Rodolphe Lemieux
Encyclopedia
Rodolphe Lemieux, PC
, FRSC (November 1, 1866 – September 28, 1937) was a Canadian
parliament
arian and long time Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons
(1922–1930).
He was born in Montreal
as the son of a Customs officer. After a career as a journalist, lawyer and law professor he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons
in the 1896 election
as a Liberal
. He was a loyal follower of Sir Wilfrid Laurier
and, in 1904 became Solicitor General of Canada
in Laurier's Cabinet. He subsequently served as Postmaster General of Canada
, Minister of Labour
and Minister of Marine and Fisheries. His Deputy Minister in the Department of Labour was future Prime Minister of Canada
, William Lyon Mackenzie King
.
As Minister of Labour he started a system in which no strike
or lockout in a public utility
or mine
could be legal until the differences had been referred to a three-man board of conciliation representing the employer, the employees and the public.
In 1907, Laurier sent Lemieux to Japan
to defend Canadian immigration policies which were discriminatory against the Japanese. He succeeded in obtaining an agreement from Japan to curtail emigration of its citizens to Canada.
He also continued in his academic pursuits, becoming a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
in 1908 and President of the Society in 1918.
In the 1911 election
, Lemieux engaged in a series of public debates before audiences of several thousands with nationalist leader Henri Bourassa
who was threatening the Liberal's base in Quebec. The Liberals retained a majority of seats in the province but lost government because of its loss of seats in Ontario.
Lemieux was a sharp critic of the Conservative
government of Robert Borden
accusing it of putting the interests of the British Empire
ahead of those of Canada.
During World War I
, Lemieux opposed conscription
and supported Laurier during the Conscription Crisis of 1917
.
When Mackenzie King led the Liberals back to power in the 1921 election
, he chose Ernest Lapointe
as his Quebec lieutenant
rather than Lemieux. Instead, he nominated Lemieux as Speaker of the House of Commons. Lemieux presided over the House during several minority government
s.
He was Speaker during the King-Byng Affair
of 1926. He remained Speaker when Governor General
Byng appointed Arthur Meighen
as Prime Minister rather than call an election.
He attempted to rule in a neutral manner despite the highly charged atmosphere, and all but one of his rulings were sustained by the House. Instead Lord Byng invited the Conservatives to form a government. In spite of assurances of support from the Progressive Party
, the Conservatives were unable to maintain control of the House. Lemieux had to make several crucial rulings. Five were appealed and one was overturned.
Lemieux presided over three successive Parliaments and was the longest serving Speaker until Lucien Lamoureux
broke the record in 1974.
On June 30, 1930, King appointed Lemieux to the Canadian Senate
, where he served until his death in 1937.
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...
, FRSC (November 1, 1866 – September 28, 1937) 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...
parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
arian and long time Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons
Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada is the presiding officer of the lower house of the Parliament of Canada and is elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow Members of Parliament...
(1922–1930).
He was born in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
as the son of a Customs officer. After a career as a journalist, lawyer and law professor he was elected to 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...
in the 1896 election
Canadian federal election, 1896
The Canadian federal election of 1896 was held on June 23, 1896 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Canada. Though the Conservative Party won a plurality of the popular vote, the Liberal Party, led by Wilfrid Laurier, won the majority of seats to form the...
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...
. He was a loyal follower of Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Wilfrid Laurier
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....
and, in 1904 became Solicitor General of Canada
Solicitor General of Canada
The Solicitor General of Canada was a position in the Canadian ministry from 1892 to 2005. The position was based on the Solicitor General in the British system and was originally designated as an officer to assist the Minister of Justice...
in Laurier's Cabinet. He subsequently served as Postmaster General of Canada
Postmaster General of Canada
The Postmaster General of Canada was the Canadian cabinet minister responsible for the Post Office Department . In 1851, management of the post office was transferred from Britain to the provincial governments of the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward...
, Minister of Labour
Minister of Labour (Canada)
The Minister of Labour is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for setting national labour standards and federal labour dispute mechanisms...
and Minister of Marine and Fisheries. His Deputy Minister in the Department of Labour was future Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
, William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
.
As Minister of Labour he started a system in which no strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
or lockout in a public utility
Public utility
A public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...
or mine
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
could be legal until the differences had been referred to a three-man board of conciliation representing the employer, the employees and the public.
In 1907, Laurier sent Lemieux to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to defend Canadian immigration policies which were discriminatory against the Japanese. He succeeded in obtaining an agreement from Japan to curtail emigration of its citizens to Canada.
He also continued in his academic pursuits, becoming a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada , may also operate under the more descriptive name RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...
in 1908 and President of the Society in 1918.
In the 1911 election
Canadian federal election, 1911
The Canadian federal election of 1911 was held on September 21 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 12th Parliament of Canada.-Summary:...
, Lemieux engaged in a series of public debates before audiences of several thousands with nationalist leader 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....
who was threatening the Liberal's base in Quebec. The Liberals retained a majority of seats in the province but lost government because of its loss of seats in Ontario.
Lemieux was a sharp critic of the 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...
government of Robert Borden
Robert Borden
Sir Robert Laird Borden, PC, GCMG, KC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the eighth Prime Minister of Canada from October 10, 1911 to July 10, 1920, and was the third Nova Scotian to hold this office...
accusing it of putting the interests of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
ahead of those of Canada.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Lemieux opposed 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...
and supported Laurier during the Conscription Crisis of 1917
Conscription Crisis of 1917
The Conscription Crisis of 1917 was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I.-Background:...
.
When Mackenzie King led the Liberals back to power in the 1921 election
Canadian federal election, 1921
The Canadian federal election of 1921 was held on December 6, 1921 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 14th Parliament of Canada. The Union government that had governed Canada through the First World War was defeated, and replaced by a Liberal government under the young leader...
, he chose Ernest Lapointe
Ernest Lapointe
Ernest Lapointe, PC was a Canadian lawyer and politician.-Education, early career:Lapointe earned his law degree from Laval University...
as his Quebec lieutenant
Quebec lieutenant
In Canadian politics, a Quebec lieutenant is a politician, from Quebec, usually a francophone and most often a Member of Parliament or at least a current or former candidate for Parliament, who is selected by a senior politician such as the Prime Minister or the leader of a national federal party,...
rather than Lemieux. Instead, he nominated Lemieux as Speaker of the House of Commons. Lemieux presided over the House during several minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
s.
He was Speaker during the King-Byng Affair
King-Byng Affair
The King–Byng Affair was a Canadian constitutional crisis that occurred in 1926, when the Governor General of Canada, the Lord Byng of Vimy, refused a request by his prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, to dissolve parliament and call a general election....
of 1926. He remained Speaker when Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
Byng appointed Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen, PC, QC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served two terms as the ninth Prime Minister of Canada: from July 10, 1920 to December 29, 1921; and from June 29 to September 25, 1926. He was the first Prime Minister born after Confederation, and the only one to represent a riding...
as Prime Minister rather than call an election.
He attempted to rule in a neutral manner despite the highly charged atmosphere, and all but one of his rulings were sustained by the House. Instead Lord Byng invited the Conservatives to form a government. In spite of assurances of support from the Progressive Party
Progressive Party of Canada
The Progressive Party of Canada was a political party in Canada in the 1920s and 1930s. It was linked with the provincial United Farmers parties in several provinces and, in Manitoba, ran candidates and formed governments as the Progressive Party of Manitoba...
, the Conservatives were unable to maintain control of the House. Lemieux had to make several crucial rulings. Five were appealed and one was overturned.
Lemieux presided over three successive Parliaments and was the longest serving Speaker until Lucien Lamoureux
Lucien Lamoureux
Lucien Lamoureux, PC, OC was a Canadian politician and Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons from 1966 to 1974...
broke the record in 1974.
On June 30, 1930, King appointed Lemieux to the Canadian Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
, where he served until his death in 1937.