Joseph-Elzéar Bernier (January 1, 1852 – December 26, 1934) was a Canadian mariner from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

who led expeditions into the Canadian

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

in the early 20th century. He was born in L'Islet, Quebec, the son of Captain Thomas Bernier and Célinas Paradis. At the age of 14, he became a cabin boy on his father's ship. Three years later, he became captain of his own ship and commanded sailing ships for the next 25 years. Bernier was named governor for the jail at

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

in 1895. From 1904 to 1911, he explored the

Arctic archipelago The Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, is an archipelago lying to the north of the Canadian continental mainland, excluding Greenland (an autonomous territory of Denmark). Situated in the northern extremity of No ...

on annual voyages in his ship the CGS ''Arctic'' and officially claimed the islands for Canada. Bernier retrieved documents that had been stored in caches by earlier Arctic explorers. He also established

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...

posts in the Canadian north. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Bernier commanded a ship which transported mail along the eastern coast and carried goods in convoys across the

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. He returned to patrolling the arctic after the war's end, continuing until his retirement in 1925, when he was awarded the

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's Back Award. Historian and expert on Northern Sovereignty Michael Byers noted that Bernier placed a plaque on Melville Island, in 1909, claiming Canadian Sovereignty over not only the entire Arctic Archipelago, but a wedge of the Arctic Ocean ''"from longitude 60°W to 141°W up to latitude 90°N,"'' ie, all the way to the

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. Byer characterized this claim as an articulation of sector theory, and noted how diplomats had widely rejected

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's claims to a wedge of the Arctic, extending to the North Pole. Bernier died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in Lévis at the age of 82. He published ''Master Mariner and Explorer: A Narrative of Sixty Years at Sea ...'' in 1939.

Joseph Idlout Joseph Idlout (1912/1913 - 2 June 1968) is an Inuk featured on the former Canadian two-dollar bill. When the High Arctic relocation occurred in 1959, Idlout helped Inuit families adjust to their new surroundings in Resolute, Northwest Territor ...

's daughter, Leah Idlout, has said that her father was the son of Bernier. It is thought that Idlout may have been the only son of Bernier. Joseph-Elzéar Bernier and his Northern expeditions are featured on pages 12 & 13 of the 36 page Canadian Passport.

References

''Joseph Bernier, the Arctic Islands for Canada'', Pathfinders and Passageways: The Exploration of Canada, Library and Archives Canada

''Joseph Elzéar Bernier (1852-1934)'', Arctic profiles, University of Calgary
(pdf)

External links

Entry from the Canadian Encyclopedia

''Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia'' (2003)
Mills, William James

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernier, Joseph-Elzear 1852 births 1934 deaths Canadian explorers Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows