François Béchard was a Quebec

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....

 farmer and political figure. He represented Iberville

Iberville (electoral district)

Iberville was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1892.It was created by the British North America Act of 1867. It was amalgamated into the St. Johns—Iberville electoral district in 1892...

 and then St. Johns—Iberville

St. Johns—Iberville

St. Johns—Iberville was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1896 to 1935....

 in 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...

 as a Liberal

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...

 member from 1867 to 1896. He was a member of the Senate of Canada for De Lorimier division from 1896 to 1897.

He was born in Mount Johnson (now Mont-Saint-Grégoire

Mont-Saint-Grégoire, Quebec

Mont-Saint-Grégoire is a municipality in the province of Quebec, Canada, located in the Regional County Municipality of Le Haut-Richelieu. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 2,922...

), Lower Canada

Lower Canada

The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...

 in 1830, the son of François Béchard and Clémence Gozette, and educated at the College of Saint-Hyacinthe. He served as a major in the local militia and was mayor of Saint-Grégoire

Saint-Grégoire, Quebec

Saint-Grégoire is a community of the city of Bécancour, Quebec. It is one of the major population centres within the city. Autoroute 55 intersects Autoroute 30 and Route 132 at Saint-Grégoire....

. Béchard was named to the Senate in September 1896 and died in 1897 in Montreal while still in office.