Thomas Fortin was a lawyer, judge, educator and political figure in 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....

. He represented Laval

Laval (electoral district)

Laval is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1917, 1949 to 1979, and since 2004. Its population in 2001 was 98,831.-Geography:...

 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...

 from 1896 to 1901 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...

.

He was born in St-François-de-la-Beauce, Beauce County, 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....

, the son of Joseph Fortin and Marie-Louis Vachon. He studied law at the 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...

 and was admitted to the Quebec bar in 1882. Fortin was professor of civil and municipal law at McGill University

McGill University

Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...

. Fortin settled at Sainte-Rose

Sainte-Rose, Quebec

Sainte-Rose is a neighbourhood in Laval, Quebec. It was incorporated as a village in 1850, and was a separate town until the municipal mergers on August 6, 1965 which amalgamated all the municipalities on Île Jésus into a single City of Laval....

 in Laval County in 1885. He resigned his seat in the House of Commons in 1901 after he was named to the Quebec Superior Court

Quebec Superior Court

Quebec Superior Court is the highest trial Court in the Province of Quebec, Canada. It consists of 144 judges who are appointed by the federal government.Chief Justices : [partial listing]* Edward Bowen...

for Montreal district.

Fortin retired from the bench in December 1919. He died at Sainte-Rose-de-Laval at the age of 79.