Aldis Bernard
Encyclopedia
Aldis Bernard was a Canadian dentist
Dentistry
Dentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...

 and politician, the Mayor of Montreal, Quebec between 1873 and 1875.

Dental career

Bernard was educated in dentistry at Philadelphia, after which he practiced as a dentist in the southern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. He married there and in 1840 moved back to Canada first residing in the Niagara Peninsula
Niagara Peninsula
The Niagara Peninsula is the portion of Southern Ontario, Canada lying between the south shore of Lake Ontario and the north shore of Lake Erie. It stretches from the Niagara River in the east to Hamilton, Ontario in the west. The population of the peninsula is roughly 1,000,000 people...

. In 1841, he settled in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 and established a dental practice there.

When the government was planning a governing organisation for doctors in 1847, Bernard lobbied to have dentistry included in the law that would establish the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Lower Canada. This effort was unsuccessul largely due to the medical establishment's negative view of dentistry at that time. The Dental Association of the Province of Quebec was eventually formed in 1869 with Bernard as its founding President.

Political career

His first terms as a Montreal municipal councillor for Montreal Centre ward began in 1858 and ended in 1861. He returned to city politics in 1866 and again served as a councillor until the death of Mayor Francis Cassidy
Francis Cassidy
Francis Cassidy QC was a Canadian lawyer and politician, the Mayor of Montreal, Quebec for three months in 1873, until his term was cut short by death....

 in June 1873. City Council then appointed Bernard as interim Mayor to serve out the remainder of Cassidy's term. Voters returned Bernard to the Mayor's post in the 1874 city elections. Under his leadership, urban park
Urban park
An urban park, is also known as a municipal park or a public park, public open space or municipal gardens , is a park in cities and other incorporated places to offer recreation and green space to residents of, and visitors to, the municipality...

s such as Mount Royal Park and Dufferin Park were established. Work on a new city hall also commenced under Bernard's watch.

Personal life

The circumstances of Bernard's birth have not been confirmed, but his obituaries suggest he was born in Quebec's Eastern Townships
Eastern Townships
The Eastern Townships is a tourist region and a former administrative region in south-eastern Quebec, lying between the former seigneuries south of the Saint Lawrence River and the United States border. Its northern boundary roughly followed Logan's Line, the geologic boundary between the flat,...

 to United Empire Loyalist parents.

Mary Webb Meredith was Bernard's first wife until her death in 1845. He remarried in 1852 to Sarah Couch, a member of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 in contrast to Bernard's Protestant church membership. He had eight children, one of whom with his first wife.

Bernard did not seek another term as Mayor in 1875. He moved to San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

 shortly before his death in July 1876. His body was returned to Montreal for burial on 15 July 1876.

External links

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