René Marc Jalbert (20 February 1921 – 21 January 1996) was a retired

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

officer and

sergeant-at-arms A serjeant-at-arms or sergeant-at-arms is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin , which means "servant". Historically, serjeants-at-a ...

of the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

, known for his role in ending Denis Lortie's killing spree in the Parliament Building on 8 May 1984. Later he was

Usher of the Black Rod The usher of the Black Rod is an official in the parliaments of several countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. The title is often shortened to Black Rod, and in some countries, formally known as Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod or Lady Usher ...

for the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...

Military career

Jalbert served in

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 ...

and the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, ultimately attaining the rank of major in the Royal 22^e Régiment.

Sergeant-at-arms

After his military career, he was sergeant-at-arms in the

, beginning in march 1975. On 8 May 1984, Denis Lortie entered the Parliament Building in the morning, before government business had begun, killing three government employees and wounding 13 others on his way to the Assembly Chamber. Upon learning of Lortie's presence, Jalbert entered the Assembly Chamber. Seeing Lortie in uniform, Jalbert showed the gunman his identification as a military veteran, opening a dialogue with him. Jalbert convinced Lortie to allow several employees to leave the premises. Then he invited Lortie into his downstairs office to discuss the situation, in effect setting himself up as hostage while removing Lortie from the scene. At extreme personal risk, Jalbert spent four hours persuading Lortie to surrender to police. Jalbert's actions almost certainly prevented a higher death toll. For his bravery, Jalbert was awarded the Cross of Valour, Canada's highest civilian award for bravery, which was presented to him 9 November 1984, by Governor General

Jeanne Sauvé Jeanne Mathilde Sauvé (; ; April 26, 1922 – January 26, 1993) was a Canadian politician, journalist and stateswoman who served as the 23rd governor general of Canada from 1984 to 1990 and as the 29th Speaker of the House of Commons (Canada), ...

in a ceremony at Rideau Hall, Ottawa. The award citation reads:

Usher of the black rod and legacy

From July 1985 to March 1989, Jalbert was

in the federal

in Ottawa, the most senior protocol position in the Parliamentary staff. Jalbert died at age 74 in 1996. His younger brother was film and television actor Pierre Jalbert, who died in 2014. In 2006 a street in Quebec City was named after René Jalbert.www.ville.quebec.qc.ca Toponymy
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Awards and decorations

Jalbert's personal awards and decorations include the following:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jalbert, René 1921 births 1996 deaths Canadian military personnel of the Korean War Canadian Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Canada) Quebec civil servants Royal 22nd Regiment officers