Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine (or La Fontaine), 1st Baronet, KCMG

Order of St Michael and St George

The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....

 (October 4, 1807 – February 26, 1864) was the first Canadian to become Prime Minister of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible government

Responsible government

Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy...

 in Canada. He was born in Boucherville, Lower Canada in 1807. A jurist

Jurist

A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...

 and statesman

Statesman

A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...

, Lafontaine was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada

Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada

The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791...

 in 1830. He was a supporter of Papineau

Louis-Joseph Papineau

Louis-Joseph Papineau , born in Montreal, Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the seigneurie de la Petite-Nation. He was the leader of the reformist Patriote movement before the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–1838. His father was Joseph Papineau, also a famous politician in Quebec...

 and member of the Parti canadien

Parti canadien

The Parti canadien or Parti patriote was a political party in what is now Quebec founded by members of the liberal elite of Lower Canada at the beginning of the 19th century...

(later the Parti patriote).