Lucien Boudreau
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Lucien Boudreau (August 6, 1874 – December 16, 1962) was a politician, mayor of
St. Albert, Alberta St. Albert is a List of cities in Canada, city in Alberta, Canada, next to the Sturgeon River (Alberta), Sturgeon River, northwest of the Edmonton, City of Edmonton, the provincial capital. It was originally settled as a Métis community, and is ...
, and member of the
Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...
(then called the Provincial Parliament).


Early life

Boudreau was born in St-Gregoire de Nicolet,
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
in 1874. In 1893, he moved to
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Prince Albert is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada, after Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina. It is situated near the centre of the province on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. The city is known as the "Gateway ...
, where he spent two years before moving to
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
. He found employment as a clerk in a store in Strathcona (now part of
Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
). Before long, he went into business himself, founding a real estate business that he sold in 1901 to Michael Hogan. That same year, he married Marie Renault of St. Albert and became proprietor of the Astoria Hotel in that city. He ran this hotel until it burned down in 1912.


Public service

When St. Albert was incorporated as a town in 1904, Boudreau was elected as a member of its first
town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland In 2002, 49 urban district councils and 26 town commissi ...
. He served in this capacity until 1908, when he was elected to serve as
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
during 1909. In the meantime, he became interested in provincial politics. He ran for the Provincial Parliament in the 1905 election as the
Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party () is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1905, it is the oldest active political party in Alberta and was the dominant political party until the 1921 election, with the first three provincial ...
candidate, but was defeated by
Henry William McKenney Henry William McKenney (February 24, 1848 – March 11, 1921) was a politician from Alberta, Canada. McKenney was born in Ontario, the son of a merchant and sailor. After attending schooling, he moved to Manitoba, where soon after he took part i ...
, who was running as an independent Liberal (the only other candidates were Arthur Guilbault and
Wilfrid Gariépy Wilfrid Gariepy (March 14, 1877 – January 13, 1960) was a Canadian politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and provincial cabinet minister, member of the House of Commons of Canada, and municipal councillor in Edmonton. Earl ...
, both of whom were also running as independent Liberals and both of whom withdrew before the election). Before the ensuing election, boundary redistribution led to McKenney running in Pembina (where he was elected), freeing St. Albert up for Boudreau to run again. He was elected this time, defeating Gariépy (who was running as an independent Liberal after refusing to contest the Liberal nomination on the grounds that it was rigged in Boudreau's favour) and Conservative Omer St. Germain (who would leader represent the riding for the
United Farmers of Alberta The United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) is an association of Alberta farmers that has served different roles in its 100-year history – as a lobby group, a successful political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. As a political party, it forme ...
and Liberals). He was re-elected in
1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...
and
1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...
, defeating Conservative candidate Hector Landry both times. In 1916, Boudreau was the only member of the Provincial Parliament to vote against the Alberta Equal Suffrage Act, which granted women political rights, including the right to vote. He argued that "the place of women was in the home", that "the duty of women, dictated by Providence, was greater than that of men and if the time had come when it was necessary that the administration of the country should be shared by them it looked as if the men were becoming tired of their responsibility." He alleged that women who had signed petitions in favour of suffrage had done so "without knowing what it was all about," and expressed a hope that "though they were going to get the franchise...the women would do the best they could for its welfare without meddling in the public affairs of the province." For his performance, the Calgary ''
Morning Albertan The ''Calgary Sun'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is currently owned by Postmedia Network. First published in 1980, the tabloid-format daily newspaper replaced the long-running tabloid-size ''The Albertan'' soon ...
'' lauded him as "fearless champion of a lost cause" and suggested that he had voiced "sentiments which perhaps many of the present legislators felt but lacked the courage to make public." The paper further recorded that he was congratulated in private by many of his colleagues after his speech. Federally, when many Liberals rushed to support
Sir Robert Laird Borden Sir Robert Laird Borden (June 26, 1854 – June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and Conservative politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. He is best known for his leadership of Canada during World ...
's Union Government during the
Conscription Crisis of 1917 The Conscription Crisis of 1917 () was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. It was mainly caused by disagreement on whether men should be conscripted to fight in the war, but also brought out many issues regarding relatio ...
, Boudreau remained loyal to 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 Canadians, French ...
's anti-conscription Liberal stub. During the 1921 election, Boudreau was defeated by Télesphore St. Arnaud of the
United Farmers of Alberta The United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) is an association of Alberta farmers that has served different roles in its 100-year history – as a lobby group, a successful political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. As a political party, it forme ...
. He returned to office in
1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...
(when St. Arnaud did not run), but was defeated again in
1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...
by St. Germain, this time running for the UFA. Over the course of the next five years, St. Germain became disillusioned with the UFA, and crossed the floor to the Liberals, meaning that when Boudreau challenged him in the 1935 election, he had to do so as an independent Liberal trying to unseat the Liberal incumbent. He defeated St. Germain on the first ballot (Alberta used a
single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...
electoral system at the time), but was defeated on the second by
Lucien Maynard Joseph Lucien Paul Maynard (February 17, 1908 – February 7, 1996) was a lawyer and a provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1935 to 1955 as a member of the Social Credit Party. Maynar ...
of the
Alberta Social Credit Party Alberta Social Credit was a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on social credit monetary policy put forward by C.H. Douglas, Clifford Hugh Douglas and on conservative Christian social values. The Canadian social credi ...
. This was the end of Boudreau's political career. Boudreau, who stood little over five feet tall, was given the nickname "the Little Napoleon of St. Albert" by Perrin Baker, minister of education in the cabinet of
John Edward Brownlee John Edward Brownlee (August 27, 1883 – July 15, 1961) was the fifth premier of Alberta, serving from 1925 until 1934. Born in Port Ryerse, Ontario, Port Ryerse, Ontario, he studied history and political science at the University of Toronto's ...
.


Family and legacy

Lucien Boudreau's brother, Rudolphe, was Secretary of the Privy Council under 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 Canadians, French ...
. His sister-in-law, Alice Renault, was married to Boudreau's sometime electoral opponent Omer St. Germain. Lucien Boudreau died in 1962 in St. Albert and was interred at the St. Albert Cemetery. Boudreau Road in St. Albert is named in his honour.


References

*St. Albert Historical Society (1985). The Black Robe's Vision, St. Albert: St. Albert Historical Society. *St. Albert Gazette (1999). St. Albert 1861-1999: Our Story, St. Albert: Gazette Press Ltd.
Calgary Morning Albertan's account of Boudreau's remarks against the Alberta Equal Suffrage Act


External links


Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boudreau, Lucien 1874 births Mayors of St. Albert, Alberta Franco-Albertan people Alberta Liberal Party MLAs 1962 deaths 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 20th-century mayors of places in Alberta