Joseph-Elzéar Bernier
Encyclopedia
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....
mariner who led expeditions into the Canadian Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
in the early 20th century.
He was born in L'Islet, Quebec
L'Islet, Quebec
L'Islet is a municipality within the Regional County Municipality of L'Islet in the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec, Canada.It is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River halfway between Quebec City and Rivière-du-Loup...
, the son of Captain Thomas Bernier and Célinas Paradis. At the age of 14, he became a cabin boy on his father's ship. Three years later, he became captain of his own ship and commanded sailing ships for the next 25 years. Bernier was named governor for the jail at Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
in 1895. From 1904 to 1911, he explored the Arctic archipelago
Canadian Arctic Archipelago
The Canadian Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Arctic Archipelago, is a Canadian archipelago north of the Canadian mainland in the Arctic...
on annual voyages in his ship the CGS Arctic and officially claimed the islands for Canada. Bernier retrieved documents that had been stored in caches by earlier Arctic explorers. He also established Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
posts in the Canadian north. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Bernier commanded a ship which transported mail along the eastern coast and carried goods in convoys across the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. He returned to patrolling the arctic after the war's end, continuing until his retirement in 1925. Bernier died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in Lévis
Lévis, Quebec
Lévis is a city in eastern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Quebec City. A ferry links Old Quebec with Old Lévis, and two bridges, the Quebec Bridge and the Pierre Laporte Bridge, connect western Lévis with Quebec City. The Société de transport de...
at the age of 82.
He published Master Mariner and Explorer: A Narrative of Sixty Years at Sea ... in 1939.
Joseph Idlout
Joseph Idlout
Joseph Idlout is an Inuit featured on the former Canadian two-dollar bill. When the High Arctic relocation occurred in 1959, Idlout helped Inuit families adjust to their new surroundings in Resolute, Northwest Territories ....
's daughter, Leah Idlout, has said that her father was the son of Bernier. It is thought that Idlout may have been the only son of Bernier.