Henry Pineau (January 22, 1863 – February 18, 1904) 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 ...

politician, who represented the electoral district of

1st Prince 1st Prince was an electoral district in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, which elected two members to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1873 to 1993. The district comprised the westernmost portion of Prince Cou ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island The Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island () together with the Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island, lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island form the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The Legislative Assembly meets at ...

from 1899 to 1900.Henry J. Pineau
Prince Edward Island Legislative Documents Online. A member of the Conservative Party, he was most noted for

crossing the floor In some parliamentary systems (e.g., in Canada and the United Kingdom), politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a political party different from the one they were initially elected under. I ...

to vote with the governing Liberals on a crucial

motion of non-confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...

in early 1900. A farmer and fisherman in Miminegash, Prince Edward Island, Pineau was elected to the legislature in a by-election in 1899, after the election of Meddie Gallant in an 1898 by-election was overturned by the courts. However, he was rarely actually present in the legislature until the confidence crisis of early 1900, when the government of Donald Farquharson (politician), Donald Farquharson was threatened by MLA Joseph Wise (politician), Joseph Wise's attempt to withdraw his earlier resignation; Wise attempted to vote with the Conservatives, which would have brought down the government, but his vote was disqualified by speaker James Cummiskey. Pineau then crossed the floor to the Liberals, ensuring the government's survival on the vote. Pineau did not run for reelection in the 1900 Prince Edward Island general election, 1900 general election. He died on February 18, 1904, in Miminegash.

References

1863 births 1904 deaths Politicians from Prince County, Prince Edward Island Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island MLAs Prince Edward Island Liberal Party MLAs 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island {{PrinceEdwardIsland-politician-stub