Roch La Salle (August 6, 1928 – August 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 ...

politician from the province 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, ...

. He represented the riding of

Joliette Joliette () is a city in southwest Quebec, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Montreal, on the L'Assomption River and is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of Joliette. It is considered to be a part of the North Shore of G ...

in 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 ...

for 20 years. A popular figure, he was re-elected six times during his tenure. Born in St-Paul, La Salle had a career in public relations and sales when he first attempted to win a parliamentary seat as a Progressive Conservative in the 1965 federal election, running in

Joliette—L'Assomption—Montcalm Joliette—L'Assomption—Montcalm () 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. This riding was created in 1933 from parts of Jol ...

. He was defeated, but won on his next attempt in the renamed riding of Joliette in the 1968 election. He was one of only a handful of Quebec Tory members in that Parliament. La Salle quit the party in 1971 to protest Tory leader

Robert Stanfield Robert Lorne Stanfield (April 11, 1914 – December 16, 2003) was a Canadian politician who served as the 17th premier of Nova Scotia from 1956 to 1967 and the leader of the Official Opposition and leader of the Progressive Conservative ...

's rejection of the concept that Canada was composed of "two nations" (''

deux nations The Constitutional debate of Canada is an ongoing debate covering various political issues regarding the fundamental law of the country. The debate can be traced back to the Royal Proclamation, issued on October 7, 1763, following the signing of ...

'') and that Quebec had the right to

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

.Former Tory cabinet minister Roch La Salle dies. CBC News. August 20, 2007

/ref> He was re-elected as an independent candidate in the 1972 Canadian federal election, 1972 election with the support of the

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...

''. He returned to the Tory caucus in early 1974. Along with

Heward Grafftey William Heward Grafftey (August 5, 1928 – February 11, 2010) was a Canadian politician and businessman. Early life Born in Montreal, Quebec, to a wealthy family, he was a nephew of artist Prudence Heward of the Beaver Hall Group, and wrot ...

, he was one of only two Tory MPs elected from Quebec in the 1979 election that brought the Conservatives to power under

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian businessman, writer, and retired politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. He also served as Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada), leader of the ...

. La Salle served as

Minister of Supply and Services Minister of Supply and Services was an office in the Cabinet of Canada from 1969 to 1996. On July 12, 1996, office of the Minister of Supply and Services and the office of the Minister of Public Works were abolished and replaced with the office of M ...

in the short-lived (1979–80) Clark government. La Salle was the only Quebec Tory MP returned in the 1980 election, only surviving in his own riding by 389 votes. In early 1981, he resigned his seat in order to move to provincial politics and take the leadership of the Union Nationale (UN) political party prior to the 1981 Quebec provincial election. La Salle chose not run in his home town of Joliette because the riding was then represented by an old friend of his, Guy Chevrette, a member of the PQ and Party Whip. Instead, he ran in the neighbouring riding of Berthier. The Union Nationale lost all five of its remaining seats as the PQ won a crushing victory. He then ran in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

that was called later that year to fill the vacancy his resignation had created, and won handily. When the Tories again formed government after the 1984 election, this time under

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...

, La Salle became

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

. He resigned from

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 ...

in 1987 after being charged with accepting a

bribe Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official duty, to act contrar ...

and

influence peddling Influence peddling, also called traffic of influence or trading in influence, is the practice of using one's influence in government or connections with authorities to obtain favours or preferential treatment for another, usually in return for ...

.Fraser, Graham. Quebec Tory's resignation is latest turn in twisty road. The Globe and Mail. February 20, 1987. p. A03 He denied any wrongdoing, but did not run in the 1988 election. The criminal case against him was eventually dropped. La Salle died on 20 August 2007 in a hospital in

Saint-Charles-Borromée Saint-Charles-Borromée () ( 2021 Population 15,285) is a city in southwest-central Quebec, Canada, on the l'Assomption River. In Joliette Regional County Municipality, Saint-Charles-Borromée has the Maison Antoine-Lacombe, a heritage home tha ...

. He was 79 years of age. Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney said in a statement that he was saddened to hear of La Salle's death, calling him an example of a politician who was close to the people in his riding.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:La Salle, Roch 1928 births 2007 deaths Leaders of the Union Nationale (Quebec) Members of the 21st Canadian Ministry Members of the 24th Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada