Joseph Bolduc
Encyclopedia
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,...
(June 22, 1847 – August 13, 1924) was Speaker of the Canadian Senate
Speaker of the Canadian Senate
The Speaker of the Senate of Canada is the presiding officer of the Senate of Canada. The speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of parliamentary procedure and parliamentary privilege, and oversee debates and voting in the red chamber. This position is often...
from 1916 to 1922.
He was born in Beauce County
Beauce, Quebec
Beauce is a historical and traditional region of Quebec located south of Quebec City. It corresponds approximately to the regional county municipalities of Beauce-Sartigan, Robert-Cliche and La Nouvelle-Beauce, and its major communities are Saint-Georges, Sainte-Marie, Beauceville,...
, Canada East
Canada East
Canada East was the eastern portion of the United Province of Canada. It consisted of the southern portion of the modern-day Canadian Province of Quebec, and was primarily a French-speaking region....
(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....
) in 1847, the son of Augustin Bolduc, and was educated at College Sainte-Marie and Université Laval
Université Laval
Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...
. He graduated as a public notary in 1874 but also earned his living as a farmer and businessman.
In 1874, Bolduc married M.A.G. Mathier. He became a leading member of his community and successfully promoted the construction of a railway connecting his home town of St. Victor de Tring with the rest of the province and the eastern seaboard. He was elected mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of his town and then warden of Beauce.
In 1876 he was elected in a by-election to 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...
representing the riding of Beauce
Beauce (electoral district)
Beauce is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1867. In 2006, it had a population of 103,617 people, of whom 82,123 were eligible voters.-Geography:...
, 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....
for the Conservative Party
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
. He was re-elected in 1878 and 1882.
He resigned his seat in 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...
upon being appointed to the Senate
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...
on October 3, 1884.
In 1910, he crossed party lines to support the controversial Laurier
Wilfrid Laurier
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....
government's Naval Services Bill
Bill (proposed law)
A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....
which created the Royal Canadian Navy
Royal Canadian Navy
The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...
.
He was appointed Speaker of the Senate by the Conservative government of Robert Borden
Robert Borden
Sir Robert Laird Borden, PC, GCMG, KC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the eighth Prime Minister of Canada from October 10, 1911 to July 10, 1920, and was the third Nova Scotian to hold this office...
in 1916 and presided over the upper chamber during the contentious debate on the Military Service Act
Military Service Act (Canada)
In Canadian history, the Military Service Act was a 1917 Act passed by the Canadian government to effort needed more soldiers, so on April 20, 1918, an order-in-council was passed that removed exemptions from the Military Service Act. This left farming operations across Canada short of much-needed...
of 1917, a bill that would introduce conscription. During the debate, he felt obliged to "name" Senator Philippe Auguste Choquette who was attempting to delay passage of the bill
Bill (proposed law)
A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....
.
Bolduc continued as Speaker until 1922 when he stepped down to the election of 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...
government. He remained a Senator until his death in 1924 in St. Victor de Tring.