Louis-Philippe Brodeur, baptised Louis-Joseph-Alexandre Brodeur (August 21, 1862 – January 2, 1924) 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, lawyer, politician, federal Cabinet minister,

Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada The speaker of the House of Commons () is the presiding officer of the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. A member of Parliament (MP), a speaker is elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow MPs. The speaker's role in pre ...

, and

puisne justice Puisne judge and puisne justice () are terms for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. The term comes from a combination of the two French words, (since, later) and (born) which have been combined as or ; meaning ...

of the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

Life and career

Born in

Belœil, Quebec Beloeil (; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is a suburb of Montreal, on the South Shore and is on the Richelieu River, east of Montreal. According to the official Commission de toponymie du Québec, the name is written Belœil with an oe liga ...

, he was first elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

in the 1891 election as Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Rouville, Quebec. He represented the riding continuously until his retirement prior to the 1911 election. Brodeur was a firm supporter of

Sir Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier (November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and Liberal politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime min ...

and came from a '' Rouges'' family. His father fought in 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 ...

of 1837, and his maternal grandfather was killed in the Rebellion's Battle of Saint-Charles. As a young man, Brodeur studied law, graduating in 1884 with an

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the Université Laval in Montréal. He worked as a young lawyer with

Honoré Mercier Honoré Mercier (October 15, 1840 – October 30, 1894) was a Canadian lawyer, journalist and politician in Quebec. He was the ninth premier of Quebec from January 27, 1887, to December 21, 1891, as leader of the Parti National or Quebec Libera ...

, before establishing his own law firm of Dandurand and Brodeuer with

Raoul Dandurand Raoul Dandurand (November 4, 1861 – March 11, 1942) was a Canadian politician and longtime organizer in Quebec for the Liberal Party of Canada. Biography Dandurand graduated from the Faculty of Law at Université Laval in Montreal, and ...

. He also engaged in journalism for Liberal newspapers such as '' la Patrie'' and ''L'Électeur'' before becoming

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

of ''Le Soir''. He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons at the age of 29. After the Liberals won the 1896 election, Brodeur was appointed deputy speaker. He was appointed as a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1899. He became

following the 1900 election. In 1904, he was appointed to the Laurier Cabinet as

Minister of Inland Revenue The Minister of Inland Revenue is the political office of Minister (government), Minister for the department of Inland Revenue which is responsible for the collection of taxes. "Minister of Inland Revenue" is a title held by politicians in differen ...

where he introduced

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

legislation to protect

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

farmers from the monopolistic practices of the

American Tobacco Company The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter, Goodwin & Company, and Kinney Brothers. The company was one of the or ...

. In 1906, he was promoted to Minister of Marine and Fisheries and reorganized the Montreal Harbours Commission and instituted reforms in the department to reduce patronage and corruption. Brodeur was a member of the Canadian delegation to the 1907

Imperial Conference Imperial Conferences (Colonial Conferences before 1907) were periodic gatherings of government leaders from the self-governing colonies and dominions of the British Empire between 1887 and 1937, before the establishment of regular Meetings of ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and also helped negotiate a trade treaty with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In 1910, he became Minister of the Naval Service and was responsible for introducing legislation to create the

Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

. This signified a move towards Canadian independence from

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. It was opposed by the Conservative Party, which preferred Canada's participation in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. By the end of his term, the new Navy consisted of 233 sailors and two cruisers, one on each coast. The policy of creating a Canadian Navy was also opposed by French-Canadian

nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

such as

Henri Bourassa Joseph-Napoléon-Henri Bourassa (; September 1, 1868 – August 31, 1952) was a French Canadian political leader and publisher. In 1899, Bourassa was outspoken against the Government of the United Kingdom, British government's request for Cana ...

who feared that the Canadian Navy would only be used as a device to engage Canada in British wars.

Supreme Court of Canada

Prior to the 1911 election, Brodeur retired from politics and was appointed by Laurier to a seat on the

. He retired from the court in 1923 to accept an appointment as the

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the Musical note, note thirteen scale degrees from the root (chord), root of a chord (music), chord and also the interval (music), interval between the root and the thirteenth. The thirteenth is m ...

Lieutenant Governor of Quebec The lieutenant governor of Quebec (; , ) is the representative in Quebec of the monarch, who Monarchy in Quebec, operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the Canadian federalism, ten other jurisdictions of Canada. T ...

. Brodeur died on 2 January 1924, at the Lieutenant Governor's official residence of Spencer Wood in Sillery.

Family

Louis-Philippe Brodeur married Emma Brillon, daughter of J. R. (Joseph-Régnier) Brillon, of Belœil, P.Q., in June 1887. Their son, Victor, attained the rank of Rear Admiral in the Royal Canadian Navy. The École Victor-Brodeur in

Esquimalt The Township of Esquimalt () is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Jua ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, is named after him. Victor's son Nigel attained the rank of Vice Admiral.

Electoral record

By-election: On Mr. Brodeur being appointed

, 19 January 1904

References

External links

Supreme Court of Canada biography
* *
Works by Brodeur, L. P. (Louis-Philippe), 1862-1924
at

The Online Books Page The Online Books Page is an index of e-text books available on the Internet. It is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom and is hosted by the library of the University of Pennsylvania. The Online Books Page lists over 2 million books and has several fe ...