Honoré Mercier
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| Rank: | 9th Premier |
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| Term of Office: | January 27, 1887 – December 21, 1891 |
| Predecessor: | Louis-Olivier Taillon |
| Successor: | C.-E. B. de Boucherville |
| Date of Birth: | October 15, 1840 |
| Place of Birth: | Saint-Athanase |
| Date of Death: | October 30, 1894 (aged 54) |
| Place of Death: | Montreal |
| Spouses: | Léopoldine Boivin (death) Virginie Saint-Denis |
| Profession: | Lawyer |
| Political affiliation: | Liberal Party / Parti national |
| Religion: | Roman Catholic |
Honoré Mercier (October 15, 1840 – October 30, 1894) was a lawyer, journalist and politician in Quebec, Canada. He was the Premier of Quebec from January 27, 1887 to December 21, 1891, as leader of the Parti National or Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ).
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[edit] Early Background
Mercier was born in St-Athanase, Lower Canada, studied at the Jesuit College Sainte-Marie in Montreal and was called to the Bar of Quebec in April 1865. As the age of 22, Mercier became the editor of Le Courrier de St-Hyacinthe newspaper. He opposed the Confederation project as early as 1864, believing that it would be detrimental to French Canadians.
Mercier was Lomer Gouin's father-in-law and is an ancestor of Thomas Mulcair, the current member of Parliament for the Montreal riding of Outremont.
[edit] Member of Parliament
In 1871, he was instrumental in creating the short-lived Parti National. Mercier successfully ran as a Liberal candidate in the 1872 election. He became Member of the House of Commons for the district of Rouville. He did not run for re-election in the 1874 election. In the 1878 election, Mercier was candidate in the district of St. Hyacinthe. He was defeated by the Louis Tellier, his Conservative opponent.
[edit] Provincial Politics
In 1879, Mercier was appointed Solicitor General in the Cabinet of Premier Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière and served in that position for less than a year. He won a by-election and became Member of the Legislative Assembly for the district of Saint-Hyacinthe. He was re-elected in the 1881 and 1886 elections and won another by-election in 1887.
He left an impact on a later leader by the name of Henri Bourassa
[edit] Party Leader
He became the leader of the PLQ in 1883. A practising lawyer, from 1885 to 1887 he was President of the Bar of Montreal. He strongly opposed the execution of Louis Riel in 1885; this event helped him win popular support, and the Quebec Conservative Party lost support because its federal counterparts had ordered Riel's execution.
Seizing the opportunity to build a coalition with dissident Conservatives, Mercier revived the Parti National name for the 1886 Quebec provincial election, and won a majority of seats. However, the coalition consisted of mostly Liberals and only a few Conservatives, so the "Liberal" name was soon reinstituted. The Conservatives, reduced to a minority in the Legislative Assembly, clung to power for a few more months, but Mercier became Premier of Quebec in 1887.
[edit] Premier of Quebec
As Premier of Quebec, Mercier initiated the idea of interprovincial conferences in 1887. He was the first Quebec premier to defend the principle of provincial autonomy within the confederation, campaigning to abolish the federal government's claimed right to veto provincial legislation. A couple of years after his death, the British Privy Council did so.
With his strong nationalist stance, Mercier was very much a precursor of later nationalist premiers in future decades who confronted the federal government and tried to win more power for Quebec. He promoted contacts with francophones in other parts of North America outside of Quebec including Western Canada and New England. Those francophones had not yet been assimilated into the English-Canadian or American culture to the extent they would be in the future. Mercier promoted reform, economic development, Catholicism, and the French language. He won popularity but also made enemies. He was returned to the legislature as the Member for the district of Bonaventure and his party won the 1890 election with an increased majority.
[edit] Political downfall
On December 16, 1891, he was dismissed by Lieutenant Governor Auguste-Réal Angers after a report concluded that his government had diverted public funds. He lost the 1892 election, and gave up the party leadership to Félix-Gabriel Marchand. He was brought to trial later that year and found not guilty when a second report concluded differently on the matter. However, his health had greatly deteriorated and his political career was over. He died in 1894 at the age of 54, and was interred in the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal, Quebec.
[edit] Legacy
The following landmarks were named to honor Honoré Mercier:
- The Mercier Bridge that links the western part of the Island of Montreal with the South Shore;
- Avenue Mercier, located in downtown Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada;
- The provincial electoral district of Mercier.
- The Mercier neighbourhood in Montreal.
[edit] Elections as party leader
He won a majority of seats in the 1886 election and became premier in 1887 after the minority government fell, won the 1890 election and was dismissed from office in 1891 and lost the 1892 election.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- Political biography from the Library of Parliament
- National Assembly biography (French)
- Extensive dossier on Mercier at L'Encyclopédie de l'Agora (French)
- 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
| Parliament of Canada | ||
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| Preceded by Guillaume Cheval dit St-Jacques (Liberal) |
MP, District of Rouville 1872-1874 |
Succeeded by Guillaume Cheval dit St-Jacques (Liberal) |
| National Assembly of Quebec | ||
| Preceded by Pierre Bachand (Liberal) |
MLA, District of Saint-Hyacinthe 1879-1890 |
Succeeded by Odilon Desmarais (Liberal) |
| Preceded by Henri-Josué Martin (Conservative) |
MLA, District of Bonaventure 1890-1894 |
Succeeded by François-Xavier Lemieux (Liberal) |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Alexandre Chauveau (Liberal) |
Solicitor General 1879-1879 |
Succeeded by William Warren Lynch (Conservative) |
| Preceded by Louis-Olivier Taillon (Conservative) |
Attorney General 1887-1888 |
Succeeded by Arthur Turcotte (Conservative) |
| Preceded by Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière (Liberal) |
Leader of the Official Opposition 1883-1887 |
Succeeded by Louis-Olivier Taillon (Conservative) |
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