Adélard Godbout
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| Hon. Adélard Godbout | |
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15th Premier of Quebec
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| In office June 11, 1936 – August 28, 1936 |
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| Preceded by | Louis-A. Taschereau |
| Succeeded by | Maurice Duplessis |
| In office November 8, 1939 – August 30, 1944 |
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| Preceded by | Maurice Duplessis |
| Succeeded by | Maurice Duplessis |
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| Born | September 24, 1892 Saint-Éloi, Quebec |
| Died | September 18 1956 (aged 63) Montreal, Quebec |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse | Dorilda Fortin |
| Profession | Agronomist |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Joseph-Adélard Godbout (24 September 1892 – 18 September 1956) was an agronomist and politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as Premier of Quebec briefly in 1936, and again from 1939 to 1944. He was also leader of the Parti Libéral du Québec (PLQ).
[edit] Biography
Adélard Godbout was born in Saint-Éloi. He was the son of Eugène Godbout, agriculturalist and Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from 1921 to 1923, and Marie-Louise Duret. He studied at the Séminaire de Rimouski, the agricultural school of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière and the Amherst Agricultural College, in the American state of Massachusetts. He then became teacher at the Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière agricultural school from 1918 to 1930. He was an agronomist for the Ministry of Agriculture from 1922 to 1925.
[edit] Member of the Legislature
Godbout became a Member of the legislature for the district of L'Islet in the Chaudière-Appalaches area, after he won a by-election without opposition on May 13, 1929. He was re-elected in the 1931 and 1935 elections.
[edit] Member of the Cabinet
Godbout was appointed to the Cabinet by Premier Alexandre Taschereau and served as Minister of Agriculture from November 27, 1930 to June 27, 1936.
[edit] Victim of the Scandals of the Taschereau Administration
Shortly after the 1935 election, Conservative Leader Maurice Duplessis, a rising star in Quebec politics, forced Taschereau to call the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, which brought to light the existence of widespread corruption in the provincial government. The revelations made by the committee were embarrassing. They tarnished the reputation of all Liberal insiders whether or not they were involved in the scandals. In 1936, less than a year after being put back in office, Taschereau asked Lieutenant Governor Ésioff-Léon Patenaude to call an election.
With the blessing of federal Cabinet Members, Godbout took over Taschereau’s job Liberal Leader and Premier of Quebec, but his party suffered a humiliating defeat. Led by Duplessis, the Union Nationale was put in office. The Liberals were reduced to 14 seats. Godbout lost re-election in his own district of L'Islet. He remained Liberal Leader, but T.-D. Bouchard led the parliamentary wing of the party until the 1939 election.
[edit] Premier of Quebec
World War II created the window of opportunity that Godbout desperately needed to make a political comeback. In 1939 an early election was called and Federal Cabinet Member Ernest Lapointe, the Quebec lieutenant of Prime Minister Mackenzie King, took the stump for Godbout. He guaranteed that no one would face conscription if voters supported the Liberals. Lapointe would die of cancer in 1941 and the promise would soon haunt Liberal politicians. In the meantime though, Godbout made a spectacular comeback. He and 69 of his candidates were sent to the legislature.
[edit] Godbout’s accomplishments
Under Godbout’s premiership, the provincial government implemented a number of significant progressive legislations, laying the groundwork for the Quiet Revolution that would be implemented by the government of Premier Jean Lesage a couple of decades later. In fact, the Liberal administration delivered many of the proposals made by the Paul Gouin’s Action libérale nationale in 1935. These accomplishments include:
- The enactment of the right to vote for women in 1940, despite resistance from Duplessis and the Catholic Church;
- The establishment of a Civil Service Commission in 1943;
- The passage of an act that enforced compulsory school attendance until the age of 14 and the introduction of free education in primary schools in 1943;
- The adoption of a Labour Code that established principles governing union certification and the negotiation of collective agreements in 1944;
- The nationalization of the Montreal Light, Heat & Power Company, a private corporation who had a monopoly on gas and electric light in the Montreal area, which lead to the creation of Hydro-Québec in 1944. [1]
[edit] Relations with the federal government
Because he served during wartime and dealt with federal politicians who believe in a strong federal government, Godbout was pressured into abandoning a number of the provincial jurisdictions. The most notable prerogatives that he surrendered to Ottawa include:
- The opportunity to create and oversight a provincial unemployment insurance system (a nation-wide program was put into action in 1940);
- The power to tax the income of individuals and corporations for the duration of the war, in exchange for a much more modest financial compensation from the federal government.
[edit] Electoral defeats
In a 1942 plebiscite, Canadian voters were asked to release the Government from the commitment made by Lapointe. Even though the majority of predominantly French-speaking Quebec refused, English-speakers throughout Canada accepted. Even though not that many people were forced to serve until the end of the war, the decision made by Mackenzie King to allow conscription was very unpopular in Quebec. Opposition Leader Maurice Duplessis, whose nationalist views capitalized on the population’s mistrust of its federal government, had a field day.
In the 1944 provincial election, the Liberals received more votes than Duplessis’ Union Nationale. However, the UN enjoyed a level of support in the province’s rural areas that was strong enough to win a majority of seats to the legislature.
Godbout served as Leader of the Opposition until the 1948 election. Benefiting from post-war prosperity, the Union Nationale won an overwhelming majority. The Liberals won only eight seats, six of whom were located on the Montreal Island. Once again, Godbout narrowly lost re-election in his home district of L'Islet. In 1950, he relinquished the leadership of the Liberal Party.
[edit] Senator
In 1949, Godbout was appointed to the Canadian Senate on the recommendation of Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent. He remained a senator until his death in 1956.
[edit] Godbout’s legacy
Observers are divided about the significance of Godbout’s legacy. Lacking the oratory skills [2] of Duplessis, [3] his main political competitor, Godbout is sometimes judged very severely.
Federalists stress the importance progressive precedents that were set under Godbout’s premiership. [4]
Nationalists on the other hand criticize him for taking a weak stance in the matters of the province’s autonomy. [5]
More nuanced analysis claim that, being in power during World War II, he served in a very difficult time, despite the shortcomings of his relations with the federal government.
Godbout is also ironically noted for the alleged lack of public knowledge about his work and premiership. In 2000, a documentary addressing this phenomenon was made by his nephew and renowned filmmaker Jacques Godbout, entitled Traître ou Patriote.
On September 27, 2007, in a ceremony attended by the Premier of Quebec, Jean Charest, a former electrical power station in Montreal at the corner of Wellington and Queen, known as Poste Central-1 was named in honour of Godbout. A bust of Godbout by sculptor Emile Brunet (1893-1977) has been installed at the site.
[edit] Elections as party leader
He lost the 1936 election, won the 1939 election, lost the 1944 election and lost the 1948 election.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Biographies of Prominent Quebec Historical Figures - Adélard Godbout, Marianopolis College, 2005
- ^ Maurice Duplessis reprend le pouvoir, Les Archives de Radio-Canada, August 8, 1944
- ^ Duplessis triomphe devant ses partisans, Les Archives de Radio-Canada, June 20, 1956
- ^ Réhabilitons Adélard Godbout, Jean-Guy Genest, Cité libre, Winter 2000
- ^ Pour en finir avec le bon et juste Adélard Godbout, Michel Lévesque, L’Action nationale, December 21, 2006
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| National Assembly of Quebec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Élisée Thériault (Liberal) |
MLA, District of L'Islet 1929–1936 |
Succeeded by Joseph Bilodeau (Union Nationale) |
| Preceded by Joseph Bilodeau (Union Nationale) |
MLA, District of L'Islet 1939–1948 |
Succeeded by Fernand Lizotte (Union Nationale) |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by Joseph-Léonide Perron (Liberal) |
Minister of Agriculture 1930–1936 |
Succeeded by Bona Dussault (Union Nationale) |
| Preceded by Louis-Alexandre Taschereau (Liberal) |
Premier of Quebec 1936-1936 |
Succeeded by Maurice Duplessis (Union Nationale) |
| Preceded by Maurice Duplessis (Union Nationale) |
Premier of Quebec 1939-1944 |
Succeeded by Maurice Duplessis (Union Nationale) |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Maurice Duplessis (Union Nationale) |
Leader of the Opposition in Quebec 1944-1948 |
Succeeded by George Carlyle Marler (Liberal) |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Louis-Alexandre Taschereau |
Leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec 1936-1950 |
Succeeded by Georges-Émile Lapalme |
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