Léon Balcer, PC

Queen's Privy Council for Canada

The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...

 (October 13, 1917 – March 22, 1991) 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 was born on October 13, 1917 in Trois-Rivières, Quebec

Trois-Rivières, Quebec

Trois-Rivières is a city in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada, located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence Rivers. It is situated in the Mauricie administrative region, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of Bécancour...

 and was a lawyer by profession.

Member of the House of Commons

He was one of only three Progressive Conservative

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....

 candidates who were elected to the 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 1949

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...

 from Quebec, representing the district of Trois-Rivières

Trois-Rivières (electoral district)

Trois-Rivières is an electoral district in Quebec, Canada that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1892 and from 1935 to the present....

. He was re-elected in the 1953

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...

, 1957

Canadian federal election, 1957

The Canadian federal election of 1957 was held June 10, 1957, to select the 265 members of the House of Commons of Canada. In one of the great upsets in Canadian political history, the Progressive Conservative Party , led by John Diefenbaker, brought an end to 22 years of Liberal rule, as the...

, 1958

Canadian federal election, 1958

The Canadian federal election of 1958 was the 24th general election in Canada's history. It was held to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 24th Parliament of Canada on March 31, 1958, just nine months after the 23rd election...

, 1962

Canadian federal election, 1962

The Canadian federal election of 1962 was held on June 18, 1962 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 25th Parliament of Canada...

, and 1963 elections

Canadian federal election, 1963

The Canadian federal election of 1963 was held on April 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 26th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the minority Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.-Overview:During the Tories' last year in...

.

Balcer held numerous ministerial positions in the cabinet of John Diefenbaker

John Diefenbaker

John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...

 including Solicitor General of Canada (1957–1960), and Minister of Transport (1960–1963). He also briefly acted as Minister of Mines and Technical Surveys (Acting), and Secretary of State of Canada (Acting).

He was Prime Minister

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...

 John Diefenbaker

John Diefenbaker

John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...

'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,...

 and Deputy Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.

A few months before the 1965 election

Canadian federal election, 1965

The Canadian federal election of 1965 was held on November 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 27th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was re-elected with a larger number of seats in the House...

, he left his party and sat as an Independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

, claiming that "there is no place for a French Canadian in the party of Mr. Diefenbaker." He did not run for re-election in that year.

Provincial Politics

Balcer ran as a Liberal candidate in the district of Trois-Rivières

Trois-Rivières (provincial electoral district)

Trois-Rivières is a provincial electoral district in the province of Quebec, Canada. Located in the Mauricie region and including a large portion of the city of Trois-Rivières west of Saint-Maurice River, the riding was created in 1792 as the Ville-des-Trois-Rivières riding.-Members of the...

 in 1966

Quebec general election, 1966

The Quebec general election of 1966 was held on June 5, 1966, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, Canada. The Union Nationale , led by Daniel Johnson, Sr, defeated the incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Jean Lesage....

, but was defeated by Union Nationale incumbent

Incumbent

The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...

 Yves Gabias

Yves Gabias

-Background:He was born on December 8, 1920 in Montreal and was a lawyer. He was the father of Liberal MNA André Gabias.-Member of the legislature:...

.

External links

• Léon Balcer at The Canadian Encyclopedia
  The Canadian Encyclopedia
  The Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...