Sir Hector-Louis Langevin, (August 25, 1826 – June 11, 1906) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

lawyer, politician, and one of the

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Early life and education

Langevin was born in

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 1826. He studied law and was called to the bar in 1850.

Political career

In 1856, he was elected to the municipal council of Quebec City and was mayor from 1858 to 1861. In 1857, he was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Dorchester in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada as a member of the Conservative Party. He held various positions in Cabinet, including Solicitor General (1864–66),

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...

(1866–67),

Secretary of State for Canada The Secretary of State for Canada, established in 1867 with a corresponding department, was a Canadian Cabinet position that served as the official channel of communication between the Dominion of Canada and the Imperial government in London. Scot ...

(1867–69), Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs (1868–69),

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

(1869–73) and acting

Minister of Militia and Defence The Minister of Militia and Defence was the federal government minister in charge of the volunteer army units in Canada, the Canadian Militia. From 1855 to 1906, the minister was responsible for Canadian militia units only, as the British Army wa ...

(1873). Langevin also attended all three conferences leading to

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

. He left politics in 1873 due to his role in the

Pacific Scandal The Pacific Scandal was a political scandal in Canada involving bribes being accepted by 150 members of the Conservative government in the attempts of private interests to influence the bidding for a national rail contract. As part of British Colu ...

. In 1871 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec in the provincial electoral district of Québec-Centre. At the time, dual mandates were still allowed. He served one term, until 1874. In 1876, he was re-elected in the riding of

Charlevoix Charlevoix ( , ) is a cultural and natural region in Quebec, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River as well as in the Laurentian Mountains area of the Canadian Shield. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlands ...

. His opponent contested the election and it was declared invalid, but he won the subsequent by-election in 1877. He was defeated in

Rimouski Rimouski ( ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski is the site of Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), t ...

in 1878 but elected by acclamation in the riding of

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

in the same year. Langevin became Minister of Public Works again in 1879. He lobbied behind the scenes against the hanging of

Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...

in 1885 and was one of the few Conservatives Members of Parliament to survive the resulting backlash in the province of

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 thirtee ...

in 1887. He was promised the post of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec by the new Conservative Prime Minister

John Abbott Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott (March 12, 1821 – October 30, 1893) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the third prime minister of Canada from 1891 to 1892. He held office as the leader of the Conservative Party. Abbo ...

if he resigned as Minister of Public Works. Langevin stepped down in 1891 but Abbott appointed

Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau Sir Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau (November 9, 1840 – June 13, 1898), born in Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec, was a French-Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 7th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec from 1892 to 1898. Life As a lawyer, he defen ...

instead. That year, Langevin was implicated with Thomas McGreevy in what became known as the "McGreevy-Langevin scandal" over kickbacks to McGreevy associated with federal contracts granted to him by the department of public works overseen by Langevin. He retired to the backbenches and then left politics in 1896. Outside politics he was previously a newspaper editor.

View on Indigenous Canadians

In 1883 he stated in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

"In order to educate the (‘Indian’) children properly we must separate them from their families. Some people may say that this is hard but if we want to civilize them we must do that." "The fact is that if you wish to educate the children you must separate them from their parents during the time they are being taught. If you leave them in the family they may know how to read and write, but they will remain savages, whereas by separating them in the way proposed, they acquire the habits and tastes…of civilized people."

Posthumous recognition

The Langevin Block office building on

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (french: Colline du Parlement, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings, and their archit ...

and the Langevin Bridge in Calgary were formerly named in his honour. Langevin's group of honours insignia was sold at auction in Ottawa on May 18, 2010 for $8000.00 On January 23, 2017,

Calgary City Council The Calgary City Council is the legislative governing body that represents the citizens of Calgary. The council consists of 15 members: the chief elected official, titled the mayor, and 14 councillors. Jyoti Gondek was elected mayor in October 202 ...

voted to rename the Langevin Bridge to the Reconciliation Bridge. In June 2017 it was announced the Langevin Block would be renamed to the

Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council The Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council (french: Bureau du Premier ministre et du Conseil privé) building, formerly known as the Langevin Block (french: Édifice Langevin, ), is an office building facing Parliament Hill in Ottawa, O ...

building due to Langevin's involvement in the

Canadian Indian residential school system In Canada, the Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by Christian churches. The school s ...

. in June of 2021 a Calgary Board of Education public school was renamed Riverside School, after being Langevin school from 1936 until 2021.

Personal life

His brother, Jean Langevin was a Roman Catholic bishop.

Electoral history

References

External links

National Library of Canada biography
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Langevin, Hector-Louis 1826 births 1906 deaths Canadian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Conservative Party of Quebec MNAs Fathers of Confederation French Quebecers Lawyers in Quebec Mayors of Quebec City Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Postmasters General of Canada Quebec lieutenants