Raymond Préfontaine
| Mayor Raymond Préfontaine | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 25th Mayor of Montreal | |
|
In office 1898–1902 | |
| Preceded by | Richard Wilson-Smith |
| Succeeded by | James Cochrane |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 September 1850 Longueuil, Province of Canada |
| Died |
25 December 1905 (aged 55) Paris, France |
| Profession | lawyer |
Joseph Raymond Fournier Préfontaine, PC (16 September 1850 – 25 December 1905) was a Canadian politician.
Biography
Born in Longueuil, Quebec, he studied at the law faculty of McGill College and was called to the bar in 1873. He was created a Queen's Counsel in 1899.
In 1875, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Chambly. A Liberal, he was defeated in 1878. He was re-elected in an 1879 by-election, but was defeated again in 1881.
He was acclaimed to the Canadian House of Commons for the riding of Chambly in an 1886 by-election. A Liberal, he was re-elected in every election in one or another riding until dying in office in 1905. From 1902 to 1905, he was the Minister of Marine and Fisheries. When Joseph-Israel Tarte resigned from the Cabinet as Minister of Public Works in October 1902, Wilfrid Laurier, under pressure from Montréalers, gave Préfontaine the portfolio of Marine and Fisheries and, for the same reason, transferred to it from public works as "the major services relating to navigation." The new minister, while maintaining his predecessor’s policy, tackled his duties with dynamic energy. He approved experiments in winter navigation and a program for installing illuminated buoys in the channel of the St Lawrence. He appointed a commissioner to preside over all inquiries into marine disasters, in place of the harbour commissioners. He also investigated the possibility of creating an independent Canadian Navy. He sent Captain Joseph-Elzéar Bernier to explore the Arctic in order to strengthen Canada’s rights in this region.
In 1905, he went to Great Britain and France, one of his goals being to promote a sea link between Marseilles and Montréal. He was in Paris when he was struck down by angina pectoris on 25 December. The French government held his funeral in the Église de La Madeleine in central Paris. A British battleship brought his remains back to Halifax for subsequent burial in Montréal.
From 1879 to 1883, he was the mayor of Hochelaga. From 1898 to 1902, he was the Mayor of Montreal.
Montréal's Préfontaine metro station, aréna Raymond-Préfontaine, parc Raymond-Préfontaine and rue Préfontaine are all named in his honour.
Gallery
External links
- Works by or about Raymond Préfontaine at Internet Archive
- "Raymond Préfontaine". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2005.
- Raymond Préfontaine – Parliament of Canada biography
- "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
- Works by or about Raymond Préfontaine in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
| Legislative Assembly of Quebec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Gédéon Larocque |
Member of the Legislative Assembly for Chambly 1871–1875 |
Succeeded by Michel-Dosithée-Stanislas Martel |
| Preceded by Michel-Dosithée-Stanislas Martel |
Member of the Legislative Assembly for Chambly 1879–1881 |
Succeeded by Michel-Dosithée-Stanislas Martel |
| Parliament of Canada | ||
| Preceded by Pierre-Basile Benoit |
Member of Parliament for Chambly 1886–1896 |
Succeeded by Christophe-Alphonse Geoffrion as MP for Chambly—Verchères |
| Preceded by Séverin Lachapelle as MP for Hochelaga |
Member of Parliament for Maisonneuve 1896–1905 |
Succeeded by Alphonse Verville |
| Preceded by Léon Adolphe Chauvin |
Member of Parliament for Terrebonne 1900–1902 |
Succeeded by Samuel Desjardins |
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