Gildas Molgat
Encyclopedia
Canadian Forces Decoration
The Canadian Forces Decoration is a Canadian award bestowed upon members of the Canadian Forces who have completed twelve years of military service, with certain conditions. By convention, it is also given to the Governor General of Canada upon his or her appointment as viceroy, which includes the...
(January 25, 1927 - February 28, 2001) was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
politician. He served as leader of the Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
Liberal Party
Manitoba Liberal Party
The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...
from 1961 to 1969, and was subsequently appointed to the Canadian Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
, where he served as Speaker
Speaker of the Canadian Senate
The Speaker of the Senate of Canada is the presiding officer of the Senate of Canada. The speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of parliamentary procedure and parliamentary privilege, and oversee debates and voting in the red chamber. This position is often...
from 1994 until 2001. He died shortly thereafter.
Molgat was born in Ste. Rose du Lac
Sainte Rose du Lac, Manitoba
Sainte Rose du Lac is a small town of 1200 people located approximately 50 km east-southeast of Dauphin, Manitoba and approximately 300 km west-northwest of Winnipeg. The town is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Ste...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
. He was educated at Ste. Rose School and the University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
. He worked as a manager for Bethel-Rennie Ltd. United Stores and Advance Credit Corporation, and served as an army captain in the Royal Winnipeg Rifles.
Molgat was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in 1953, in the francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
riding of Ste. Rose
Ste. Rose (electoral division)
Ste. Rose is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 1914, and has existed continuously since that time.Ste. Rose is located in the southwestern section of the province...
. He was a Liberal-Progressive
Manitoba Liberal Party
The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...
, and a supporter of Premier Douglas L. Campbell.
The Liberal-Progressives lost the election of 1958, though Molgat was easily re-elected over his Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...
opponent. This was partly the result of historical francophone voting patterns in the province—most franco-Manitobans supported the Progressive Party
Progressive Party of Manitoba
The Progressive Party of Manitoba, Canada, was a political party that developed from the United Farmers of Manitoba, an agrarian movement that became politically active following World War I...
of John Bracken
John Bracken
John Bracken, PC was an agronomist, the 11th Premier of Manitoba and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ....
in the 1920s, and continued to support the party after it merged with the Liberals in 1932. Although Dufferin Roblin
Dufferin Roblin
Dufferin "Duff" Roblin, PC, CC, OM was a Canadian businessman and politician. Known as "Duff," he served as the 14th Premier of Manitoba from 1958 to 1967. Roblin was appointed to the Canadian Senate on the advice of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. In the government of Brian Mulroney, he served as...
's Tories made several gains in 1958, the province's francophone ridings continued to elect Liberal-Progressive MLAs.
Molgat was re-elected in 1959, again by a significant margin. When Campbell resigned as Liberal leader in 1961 (the "Progressive" name having been dropped), Molgat was selected to replace him. A protege of Campbell, he was aligned with the more traditionalist wing of the party. His primary opponent for the party's leadership was Stan Roberts
Stan Roberts
Stan Roberts was a Canadian politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba between 1958 and 1962, and ran for the leadership of the Manitoba Liberal Party in 1961...
, who represented its modernizing wing. He was the first francophone party leader in Manitoba since 1919, and the first ever in the province's Liberal Party.
As party leader, Molgat prevented the Liberals from falling behind the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party of Manitoba
The New Democratic Party of Manitoba is a social-democratic political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is the provincial wing of the federal New Democratic Party, and is a successor to the Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...
for third-party status, but he was never able to pose a serious threat to Roblin's government. The Progressive Conservatives had greater urban support, and were generally regarded as the more "modernizing" party. The Liberals won 13 seats in 1962, and 14 in 1966 (out of 57). Molgat never faced any serious competition in his own riding.
Roblin resigned as Progressive Conservative leader in 1967 and was replaced by the more conservative Walter Weir
Walter Weir
Walter C. Weir was a politician who served as the 15th Premier of Manitoba from 1967 to 1969.Weir was born in High Bluff, Manitoba, and worked as a funeral director. He served as chairman of the Minnedosa Hospital Board from 1955 to 1957, and of the Minnedosa Town Council from 1958 to 1959...
. After the election of Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
as Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
in 1968, Weir's government took a number of steps to prevent the establishment of official bilingualism
Official bilingualism
Official bilingualism refers to the policy adopted by some states of recognizing two languages as official and producing all official documents, and handling all correspondence and official dealings, including Court procedure, in the two said languages...
in the province. These measures seemed to be supported by many in Manitoba's anglophone community, and the provincial Liberals were shut out in four crucial by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
s in early 1969. Molgat resigned as party leader soon thereafter, and was replaced by Robert Bend
Robert Bend
Robert Bend was a Manitoba politician, and was briefly the leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party .-Early life:...
.
This proved to be a poor strategic decision for the Liberals. Bend represented the rural, traditional wing of the party, and had been out of politics for a decade. His campaign fared poorly, and the party was reduced to five members in the general election of 1969 (three of whom were francophone). Molgat was again elected in Ste. Rose without serious difficulty.
The election itself resulted in a temporary stalemale, with Edward Schreyer
Edward Schreyer
Edward Richard Schreyer , commonly known as Ed Schreyer, is a Canadian politician, diplomat, and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 22nd since Canadian Confederation....
's New Democrats winning 28 seats out of 57, one shy of a majority. There were negotiations among the Liberal and Conservative parties to form a coalition; one scenario would have seen Molgat serving as Premier. The impasse was ended when a francophone Liberal MLA named Laurent Desjardins
Laurent Desjardins
Laurent Desjardins is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a member of the Manitoba legislature for most of the period from 1959 to 1988, and was a cabinet minister under New Democratic Premiers Edward Schreyer and Howard Pawley.Desjardins was educated at St. Boniface College, St...
announced that he would support the NDP.
Molgat resigned his seat on October 7, 1970, having been appointed on the recommendation of Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
to the Canadian Senate. Now allowed to use the title "The Honourable
The Honourable
The prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons. It is considered an honorific styling.-International diplomacy:...
", he soon became one the Senate's leading figures in the field of constitutional reform, co-chairing a Special Joint Committee on the Constitution of Canada
Constitution of Canada
The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions and conventions. It outlines Canada's system of government, as well as the civil rights of all Canadian citizens and those in Canada...
in 1971, and another on Senate Reform in 1983. He also served as president of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1973 until 1976. Later in the 1980s, he would serve of Chair of the Senate Committee of the Whole on the Meech Lake
Meech Lake
Meech Lake is located within Gatineau Park in the Municipality of Chelsea, Quebec, Canada . The lake was named after Reverend Asa Meech, an early settler in this area....
Constitutional Accord.
Molgat was elected deputy speaker in 1983 and was re-elected to the position in 1988. From September 30, 1991, to November 11, 1993, he served as deputy opposition leader in the Senate. When the federal Liberals under Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
formed government, Molgat became deputy government leader. One year later, when Roméo LeBlanc
Roméo LeBlanc
Roméo-Adrien LeBlanc was a Canadian journalist, politician, and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 25th since Canadian Confederation....
was appointed Governor-General
Governor-General
A Governor-General, is a vice-regal person of a monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription. Depending on the political arrangement of the territory, a Governor General can be a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above "ordinary" governors.- Current uses...
, Molgat replaced him as Speaker of the Canadian Senate
Speaker of the Canadian Senate
The Speaker of the Senate of Canada is the presiding officer of the Senate of Canada. The speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of parliamentary procedure and parliamentary privilege, and oversee debates and voting in the red chamber. This position is often...
.
Molgat also served as President of the Liberal Party of Canada
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...
. He died on February 28, 2001.