Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau

Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau

Sir Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau , KCMG , QC (born October 20, 1808 in Québec , Lower Canada , † September 14, 1894 ibid) was a Canadian politician . He was Mayor of Quebec City from 1850 to 1853 and Prime Minister of the Province of Canada from 1865 to 1867 . Eventually he served as Vice-Governor of the Province of Québec from 1867 to 1873 .

biography

Belleau studied at the Petit Séminaire de Québec and received 1832 admission as a lawyer . From 1848 to 1893 he was a member of the board of directors of Quebec Bank , which later merged with the Royal Bank of Canada . Belleau's political career also began in 1848 when he was elected to the Québec City Council. In February 1850 he was elected mayor. During his tenure, which lasted until February 1853, there was an extensive expansion of the water supply.

In 1852 Belleau was appointed a member of the House of Lords of the Province of Canada, from 1857 he was its speaker and thus ex officio member of the government. In addition, he was Minister of Agriculture and Statistics from March 1862, but had to give up the ministerial post after only two months when the government led by John Macdonald and George-Étienne Cartier collapsed. After the death of Étienne-Paschal Taché , he took over his office as Prime Minister of Québec on July 30, 1865. His reign ended on June 30, 1867 with the founding of the Canadian state.

As a reward for his loyal service, Belleau was to be made a senator , but he turned down the offer and instead chose to be appointed first lieutenant governor of the new province of Quebec. Governor General Lord Monck swore him in on July 1, 1867. Belleau held this representative office until February 16, 1873 and again refused to be appointed senator.

Web links

Commons : Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
• Biography on the Québec National Assembly website (French)