Ludger Dionne was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 businessman and a politician, who represented the electoral district of Beauce

Beauce (electoral district)

Beauce is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1867. In 2006, it had a population of 103,617 people, of whom 82,123 were eligible voters.-Geography:...

 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...

 from 1945 to 1949.

As a businessman, he operated a shoe factory, a heel factory and a rayon mill in Saint-Georges

Saint-Georges, Quebec

Saint-Georges is a city in the province of Quebec. It is the seat of Beauce-Sartigan Regional County Municipality, part of the Chaudière-Appalaches region. The population was 30,113 as of 2009. Route 173 runs through Saint-Georges Est and heads south to the border with Maine, USA...

.

He was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1945 election

Canadian federal election, 1945

The Canadian federal election of 1945 was the 20th general election in Canadian history. It was held June 11, 1945 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 20th Parliament of Canada...

. When faced with a worker's strike in his rayon mill in 1947, Dionne went to Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 and "hired" 100 Polish Catholic women and emigrated them to Canada to work as either nuns or to work in his rayon mill. During his visit to Poland, he was interviewed by Will Lang Jr.

Will Lang Jr.

William John Lang Jr. was an American journalist and a bureau head for Life magazine.- Early career :...

 of Life

Life (magazine)

Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....

and discussed with Lang his intentions. When Dionne returned to Canada, the striking workers protested to the Canadian government about the immigrants stealing their jobs.

Outraged by Dionne's actions, the Canadian Parliament voted on June 21, 1947 to pass several laws regarding displaced foreign refugees. The controversy also contributed to his defeat in the 1949 election

Canadian federal election, 1949

The Canadian federal election of 1949 was held on June 27 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 21st Parliament of Canada. It was the first election in Canada in almost thirty years in which the Liberal Party of Canada was not led by William Lyon Mackenzie King. King had...

. He also ran in the 1957 election

Canadian federal election, 1957

The Canadian federal election of 1957 was held June 10, 1957, to select the 265 members of the House of Commons of Canada. In one of the great upsets in Canadian political history, the Progressive Conservative Party , led by John Diefenbaker, brought an end to 22 years of Liberal rule, as the...

, but was not re-elected.

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