Camillien Houde
Encyclopedia
Camillien Houde was a Quebec
politician, a Member of Parliament
, and a four-time mayor of Montreal
.
on 13 August 1889 and died there on 11 September 1958. He was nicknamed "l'imprévisible" -- the unpredictable. He was the only surviving child of Azade Houde and Josephine Frenette. He is descended from the first Houde ancestor, Louis Houde, who came from Manou (La Loupe, Eure & Loir
, France
) to Quebec in 1647. Louis Houde's son was Louis H. who married Marie Lemay in 1685.
He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec
as a member of the Conservative Party for the riding of Montreal-Sainte-Marie in the 1923 election
. He was defeated in the 1927 election
, but re-elected in a by-election on 24 October 1928. He was elected leader of the Conservative Party on 10 July 1929, led the party to defeat in the 1931 election
, and failed to win a seat in Montreal-Saint-Jacques
after vacating his previous seat. He resigned as Conservative leader on 19 September 1932.
He moved to federal politics and lost in a bid for election as a Conservative
candidate for the Canadian House of Commons
in a 1938 by-election
in the Montreal riding of St. Mary
. In 1940, he was arrested and charged under the Defence of Canada Regulations
. He was imprisoned at Camp Petawawa in Ontario until the end of the war. He ran again in St. Mary, this time as an independent candidate, in the 1945 federal election
, but was again defeated. He won a seat as an independent candidate in the riding of Papineau
in the 1949 federal election
by less than 100 votes. He did not run for re-election in the 1953 election
.
Houde became a figure of ridicule in parts of English Canada
because of his conduct in opposition to conscription
. During the 1949 federal election, the Toronto Star
, which openly supported the Liberal Party
, attempted to link the unpopular Houde with George Drew, then leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
even though Houde was running as an independent candidate against an official Progressive Conservative candidate. The Star accused Drew of making a secret pact with Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis
to appoint Houde to the Cabinet as Drew's Quebec lieutenant
should the Tories win the election. The newspaper's campaign reached its culmination the Saturday before the election with a banner front page headline reading:
(in later editions, the last line was changed to "VOTE ST. LAURENT").http://www.templetons.com/charles/memoir/chap5.html
Concurrent to his career in provincial and federal politics, Houde was mayor of Montreal from 1928 to 1932, from 1934 to 1936, from 1938 to 1940, and from 1944 to 1954.
came, Houde then campaigned against conscription
.
In its 20 February 1939 issue, Time Magazine quoted from Mayor Camillien Houde's speech to a YMCA
audience on the subject of War in Europe:
On 2 August 1940, Houde publicly urged the men of Quebec to ignore the National Registration Act. Three days later, he was placed under arrest by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
on charges of sedition
, and then confined without trial in internment camps in Petawawa, Ontario
and Minto, New Brunswick
until 1944. Upon his release on 18 August 1944, he was greeted by a cheering crowd of 50,000 Montrealers, and won back his job as Montreal mayor in 1944's civic election.
's tomb.
Mayor Houde was a reform-minded mayor in the areas of patronage, unemployment, and organized crime. He was also responsible for some of the major public park improvements in Montreal including the park on Mont Royal with its man-made lake and park facilities.
After his death, Mayor Jean Drapeau
named a new road over Mount Royal after Houde, an act many considered ironic, as Houde and many others had long opposed building roads over the city's famous mountain.
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
politician, a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, and a four-time mayor of Montreal
Mayor of Montreal
The Mayor of Montreal is head of the executive branch of Montreal City Council.The Mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and provincial laws within Montreal....
.
Political career
Houde was born in MontrealMontreal
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...
on 13 August 1889 and died there on 11 September 1958. He was nicknamed "l'imprévisible" -- the unpredictable. He was the only surviving child of Azade Houde and Josephine Frenette. He is descended from the first Houde ancestor, Louis Houde, who came from Manou (La Loupe, Eure & Loir
Eure-et-Loir
Eure-et-Loir is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers.-History:Eure-et-Loir is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790 pursuant to the Act of December 22, 1789...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) to Quebec in 1647. Louis Houde's son was Louis H. who married Marie Lemay in 1685.
He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec
Legislative Assembly of Quebec
The Legislative Assembly of Quebec was the name of the lower house of Quebec's legislature until 1968, when it was renamed the National Assembly of Quebec. At the same time, the upper house of the legislature, the Legislative Council, was abolished...
as a member of the Conservative Party for the riding of Montreal-Sainte-Marie in the 1923 election
Quebec general election, 1923
The Quebec general election of 1923 was held on February 5, 1923 to elect members of the 16th Legislative Assembly of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, was re-elected, defeating the Quebec Conservative Party, led by Arthur Sauvé.It was the first...
. He was defeated in the 1927 election
Quebec general election, 1927
The Quebec general election of 1927 was held on May 16, 1927 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, was re-elected, defeating the Quebec Conservative Party, led by Arthur Sauvé.It was the...
, but re-elected in a by-election on 24 October 1928. He was elected leader of the Conservative Party on 10 July 1929, led the party to defeat in the 1931 election
Quebec general election, 1931
The Quebec general election of 1931 was held on August 24, 1931 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, was re-elected, defeating the Quebec Conservative Party, led by Camillien Houde.It...
, and failed to win a seat in Montreal-Saint-Jacques
Saint-Jacques (provincial electoral district)
Saint-Jacques was a provincial electoral district located in Quebec, Canada. Situated in the Montreal region, the riding was formed in 1966 from parts of Montreal-Saint-Jacques which was formed in 1915. It was also known as Montreal division 2 district...
after vacating his previous seat. He resigned as Conservative leader on 19 September 1932.
He moved to federal politics and lost in a bid for election as a Conservative
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
candidate for the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
in a 1938 by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in the Montreal riding of St. Mary
St. Mary (electoral district)
St. Mary was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1892 to 1953.This riding was created in 1892 from parts of Montreal East riding....
. In 1940, he was arrested and charged under the Defence of Canada Regulations
Defence of Canada Regulations
The Defence of Canada Regulations were a set of emergency measures implemented under the War Measures Act a week before Canada's entry into World War II in the fall of 1939....
. He was imprisoned at Camp Petawawa in Ontario until the end of the war. He ran again in St. Mary, this time as an independent candidate, in the 1945 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1945
The Canadian federal election of 1945 was the 20th general election in Canadian history. It was held June 11, 1945 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 20th Parliament of Canada...
, but was again defeated. He won a seat as an independent candidate in the riding of Papineau
Papineau (electoral district)
Papineau is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1948 to 1988 and since 2004. Its population in 2006 was 101,019....
in the 1949 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1949
The Canadian federal election of 1949 was held on June 27 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 21st Parliament of Canada. It was the first election in Canada in almost thirty years in which the Liberal Party of Canada was not led by William Lyon Mackenzie King. King had...
by less than 100 votes. He did not run for re-election in the 1953 election
Canadian federal election, 1953
The Canadian federal election of 1953 was held on August 10 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 22nd Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Louis St...
.
Houde became a figure of ridicule in parts of English Canada
English Canada
English Canada is a term used to describe one of the following:# English-speaking Canadians, as opposed to French-speaking Canadians. It is employed when comparing English- and French-language literature, media, or art...
because of his conduct in opposition to conscription
Conscription Crisis of 1944
The Conscription Crisis of 1944 was a political and military crisis following the introduction of forced military service in Canada during World War II. It was similar to the Conscription Crisis of 1917, but was not as politically damaging....
. During the 1949 federal election, the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, which openly supported the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
, attempted to link the unpopular Houde with George Drew, then leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
even though Houde was running as an independent candidate against an official Progressive Conservative candidate. The Star accused Drew of making a secret pact with Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis served as the 16th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from 1936 to 1939 and 1944 to 1959. A founder and leader of the highly conservative Union Nationale party, he rose to power after exposing the misconduct and patronage of Liberal Premier Louis-Alexandre...
to appoint Houde to the Cabinet as Drew's Quebec lieutenant
Quebec lieutenant
In Canadian politics, a Quebec lieutenant is a politician, from Quebec, usually a francophone and most often a Member of Parliament or at least a current or former candidate for Parliament, who is selected by a senior politician such as the Prime Minister or the leader of a national federal party,...
should the Tories win the election. The newspaper's campaign reached its culmination the Saturday before the election with a banner front page headline reading:
- KEEP CANADA BRITISH
- DESTROY DREW'S HOUDE
- GOD SAVE THE KING
(in later editions, the last line was changed to "VOTE ST. LAURENT").http://www.templetons.com/charles/memoir/chap5.html
Concurrent to his career in provincial and federal politics, Houde was mayor of Montreal from 1928 to 1932, from 1934 to 1936, from 1938 to 1940, and from 1944 to 1954.
World War II controversy
When World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
came, Houde then campaigned against conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
.
In its 20 February 1939 issue, Time Magazine quoted from Mayor Camillien Houde's speech to a YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
audience on the subject of War in Europe:
- If war comes, and if Italy is on one side and England on the other, the sympathy of the French-Canadians in Quebec will be on the side of Italy. Remember that the great majority of French-Canadians are Roman Catholics, and that the Pope is in Rome. We French-Canadians are Normans, not Latins, but we have become Latinized over a long period of years. The French-Canadians are Fascists by blood, but not by name. The Latins have always been in favour of dictators.
On 2 August 1940, Houde publicly urged the men of Quebec to ignore the National Registration Act. Three days later, he was placed under arrest by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
on charges of sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
, and then confined without trial in internment camps in Petawawa, Ontario
Petawawa, Ontario
Petawawa is a town located in eastern portion of Southern Ontario. Situated in the Ottawa Valley, with a population of 14,651 . Petawawa is the most populous municipality in Renfrew County.-Geography:...
and Minto, New Brunswick
Minto, New Brunswick
Minto is a Canadian village straddling the border of Sunbury County and Queens County, New Brunswick. Located on the north shore of Grand Lake, approximately 50 kilometres northeast of Fredericton, its population meets the requirements for "town" status under the Municipalities Act of the...
until 1944. Upon his release on 18 August 1944, he was greeted by a cheering crowd of 50,000 Montrealers, and won back his job as Montreal mayor in 1944's civic election.
Legacy
On his death in 1958, Camillien Houde was interred in the Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges in Montreal, Quebec in an Italian marble replica of NapoleonNapoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
's tomb.
Mayor Houde was a reform-minded mayor in the areas of patronage, unemployment, and organized crime. He was also responsible for some of the major public park improvements in Montreal including the park on Mont Royal with its man-made lake and park facilities.
After his death, Mayor Jean Drapeau
Jean Drapeau
Jean Drapeau, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as mayor of Montreal from 1954 to 1957 and 1960 to 1986...
named a new road over Mount Royal after Houde, an act many considered ironic, as Houde and many others had long opposed building roads over the city's famous mountain.
See also
- Politics of QuebecPolitics of QuebecThe politics of Quebec are centred on a provincial government resembling that of the other Canadian provinces, namely a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The capital of the province is Quebec City, where the Lieutenant Governor, Premier, the legislature, and cabinet reside.The...
- List of Quebec general elections
- List of Quebec leaders of the Opposition
- Timeline of Quebec historyTimeline of Quebec historyThis article presents a detailed timeline of Quebec history. Events taking place outside Quebec, for example in English Canada, the United States, Britain or France, may be included when they are considered to have had a significant impact on Quebec's history....
- Conscription Crisis of 1944Conscription Crisis of 1944The Conscription Crisis of 1944 was a political and military crisis following the introduction of forced military service in Canada during World War II. It was similar to the Conscription Crisis of 1917, but was not as politically damaging....