Armand Renaud Lavergne
Encyclopedia
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
lawyer, journalist and political figure. He represented Montmagny
Montmagny (electoral district)
Montmagny was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1935.This riding was created by the British North America Act of 1867. It consisted iniitally of the County of Montmagny...
in the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
as a Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
member from 1904 to 1908 and as a Conservative
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
member from 1930 to 1935. He represented Montmagny
Montmagny (provincial electoral district)
Montmagny was a provincial electoral district in the province of Quebec, Canada. Formed in 1867, it was merged with L'Islet in 1972 to form Montmagny-L'Islet.-Members of Legislative Assembly:* Louis-Henri Blais, Liberal...
in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec
Legislative Assembly of Quebec
The Legislative Assembly of Quebec was the name of the lower house of Quebec's legislature until 1968, when it was renamed the National Assembly of Quebec. At the same time, the upper house of the legislature, the Legislative Council, was abolished...
as a Nationalist member from 1908 to 1916. His surname also appears as La Vergne.
He was born in Arthabaska, Quebec in 1880, the son of Joseph Lavergne
Joseph Lavergne
Joseph Lavergne was a lawyer, judge, editor and political figure in Quebec. He represented Drummond—Arthabaska in the Canadian House of Commons from 1887 to 1897 as a Liberal member....
and Émilie Barthe, who was the daughter of Joseph-Guillaume Barthe
Joseph-Guillaume Barthe
Joseph-Guillaume Barthe was a lawyer, journalist and political figure in Canada East.He was born in Carleton, Lower Canada in 1818 and studied at the Séminaire de Nicolet. He first studied medicine with doctor René-Joseph Kimber, then law with Edward Barnard and was called to the bar in 1840...
. Lavergne studied at the Collège Sacré-Coeur at Arthabaska, the Séminaire de Québec, the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
and Université Laval
Université Laval
Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...
; he later studied in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He articled in law, was called to the bar in 1903 and set up practice at Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
and then Montmagny
Montmagny, Quebec
-External links:*...
. In 1903, he helped found the Ligue nationaliste canadienne
Ligue nationaliste canadienne
The Ligue nationaliste canadienne, also known as the Ligue nationaliste, was a nationalist and anti-imperialist organization in Quebec, Canada during the early 20th century. Founded by journalist Olivar Asselin, his newspaper Le Nationaliste was its official organ. -See also:*Quebec...
. Lavergne directed Le Courrier at Montmagny and also contributed to Le Nationaliste
Le Nationaliste
Le Nationaliste was a weekly newspaper and an organ of the Ligue nationaliste, an anti-imperialist and nationalist movement in Quebec, Canada....
, edited by Olivar Asselin
Olivar Asselin
Olivar Asselin was a writer and journalist in Quebec, Canada. He was a prominent nationalist, pamphleteer and polemist.- Biography :Asselin was born in Saint-Hilarion, Charlevoix, Quebec...
, and Le Devoir
Le Devoir
Le Devoir is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and the rest of Canada. It was founded by journalist, politician, and nationalist Henri Bourassa in 1910....
, edited by Henri Bourassa
Henri Bourassa
Joseph-Napoléon-Henri Bourassa was a French Canadian political leader and publisher. He is seen by many as an ideological father of Canadian nationalism....
.
He was elected to the House of Commons in an 1904 by-election and reelected in the general election later that year. He was expelled from the Liberal Party by Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1907 and he resigned from his seat the following year. In 1904, he had married Georgette, the daughter of Philippe-Honoré Roy
Philippe-Honoré Roy
Philippe-Honoré Roy was a lawyer and political figure in Quebec. He represented Saint-Jean in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1900 to 1908 as a Liberal....
, a member of the Quebec assembly. He was named King's Counsel in 1918. He ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate for a seat in the House of Commons in 1917 and 1921 before joining the federal Conservatives in 1925. He was deputy speaker and chairman of committees from 1930 to 1935. Lavergne also served as lieutenant-colonel in the militia.
Lavergne opposed the use of conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
during the First World War, was an ardent defender of French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
rights outside of Quebec and lobbied for more French-Canadian participation in the federal civil service.
In 1935, he published an autobiography, Trente ans de vie nationale.
Lavergne died in office at Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
in 1935 and was buried in Arthabaskaville, Quebec.