Étienne Parent
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Étienne Parent (May 2, 1802 – December 22, 1874) was a
Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...
journalist, politician and government official. A
French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...
nationalist, he wrote extensively on political theory and governance during the 1820s and 1830s in various newspapers, particularly ''
Le Canadien ''Le Canadien'' () was a French language newspaper published at various times in Lower Canada, then the Province of Canada, and finally the province of Quebec, at various times in the 19th century. It went through three different publication pha ...
'', of which he was editor. He was attracted to theories of constitutional governance based on the British constitution, and opposed annexation to the United States. Born to farming parents, he spent most of his adult life in the French-Canadian political and social elites. Parent opposed the
Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (), commonly referred to as the Patriots' Rebellion () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southern Quebec). Together wit ...
in 1837, condemning the inevitable bloodshed, while also heavily attacking the colonial government for its military repression of Lower Canada's claims for self-government. As a result, he was condemned as a traitor by the advocates of the Rebellion, and imprisoned by the colonial government for "seditious schemings". An initial opponent of the union of Lower Canada and
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...
into the
Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...
, he gradually concluded that it opened the possibility for a system of
responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...
through an alliance between reformers in Lower Canada and Upper Canada. His writings influenced
Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine Sir Louis-Hippolyte Ménard '' dit'' La Fontaine, 1st Baronet, KCMG (October 4, 1807 – February 26, 1864) was a Canadian politician who served as the first Premier of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible governme ...
, who ultimately achieved responsible government, working in partnership with
Robert Baldwin Robert Baldwin (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was an Upper Canadian lawyer and politician who with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine of Lower Canada, led the first responsible government ministry in the Province of Canada. ...
, leader of the Reformers from Upper Canada. Parent was briefly a member of the
Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the Parliament of the Province of Canada. The Province of Canada consisted of the former province of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East (now Quebec), and Upper Canada ...
, but with increasing deafness, he resigned his seat. LaFontaine appointed him as Clerk of the Executive Council, the provincial Cabinet. Parent became a public servant for the rest of his life, while providing a series of lectures on social and economic issues at the Institut canadien de Montréal and the Institut canadien de Québec. After
Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
in 1867, he continued as a federal public servant until his retirement.


Family and early life

Parent was born in the parish of Notre-Dame de la Nativité, near the town of Beauport (now part of
Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...
), in 1802. His parents were a farm couple: Étienne-François Parent and Josephte Clouet. He was the eldest of a large family of nine boys and six girls, and grew up working on the farm, acquiring habits of hard work and determination. His parents sent him to a primary school in Quebec, and then in 1814, when he was 12 years old, to the '' Collège de Nicolet'' for secondary schooling. He did well at school, winning several prizes. Five years later, in 1819, his parents sent him to the ''Petit Séminaire de Québec'' for further studies. Parent again did well, reading as many books as he could, and distinguishing himself for his writing abilities and good judgment.Jean-Charles Falardeau
"Parent, Étienne"
''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. X (1871-1880), University of Toronto / Université Laval.
Réginald Hamel, John Hare and Paul Wyczynski
"Parent, Étienne"
in ''Dictionnaire des auteurs de langue française en Amérique du Nord'' (Quebec: Éditions Fides, 1989), pp. 1068–1069.
Éric Bédard, ''Les Réformistes'' (Montreal: Éditions du Boréal, 2012), pp. 15–16. While he was at the ''Petit Séminaire'', he met
Augustin-Norbert Morin Augustin-Norbert Morin (; October 13, 1803 – July 27, 1865) was a Canadien journalist, lawyer, politician, and rebel in Lower Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada in the 1830s, as a leading member of the '' ...
, a fellow student. Morin was already writing articles for ''Le Canadien'', a newspaper which supported the nationalist political group, the ''
Parti canadien The () or () was a primarily francophone political party in what is now Quebec founded by members of the liberal elite of Lower Canada at the beginning of the 19th century. Its members were made up of liberal professionals and small-scale ...
''. Morin encouraged Parent to submit articles to the newspaper as well, starting his career as a journalist before he was out of school. However, the seminary authorities forbade him from submitting further articles. Parent left the ''Petit Séminaire'' in 1821, before taking his final examinations. The reason is not known. His family found him a job with his uncle, Michel Clouet, who ran a hardware store in Quebec and was a member of the
Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The lower house consisted of e ...
. Parent worked there for a while, then returned to work on the family farm. While there, he was visited by François Blanchet, the publisher of ''Le Canadien'', and Flavien Vallerand, the editor. Morin, who had been working at the paper, had relocated to Montreal for his studies in law. They offered Parent the post of editor. Parent accepted. For the rest of his life, Parent lived and worked with the French-Canadian political and social elites.


Journalism and politics

At age 20, Parent became the editor and primary writer for ''Le Canadien'', which supported the ''Parti canadien'' in its political battles with the governor. He wrote on the issues of the day, but also more generally, on questions of constitutionalism and governance. As editor, he also supported
French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...
journalism and writing. He was a strong supporter of the Lower Canada constitution, set out in the '' Constitutional Act, 1791'', and condemned breaches of political liberties. He also was a strong opponent of the proposal to reunite Lower Canada with Upper Canada, which the British government was considering in 1822. His writings provided intellectual rigour to the political arguments being made by leaders of the ''Parti canadien'', such as
Louis-Joseph Papineau Louis-Joseph Papineau (; October 7, 1786 – September 23, 1871), born in Montreal, Province of Quebec (1763–1791), Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the ''seigneurie de la Petite-Nation''. He was the leader of the reform ...
and John Neilson. Ultimately, the British government withdrew the proposed reunification bill.Bédard, ''Les Réformistes'', pp. 40–42. In 1825, ''Le Canadien'' folded, and Parent began looking for other work. He held down a number of positions, including working for the former rival paper, ''La Gazette de Québec'', From 1825 to 1829 he studied law as a student in the office of
Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal (October 1, 1787 – February 17, 1847) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Lower Canada. He was born Joseph-Rémi Vallière at Carleton, Quebec, on the Bay of Chaleur, in 1787, the son of bl ...
, and later in that of
Charles-Eusèbe Casgrain Charles-Eusèbe Casgrain (December 28, 1800 – February 29, 1848) was a lawyer and political figure in Lower Canada. He was born at Rivière-Ouelle in Lower Canada in 1800, the son of merchant Pierre Casgrain, and studied at the Petit S ...
. He was
called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
of Lower Canada in 1829, but never practised law. He also obtained positions as a French translator and law officer for the
Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The lower house consisted of e ...
. He later became the Assembly's librarian, and then the Clerk of the Assembly. During the turbulent politics of the 1830s, Parent was heavily involved in journalism in support of the ''Parti patriote'', as the ''Parti canadien'' came to be known. In 1831, he managed to revive ''Le Canadien'' for the third time, and became the editor and leading writer. He chose ''"Notre langue, nos institutions, nos lois"'' ("Our language, our institutions, our laws") as the masthead motto, which summarised his own personal ideology. In 1834, the Legislative Assembly, led by Papineau and Morin, passed the
Ninety-Two Resolutions The Ninety-Two Resolutions were drafted by Louis-Joseph Papineau and other members of the '' Parti patriote'' of Lower Canada in 1834. The resolutions were a long series of demands for political reforms in the British-governed colony. Papineau ha ...
, by an overwhelming majority. The Resolutions set out the grievances of French-Canadians, critiquing the powers of the governor and the unelected Legislative Council. Although Parent was not involved in drafting the Ninety-Two Resolutions, many of his ideas from his articles in ''Le Canadien'' found their way into the Resolutions. Parent wrote numerous articles in ''Le Canadien'' defending the Resolutions, and responding to criticisms of the Resolutions in the English-language newspapers in Lower Canada. He defended the changes proposed by the Resolutions, such as an elected Legislative Council and control of public finance by the Assembly, as being consistent with British parliamentary government. In Parent's view, the people of Lower Canada, as British subjects, had the right to criticise their government and propose reforms, designed to achieve local self-government while maintaining the link to Britain. Another journalist, Joseph-Guillaume Barthe, summed up Parent's role at this time: "Parent is to journalism what Papineau is to the parliamentary tribune." Parent and Papineau did not always agree on goals and tactics. In the run-up to the general elections of 1834, Papineau was trying to lead the ''Patriotes'' to a more radical nationalist position. Parent, influential particularly in Quebec and surrounding areas, urged moderation.


Lower Canada Rebellion

In 1837, the British government rejected the Ninety-Two Resolutions. The
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...
,
Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and again from 1865 to 186 ...
, proposed ten resolutions in response, which were issued and adopted by the British House of Commons. The Russell Resolutions affirmed the power of the governor, as representative of the British government, to control the government and public finances of Lower Canada. The Russell Resolutions created a political firestorm in Lower Canada. Papineau and his supporters began to agitate to challenge the British colonial government, including a series of large-scale public rallies. There was a riot in Montreal between two armed groups, the French-Canadian ''Fils de la Liberté'' and the
Doric Club The Doric Club was an association of Loyals set up in Lower Canada by Adam Thom, a lawyer and journalist, in March 1836. A noted opponent of the Patriotes, the group was both a social club and a paramilitary organization. It was used as the arm ...
, a British loyalist group. Rebellion was in the air. Parent broke with Papineau and Morin at this point. Although he was one of the first to strongly criticise the position of the British government and the Russell Resolutions, Parent was committed to the constitutional structure set out in the ''Constitutional Act 1791''. He argued that the British government had broken the framework of 1791. However, Parent equally rejected the tendency towards republicanism and revolution, which he saw in his former colleagues, because that would lead to civil war. He continued to argue for moderation and reliance on legal and constitutional principles, and predicted that the force of arms would fail. He considered that remaining within the British Empire, and adapting British constitutional principles to the local situation, would give Lower Canada the best chance to develop into a mature political society. Rebellion would lead to the loss of the local parliamentary institutions, rights and freedoms, and a return to an oligarchic council, as had been the case under the ''Quebec Act, 1774''. He rejected arguments for annexation by the United States.Bédard, ''Les Réformistes'', pp. 48–53. He also foresaw the inevitable bloodshed which rebellion would cause: In 1837, Morin and Parent, the two former school-fellows, engaged in a battle of political persuasion in the Quebec area. In a significant editorial published on November 13, 1837, Parent summed up his position: "Nous sommes des Réformistes, nous cessons d'être des Révolutionnaires." Morin worked to build up the ''Patriotes'' in the Quebec area, while Parent continually urged moderation and attacked the trend towards violence. Parent's writings proved influential in Quebec, the seat of government. On December 4, 1837, Quebec residents issued a public address affirming "... leurs sentiments de loyauté envers Sa Majesté, et d'attachment à la liaison de cette colonie avec le Royaume d'Angleterre et d'Irlande." Morin failed in his attempt to create a group of ''Fils de la Liberté'' in the Quebec area. In a letter to a supporter in Montreal, Morin commented on the need to unmask "some formerly presumed friends", a reference to Parent. When the
Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (), commonly referred to as the Patriots' Rebellion () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southern Quebec). Together wit ...
broke out in late 1837, Parent was horror-stricken. However, while Parent condemned the Rebellion, he equally fell upon the excesses of the British colonial government, and the oligarchic British colonists, whom he blamed for consistently blocking the legitimate political aspirations of French-Canadians. In 1838 he wrote that Lower Canada had only "the name and shadow of a constitutional government", and began to argue for the establishment of
responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...
as the solution to the constitutional impasse. He pleaded the cause of the ''Patriotes'' who had been exiled, and the twelve who had been condemned to death.Bédard, ''Les Réformistes'', pp. 64–65. After the second outbreak of rebellion in late 1838 was suppressed by the British military, he wrote in December 1838: The net result was that Parent was condemned by both sides. The Permanent Central Committee of the ''Patriotes'', based in Montreal, proclaimed that he was a "traitor to the nation". ''La Minerve'', a newspaper which supported the ''Patriotes'', published the proclamation. At the same time, the colonial government viewed him with suspicion. In December 1838, following his harsh criticisms of the British repression of the rebellion, he was arrested by the colonial government and imprisoned on grounds of "seditious schemings", based on his articles in ''Le Canadien''. Held without charges, he nonetheless found a means to continue to publish his views in ''Le Canadien'': a messenger from the journal,
Stanislas Drapeau Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, Kherson Oblast, a coastal village in Ukraine * Stanislaus County, ...
, would bring him a fake pie, containing newspaper clippings and news, and Parent would send drafts of articles back by the same means. Conditions in the prison were harsh, and Parent developed deafness, which would last for the rest of his life. He was finally released in April 1839, by means of a writ of ''habeas corpus'', in a demoralised state.


Province of Canada


Reaction to the union

Following the rebellion in Lower Canada, and the similar rebellion in 1837 in
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...
(now
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
), the British government decided to merge the two provinces into a single province, as recommended by
Lord Durham Earl of Durham is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1833 for the Whig politician and colonial official John Lambton, 1st Baron Durham. Known as "Radical Jack", he played a leading role in the passing of the Refo ...
in the
Durham Report The ''Report on the Affairs of British North America'', (, 1839) commonly known as the ''Durham Report'' or ''Lord Durham's Report'', is an important document in the history of Quebec, Ontario, Canada and the British Empire. The notable Briti ...
, issued in February 1839. The ''Union Act, 1840'', passed by the
British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...
, abolished the two provinces and their separate parliaments. It created the
Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...
, with a single Parliament for the entire province, composed of an elected Legislative Assembly and an appointed
Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
. The Governor General retained a strong position in the government. Parent was initially disillusioned by the decision of the British government. He translated the Durham Report into French and published it in ''Le Canadien''. He was strongly critical of it, because Durham's premise was that French-Canadians should be assimilated. He feared that the powers of assimilation might overcome the French-Canadian identity: "L'assimilation, sous le nouvel état des choses, se fera graduellement et sans secousse, et sera d'autant plus prompte qu'on laissera à son cours naturel". Parent was a leader of a group that collected close to 40,000 signatures on a petition opposing the union.Bédard, ''Les Réformistes'', pp. 50, 75–76, 256. However, he gradually began to consider that the union offered an opportunity for an alliance between reformers from Lower Canada and Upper Canada to achieve responsible government. In his view, the principles of British parliamentarianism, if applied to the new union, would give French-Canadians the opportunity for self-government and survival. He rejected calls for annexation to the United States as a solution, as he believed that would lead to the disappearance of French-Canadians as a separate people and culture. His writings on this topic influenced
Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine Sir Louis-Hippolyte Ménard '' dit'' La Fontaine, 1st Baronet, KCMG (October 4, 1807 – February 26, 1864) was a Canadian politician who served as the first Premier of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible governme ...
, who in August 1840, issued his "Address to the Electors of Terrebonne", calling for an alliance between reformers in Lower Canada and Upper Canada to achieve responsible government. Parent published LaFontaine's address a few days later in ''Le Canadien''. In October 1840, Parent published an "Address to the electors of the whole province", coming out in favour of union as a means to achieve responsible government.


First Parliament

The union came into force on February 10, 1841, and general elections were held in the spring of that year for the first Parliament of the new Province of Canada. Parent stood for election to the Legislative Assembly for the constituency of Saguenay. Campaigning against the union, and as a supporter of LaFontaine, he was elected by a three-vote majority. When LaFontaine was elected to a seat in Canada West, with the support of
Robert Baldwin Robert Baldwin (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was an Upper Canadian lawyer and politician who with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine of Lower Canada, led the first responsible government ministry in the Province of Canada. ...
, Parent wrote in ''Le Canadien'' about the strong support Reformers in Canada West were giving to French-Canadians: "Ils élisent M. Lafontaine pour montrer, disent-ils, leur sympathie envers les Bas-Canadiens, et leur détestation des mauvais traitements et des injustices auxquelles nous avons été exposés." In the first session of the new Parliament, Parent was part of the French-Canadian Group. Working closely with LaFontaine, he voted in favour of a motion condemning the union of the two provinces, and was a consistent opponent of the policies of Governor General Lord Sydenham. He also introduced a bill calling on French to be given equal status in the Assembly, with the goal of overriding the provision of the ''Union Act, 1840'' which provided that only English was to be used. The bill did not pass at that time. However, Parent's deafness was getting worse, making it difficult for him to participate in the business of the Assembly. Before the second session of the Assembly began in 1842, LaFontaine, now a member of the Executive Council (the provincial Cabinet), arranged for Parent to be appointed Clerk of the Council. As that position was a non-partisan public service post, Parent resigned his seat in the Assembly, as well as his editorship of ''Le Canadien''. In his farewell message to his readers, Parent praised the political developments under the union, with French-Canadians being leading members of the Cabinet: "... l'heureuse révolution qui a succédé à nos malheurs." His successor as the member for Saguenay was Morin, elected in a
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
.


Public servant and lecturer

On his appointment as clerk to the Executive Council, Parent gave up his role with ''Le Canadien'', ending his journalism career. However, from 1846 onwards, Parent lectured frequently at the Institut canadien de Montréal and the Institut canadien de Québec, and continued writing on questions of politics, governance, and social and economic development. He was critical of the conservatism of French-Canadian society, and urged movement away from the traditional emphasis on the church, farming, and the professions. Instead, he argued for social and governmental changes to enable French-Canadians to enter into the modern spheres of commerce and industry. He was a strong supporter of universal education, which he considered necessary for economic advancement of French-Canadians. In the absence of a university for French-Canadians, the two ''Instituts canadiens'' fulfilled an important educational role for the developing francophone professional class, different from the traditional classical education. In 1847, Parent was named the assistant secretary of the Province of Canada for Canada East, a public servant position. He held that post for twenty years. Upon
Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
in 1867, he was named under-secretary of State in the new federal government, acting as public service deputy to the
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. Sco ...
. He held that position until his retirement in 1872.


Marriage and family

In June 1829, after being called to the bar, Parent married Henriette-Mathilde Grenier, daughter of a cooper from Notre-Dame de la Nativité. The couple had six children: five daughters and one son. Three of their daughters married men who were journalists, writers, and public servants, the same intellectual milieu as their father: Joséphine-Henriette married Antoine Gérin-Lajoie, Mathilde-Sabine married Évariste Gélinas, and Augustine married
Benjamin Sulte Benjamin Sulte (September 17, 1841 – August 6, 1923), baptized Olivier-Benjamin VadeboncÅ“ur, was a Canadian journalist, writer, civil servant, and historian. Born in Trois-Rivières, Lower Canada (now Quebec), to Benjamin Sulte dit Vadebon ...
, a future president of the
Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...
.


Later life and death

Parent lived for two years after his retirement. He was a regular church-goer, but according to his son-in-law Sulte, he apparently was concerned by an inherent personal scepticism. His deafness became increasingly severe, and cataracts brought him almost to blindness. In his last few weeks, he spoke incessantly about the Rebellion, and his time in prison. Parent died in 1874 in Ottawa.


Legacy

Parent was the leading intellectual for the ''Parti patriote'', up to the point of the Rebellion. His ideas provided the intellectual framework for the political positions taken by Papineau, Morin, and others during the 1830s, and found their way into the Ninety-Two Resolutions. After the Rebellion, his advocacy for responsible government in response to the union was adopted by LaFontaine. Parent in turn gave general support for LaFontaine's proposal for a political partnership with the reformers of Upper Canada, led by Baldwin. Overall, through his writings he contributed to the political and social defence of French-Canadian identity at a time when it was greatly threatened. In addition to his political writings, Parent was an intellectual and a man of letters, who helped develop a body of French-Canadian literature. His subsequent career as a lecturer helped develop a platform for economic and social advancement for French-Canadians. A recent history of sociology in Quebec has concluded that Parent was the first Quebec sociologist. In 1974, the centennial of his death, the federal government designated Parent as a National Historic Person: There has been some controversy over the role of Parent and other reformers of his period. One Quebec historian, Éric Bédard, has noted that in recent decades, Parent and other reformers have been characterised by some Quebec historians as servile collaborators with the British Empire, and as "''parvenus''", who broke with the ''Patriote'' movement of Papineau. Bédard takes the position that it is time to re-examine that approach, and to consider their role as reform successors to the ''Patriotes'', seeking to find a way to improve the social and economic lives of French-Canadians. He rejects the idea that Reformers like Parent were sell-outs to the British government, but rather were opponents to the British colonial structure, committed to finding a way to implement the principles set out in the Ninety-Two Resolutions after the failure of the Rebellion.Bédard, ''Les Réformistes'', pp. 26, 320.


Works


Collected writings

* Gérard Bergeron (ed.)
''Lire Étienne Parent (1802-1874): Notre premier intellectuel''
(Quebec: Presses de l'Université du Québec, 1994), a collection of Parent's writings.

digitized by Marcelle Bergeron fo
Les Classiques des sciences sociales


Public lectures (selection)

*"La presse" (1844) *"L’Industrie considérée comme moyen de conserver notre nationalité" (January 22, 1846) *"Importance de l'étude de l'économie politique" (November 19, 1846) *"Du travail chez l'homme" (September 23, 1847) *"Considérations sur notre système d'éducation populaire, sur l'éducation en général et les moyens législatifs d'y pourvoir" (February 19, 1848) *"Du prêtre et du spiritualisme dans leurs rapports avec la société" (December 17, 1848) *"De l'intelligence dans ses rapports avec la société" (January 22, 1852) *"Quelques considérations sur le sort des classes ouvrières" (April 15, 1852) *"De l'importance et des devoirs du commerce" (1852)


Notes


References


External links


Historica’s Heritage Minute video: "Étienne Parent"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parent, Étienne 1802 births 1874 deaths 19th-century Canadian journalists 19th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male journalists Collège de Nicolet alumni Journalists from Quebec Lower Canada people Lower Canada Rebellion people Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Petit Séminaire de Québec alumni