Joseph-Irénée-René Hamel (February 9, 1910 – December 16, 1982) was a local politician in

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, ...

, Canada. He served as Member of the Canadian Parliament and as Member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec.

Early life

He was born in 1910 in Grand-Mère, Quebec,

Mauricie Mauricie () is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making tourism in Mauricie popular. The region has a land area of 35,860.05 km2 (13,845.64 sq mi) and a popu ...

World War II politics

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Hamel joined the

Bloc Populaire Canadien The (, ), often shortened to the Bloc populaire or the Bloc, was a political party in the Canadian province of Quebec from 1942 to 1947. It was founded on September 8, 1942, by opponents of conscription during the Second World War. The party ran ...

, a political party that opposed

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

. He was the party’s provincial candidate in the district of Saint-Maurice in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

, but lost the election against Marc Trudel. The following year though, he successfully ran in the federal district of

Saint-Maurice—Laflèche Saint-Maurice—Laflèche (previously known as St-Maurice—Laflèche) was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1935 to 1968. It was created a ...

. After the war, the party quickly dissolved and by 1949 Hamel was sitting as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

MP. He lost re-election in that same year.

Fighting Duplessis

Hamel, who opposed

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Maurice Duplessis Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis, (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959) byname "Le Chef" (, "The Boss"), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A Conservatism in Canada, conservative, Quebec nationalism, ...

, made a political comeback in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

. Benefiting from a strong support among

Shawinigan Shawinigan (; ) is a city located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 49,620 as of the 2021 Canadian census. Shawinigan is also a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) ...

’s labor class population, he was elected Liberal

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

for the district of Saint-Maurice. Hamel became one of the most effective Liberal

floor leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are thei ...

s. In order to pressure voters into defeating Hamel, Duplessis refused to authorize the construction of a new bridge between Shawinigan and Shawinigan-Sud. Local Liberals jokingly claimed that they would rather swim than support Duplessis. Nonetheless, Hamel was narrowly re-elected against Shawinigan mayor Gaston Hardy in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

. Hamel was also a candidate for the 1958 Quebec Liberal Party leadership convention, but was defeated by

Jean Lesage Jean Lesage (; June 10, 1912 – December 12, 1980) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the 19th premier of Quebec from July 5, 1960, to June 16, 1966. Alongside Georges-Émile Lapalme, René Lévesque and others, he is often v ...

Member of the Cabinet

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

the Liberals won the provincial election and Lesage became Premier. Shawinigan got a new bridge. Hamel was appointed to the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. He was Minister of

Municipal Affairs Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

from

to 1961, Minister of Labour from

to 1963 and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

from 1963 to 1964.

After retirement from politics

In 1964, Hamel was appointed Judge and resigned his

legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

and

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

functions. He died in Shawinigan in 1982.

Footnotes