Qu'Appelle River in what is now Saskatchewan , where he spent the last year of his life in more modest circumstances.

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personal data
SURNAME Cauchon, Joseph-Édouard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 31, 1816
PLACE OF BIRTH Quebec
DATE OF DEATH February 23, 1885
Place of death Valley of the Qu'Appelle River , Northwest Territories