Louis-François-Rodrigue Masson

Louis-François-Rodrigue Masson

Louis-François-Rodrigue Masson , PC (born November 6, 1833 in Terrebonne , Lower Canada , †  November 8, 1903 in Montreal ) was a Canadian politician . He was a Member of the House of Commons from 1867 to 1882 (including a little over a year as Canadian Defense Minister). He was a senator until 1884 , then vice-governor of the province of Quebec until 1887 . In 1890 he returned to the Senate, to which he was a member until 1903.

biography

Father Joseph Masson was a politician, was one of the wealthiest business people in Lower Canada and is considered the first French-Canadian millionaire. He gave his son an excellent education; he sent him to Georgetown College in Washington, DC and to the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts . After his father's death, Masson moved to Montreal in 1847 and completed the Séminaire de Saint-Hyacinthe. At George-Étienne Cartier he received a legal education and in 1859 he was admitted to the bar. However, he never practiced this profession and instead managed the extensive estates of his family. In 1862 he joined the militia and rose to brigade major.

Masson entered the general election in 1867 and won the Terrebonne constituency by acclamation . In the House of Commons he campaigned for the rights of Métis and Indians , for equality between French Canadians and Catholics, and for the use of French as the official language. In the federal cabinet of Prime Minister John Macdonald , Masson was Minister of Defense and Militia from October 1878 to January 1880, then President of the Privy Council . After the death of his wife, he gave up his ministerial post in July 1880 and resigned as a member of parliament in January 1882.

Macdonald named Masson a senator in September 1882 . His fellow party members urged him the following year to succeed Joseph-Alfred Mousseau as Prime Minister of Québec, but he showed no interest and suggested John Jones Ross instead . From March to October 1884, Masson was a member of the Legislative Council of Québec . Governor General Lord Lansdowne swore in him on November 7, 1884 as Lieutenant Governor of Québec. He held this representative office until October 24, 1887. On behalf of the liberal Quebec provincial government of Honoré Mercier , Masson negotiated in Rome with Pope Leo XIII. on compensation for the expropriation of Jesuit property and was able to reach an agreement. In February 1890, Macdonald reappointed Masson as senator. He was a member of the Upper House of the Canadian Parliament until June 1903. He passed away four months later.

Web links

• Louis-François-Rodrigue Masson . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
• Louis-François-Rodrigue Masson - biographical information on the website of the Canadian Parliament (English)
• Biography on the Québec National Assembly website (French)