Maurice Riel, (April 3, 1922 – July 20, 2007) 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 ...

lawyer and

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

. A distant relative of

Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis in Canada, Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of ...

, Maurice Riel studied law and was admitted to the bar of

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 1945. Establishing his own law firm in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

with

Louis-René Beaudoin Louis-René Beaudoin (May 5, 1912 – February 21, 1970) was Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada from 1953 to 1957. Though trained as a lawyer, Beaudoin came from a working class background and financed his education by working as a bus ...

under the name Beaudoin, Riel, Riel worked in

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

with a number of clients in

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 ...

. He was appointed

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 1958, and served as chairman of the Metropolitan Montreal Corporation from 1965 to 1969. He served on the board of the

Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; ) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surve ...

from 1969 to 1973. Riel joined the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

in 1947, and served in various capacities with the party. He was appointed to the Senate on the advice of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

in 1973, and worked on

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

policy and foreign affairs amongst other issues. He was appointed

Speaker of the Senate of Canada The speaker of the Senate of Canada () is the presiding officer of the Senate of Canada. The speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of parliamentary procedure and parliamentary privilege, and presides over debat ...

on December 16, 1983, but served for less than a year in that position due to the Progressive Conservative Party's victory in the 1984 general election. He was replaced as Speaker by Progressive Conservative

Guy Charbonneau Guy Charbonneau (June 21, 1922 – January 18, 1998) was a Canadian senator who was the longest serving Speaker of the Canadian Senate, serving from 1984 to 1993. During his tenure, amendments to the Standing Orders of the Senate extended ...

. Riel remained active in the Senate until his retirement in 1997. He died on July 20, 2007.

References

External links

*
The Gazette, May 24, 1958
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riel, Maurice 1922 births 2007 deaths Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Speakers of the Senate of Canada Canadian senators from Quebec Canadian King's Counsel 20th-century members of the Senate of Canada