Pascal Poirier
Encyclopedia
Pascal Poirier 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...

 author, lawyer, and the all-time longest-serving Senator
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...

.

Born in Shediac, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

, he wrote books on Acadian
Acadian
The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...

 history and language
Acadian French
Acadian French , is a regionalized dialect of Canadian French. It is spoken by the francophone population of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, by small minorities in areas in the Gaspé region of eastern Quebec, by small groups of francophones in Prince Edward Island, in several tiny pockets...

. The Pascal Poirier House, a Provincial Historic Site (c. 1820–30), is on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. The home he was born in has been preserved as a museum and as an important and rare example of early-19th-century Acadian residential construction. The -storey gabled house, which features a hand-hewn structure, is believed to be the oldest building in Shediac.

After finishing school at the College Saint-Joseph in Memramcook
Memramcook, New Brunswick
Memramcook is a Canadian village in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. Located in south-eastern New Brunswick, the community is predominantly people of Acadian descent who speak the Chiac derivative of the French language....

 during 1872, Poirier was appointed Postmaster of the Dominion Parliament. He held that position until he was appointed to the Senate thirteen years later.

Poirier was the first Acadian appointed to the Senate. He was appointed in 1885 and served for 48 years, 6 months, and 17 days until his death in 1933. As 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...

 requires new senators to be at least 30 years old and (since 1965) to leave the Senate when they reach 75, Poirier's record can never be exceeded unless the constitution is amended again to allow it.

He was honored as a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur by 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...

 in 1902.

External links

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