A Cyclopædia of Canadian Biography: Brief biographies of persons distinguished in the professional, military and political life, and the commerce and industry of Canada, in the twentieth century
History
A Cyclopædia of Canadian Biography: Brief biographies of persons distinguished in the professional, military and political life, and the commerce and industry of Canada, in the twentieth century
Canada -- Biography
=Gouin, The Hon. Sir Jean Lomer, K.C.M.G., LL.B., LL.D.=, Premier of the
Province of Quebec, was born at Brondines, of the County of Portneuf, on
March 19, 1861. He comes from a French-Canadian stock whose lineage can
be traced as far back as 1662. His father was J. N. Gouin, M.D., who
married Miss Victoire Seraphine Fugère in 1852. In his earlier years,
their son Lomer became a pupil of Sorel College, thereafter entering as
an under-graduate the College of Levis, and afterwards graduating at
Laval University. His collegiate honors include the degree of LL.D.,
received successively from Laval in 1902, from Bishop’s College
University in 1913, and from Toronto University in 1915. He was called
to the Bar in 1884, after studying law under the late Sir John Abbott
and the Hon. B. Laflamme. He had thus been a student under the
supervision of a Prime Minister of Canada and of a Minister of Justice.
During his partnership with Judge Pagnuello and the Hon. Premier Honore
Mercier, whose daughter Eliza he married in 1888, he came into
prominence in the law courts of Montreal, being finally elected
Batonnier-General in 1910, after having served a term as Alderman of
that city, and elected a Member of the Local Legislature. In 1900 he
became Commissioner of Public Works in the Parent Administration for
four years. Resigning his place in the Parent Cabinet in 1904, he was
called to the premiership the year after, holding the portfolio of
Attorney-General up to the present time. During the general election of
1916 his administration of public affairs was upheld by a majority never
before vouchsafed to a Quebec premier; while the list of honors
conferred upon him since his advent to power is perhaps one of the
longest on record. He was knighted by the reigning Sovereign of the
Empire at the Quebec Tercentenary Celebration of 1908, and was made a
K.C.M.G. in the year 1913. Ever animated with a desire to see his native
province an advancing factor in the general progress of the Dominion of
Canada, as well as of the British Empire, he has been diligent in
promoting the public works that have to be fostered within the counties
and parishes, as well as in the cities and larger towns, in line with
the general advancement of the commonwealth. He has done his best to
improve the educational conditions of the communities, not forgetting
likewise to improve the highways and the industrial activities all over
the province. His zeal in establishing and liberally subsidizing
Industrial Schools and Technical Colleges has become a proverb in all
the provinces; while, in view of his support of a provincial grant of
one million dollars to the Canadian Patriotic Fund during the time of
war, his reputation as a broad-minded Canadian citizen has been placed
beyond all questioning. Senator David has pronounced a eulogium on
Premier Gouin that places him in rank with, if not beyond, those who
have preceded him in the Quebec premiership. Within these war-times he
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