Robert Taschereau
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Robert Taschereau, PC, CC (September 10, 1896 – July 26, 1970) was a lawyer who became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and who briefly served as acting Governor General of Canada following the death of Georges Vanier in 1967. He was born in Quebec.
Following a career as a lawyer, Taschereau entered politics as a Liberal and successfully won a seat in the Quebec National Assembly in 1930. He held his seat of the riding of Bellechasse until retiring in 1936.
On February 9, 1940, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, filling the vacancy created by the death of his former law partner, Lawrence Cannon.
In 1946, he and fellow Justice R. L. Kellock conducted the Royal Commission on Spying Activities in Canada that had been prompted by the Gouzenko Affair.
Taschereau was promoted to Chief Justice in 1963.
According to the Canadian rules of succession, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is second-in-line to the Governor Generalship, and serves in an interim capacity until a new one can be chosen by the Prime Minister and approved by the Queen.
Taschereau acted as Governor General from Vanier's death on March 5 to April 17, 1967 at which point Prime Minister Lester Pearson and the Queen appointed Roland Michener as the new Governor General.
Taschereau remained in the Supreme Court until retiring in 1967.
In 1967 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Robert Taschereau died in 1970 at the age of 73, and was interred in the family plot at the Cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont in Sainte-Foy, Quebec.
His father, Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, had been Premier of Quebec and his grandfather, Sir Henri Elzéar Taschereau, had also served as Chief Justice of Canada.
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| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lawrence Cannon |
Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada February 9, 1940 – April 22, 1963 |
Succeeded by Wishart Spence |
| Preceded by Patrick Kerwin |
Chief Justice of Canada April 22, 1963 – September 1, 1967 |
Succeeded by John Robert Cartwright |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Georges Vanier |
acting Governor General of Canada or administrator 1966–1967 |
Succeeded by Roland Michener |
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