Hector-Louis Langevin

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Sir Hector-Louis Langevin

Sir Hector-Louis Langevin, PC , QC , KCB (August 25, 1826 – June 11, 1906) was a Canadian lawyer, politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation.

Langevin was born in Quebec City in 1826. He studied law and was called to the bar in 1850. In 1856, he was elected to the municipal council of Quebec City and was mayor from 1858 to 1861. In 1857, he was elected Member of Parliament for Dorchester in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada as a member of the Conservative Party. He held various positions in Cabinet, including Solicitor General (1864-66), Postmaster General (1866-67), Secretary of State for Canada (1867-69), Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs (1868-69) and Minister of Public Works (1869-73). Langevin also attended all three conferences leading up to Confederation. He left politics in 1873 due to his role in the Pacific Scandal.

In 1876, he was re-elected in the riding of Charlevoix. His opponent contested the election and it was declared invalid, but he won the subsequent by-election in 1877. He was defeated in Rimouski in 1878 but elected by acclamation in the riding of Trois-Rivières in the same year. Langevin became Minister of Public Works again in 1879. He lobbied behind the scenes against the hanging of Louis Riel in 1885 and was one of the few Conservatives Members of Parliament to survive the resulting backlash in the province of Quebec in 1887. He was promised the post of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec by the new Conservative Prime Minister John Abbott if he stepped down as Minister of Public Works. Langevin stepped down in 1891 but Abbott appointed Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau instead. In 1891 he was implicated with Thomas McGreevy in what became known as the "McGreevy-Langevin scandal" over kickbacks to McGreevy associated with federal contracts granted to him by the department of public works overseen by Langevin. He joined the backbenches and then left politics in 1896.