Joseph-Alfred Mousseau

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Joseph-Alfred Mousseau

Joseph-Alfred Mousseau , PC , QC (born July 17, 1837 in Sainte-Geneviève-de-Berthier , † March 30, 1886 in Montreal ) was a Canadian politician . He was the sixth Prime Minister of the Province of Québec and ruled from July 31, 1882 to January 23, 1884. During this time he was also the chairman of the Parti conservateur du Québec . Before that, he was a member of the House of Commons for the Conservative Party of Canada from 1874 to 1882 and was a member of John Macdonald's federal cabinet for almost two years .

biography

Mousseau attended the Académie de Berthier and then went to Montreal to Jura to study. In 1860 he was admitted as a lawyer . Two years later he married Hersélie Desrosiers; The marriage resulted in eleven children. In 1873 he was also appointed Crown Attorney . Mousseau worked for a law firm for 20 years, where he was partner of his predecessor as Prime Minister Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau until he left the firm. During this time, he handled both civil and criminal cases. He was also a journalist, author and active in a bipartisan group of young intellectuals. This group tried their hand at settlement-related topics that were published by a recently founded but ultimately short-lived newspaper.

In 1870 Mousseau ventured with two colleagues to found the new weekly newspaper L'Opinion publique in Montreal, in which, among other things, he regularly contributed columns on international politics. After a high phase, internal tensions led to the decline of the sheet. As an author, Mousseau published two major political treatises: the first dealt with two protagonists of the 1838 rebellion . In the second, published shortly after the state was founded in 1867, he defended its formation against his opponents on the grounds that it formed a solid foundation.

Mousseau appeared as candidate of the conservatives to the general election in 1874 and tried his support to secure some moderate liberal. He just won in the constituency of Bagot, but initially played a subordinate role in parliament, especially since the conservatives now found themselves as the opposition. Some issues remained open, such as the creation of the Supreme Court of Canada , a general amnesty after the uprising in the Northwest Territories, and denominational schools in New Brunswick . These questions gave impetus to French-Canadian nationalism, which Mousseau represented in parliament.

Mousseau supported a Liberal's push to limit the powers of the Supreme Court to the federal level and thus keep it out of Québec, but this was clearly rejected in a vote. He then expected a split in the Liberal Party, whose party discipline prevented this. In the resolution on the uprisings in the Northwest Territories, he called for a full amnesty for three of the leaders instead of the planned five-year banishment, but was only able to secure the support of 23 Conservative MPs from Québec, the hoped-for support of some liberals in this province failed to materialize. The safeguarding of Catholic minority rights in the New Brunswick school system was rejected with reference to the autonomy of the province. Ideologically firmly anchored in provincial issues, Mousseau reluctantly incorporated protectionist measures into his thinking because of the free trade creed of the ruling liberals .

In the general election in 1878 Mousseau was re-elected. He was considered a possible candidate for a ministerial post, but was less ambitious here, but more concerned with the hype surrounding the replacement of Québec Prime Minister Charles-Eugène Boucher de Boucherville by Lieutenant Governor Luc Letellier de Saint-Just . The Conservatives now put pressure in the federal parliament to get Saint-Just's dismissal in return because of this dismissal, which they perceived as unlawful. It was Mousseau who, with a motion of no confidence in Saint-Just, set the ball rolling for his later recall. However, he was influenced in this matter by his former partner and then Prime Minister of Québec, Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau.

In November 1880 Mousseau was appointed to the federal government as the new President of the Privy Council and became State Secretary in May 1882. Prime Minister John Macdonald had actually already planned Chapleau for the move to Ottawa , on July 31, 1882 there was finally a change of office with Chapleau. Mousseau became the new Prime Minister of Québec, also took over the office of Attorney General and chaired the Parti conservateur du Québec .

Due to his mild demeanor, Mousseau was considered more of an ideal compromise candidate for the transition. Chapleau had left a rift in the party with his departure through the sale of sections of the rail network. This now fell back on Mousseau, who was considered to be Chapleau's shadow. He did not succeed in bridging this split, which led him to resign from the office of prime minister on January 23, 1884. He was succeeded by John Jones Ross . Mousseau was then appointed judge for the Rimouski district , but died at the age of 48 in Montreal in 1886 of complications from a cold .

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personal data
SURNAME Mousseau, Joseph-Alfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian politician
DATE OF BIRTH July 17, 1837
PLACE OF BIRTH Sainte-Geneviève-de-Berthier
DATE OF DEATH March 30, 1886
Place of death Montreal