Alcide Courcy (November 3, 1914 – May 22, 2000) 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 ...
politician, cabinet minister and a four-term Member of the
National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...
.
Early life
Alcide Courcy was born in the town of
Saint-Onésime-d'Ixworth, Quebec, in 1914. He was educated at
l'École d'agriculture de Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, where he received his bachelor's degree in
agricultural science
Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Profession ...
.
After college, Courcy moved to the
Abitibi region, where he began working as an
agronomist and agricultural consultant.
He was active in the local community in the town of
Macamic
Macamic is a ''ville'' in northwestern Quebec, Canada, in the Abitibi-Ouest Regional County Municipality. It covers 202.34 km² and had a population of 2,734 in the Canada 2011 Census.
In addition to Macamic itself, the town's territory ...
, working with local agricultural cooperatives and unions. Courcy, along with
Lucien Cliche and Jean-Pierre Bonneville, founded ''Le Progrès de Rouyn-Noranda'', a local newspaper in 1954.
Political career
Courcy first ran for the
Liberals in the
1952 election, but was defeated by
Émile Lesage of the
Union Nationale. Four years later, Courcy defeated Lesage to become the MNA for
Abitibi-Ouest.
[http://www.quebecpolitique.com/elections-et-referendums/circonscriptions/elections-dans-abitibi-ouest/#1956 Quebec Politique] While the Liberals were in opposition, Courcy acted as the chief organizer for the party between 1958 and 1960.
Upon the Liberal Party's victory in the
1960 election, Courcy served as
Minister of Agriculture and
Minister of Colonization from 1960 until 1962 when the two ministries were merged.
As Minister of Agriculture, Courcy streamlined services for farmers, decentralizing agricultural services for farmers in remote areas.
Additionally, he helped the agricultural sector modernize in terms of production and marketing.
In the
1970 election, Courcy was defeated and replaced by
Aurèle Audet
Aurèle Audet (October 12, 1920 – November 28, 2015) was a politician in Quebec, Canada and a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA).
Background
He was born in La Sarre, Quebec, on October 12, 1920, and made a career in the dairy ind ...
of the
Ralliement créditiste
Historically in Quebec, Canada, there were a number of political parties that were part of the Canadian social credit movement. There were various parties at different times with different names at the provincial level, all broadly following the s ...
.
Later life
In his post political life, Alcide Courcy received honours from the agricultural community, receiving the Order of Agricultural Merit of Quebec and becoming a member of the ''Temple de la renommée de l'agriculture du Québec'' (Hall of Fame of Agriculture of Quebec) in 1992.
Courcy died in
Sainte-Foy, Quebec, on May 22, 2000, at the age of 85.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Courcy, Alcide
Quebec Liberal Party MNAs
People from Bas-Saint-Laurent
1914 births
2000 deaths