Joseph-Elzéar Bernier

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This article is about the Canadian mariner. For the Canadian politician, see Joseph Bernier. For the Canadian musician, see Joseph-Arthur Bernier.

Joseph-Elzéar Bernier (January 1, 1852 – December 26, 1934) was a Quebec mariner who led expeditions into the Canadian Arctic in the early 20th century.

He was born in L'Islet, Quebec, the son of Captain Thomas Bernier and Célinas Paradis.^[1] At the age of 14, he became a cabin boy on his father's ship. Three years later, he became captain of his own ship and commanded sailing ships for the next 25 years. Bernier was named governor for the jail at Quebec City in 1895. From 1904 to 1911, he explored the Arctic archipelago on annual voyages in his ship the CGS Arctic and officially claimed the islands for Canada. Bernier retrieved documents that had been stored in caches by earlier Arctic explorers. He also established Royal Canadian Mounted Police posts in the Canadian north. During World War I, Bernier commanded a ship which transported mail along the eastern coast and carried goods in convoys across the Atlantic. He returned to patrolling the arctic after the war's end, continuing until his retirement in 1925. Bernier died of a heart attack in Lévis at the age of 82.

He published Master Mariner and Explorer: A Narrative of Sixty Years at Sea ... in 1939.

Joseph Idlout's daughter, Leah Idlout, has said that her father was the son of Bernier. It is thought that Idlout may have been the only son of Bernier.^[2]

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Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 52792315 LCCN: n88653572 ISNI: 0000 0001 1934 5728 GND: 130318175 BNF: cb16511341q

Persondata
Name	Bernier, Joseph-Elzear
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 1, 1852
Place of birth
Date of death	December 26, 1934
Place of death

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