Joseph-Adélard Godbout (September 24, 1892 – September 18, 1956) was a Canadian
agronomist
An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...
and politician. He served as the 15th
premier of Quebec
The premier of Quebec ( French: ''premier ministre du Québec'' (masculine) or ''première ministre du Québec'' (feminine)) is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of the ...
briefly in 1936, and again from 1939 to 1944. He served as leader of the
Parti Libéral du Québec
The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; e ...
(PLQ).
Youth and early career
Adélard Godbout was born in
Saint-Éloi. He was the son of Eugène Godbout,
agriculturalist
An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...
and Liberal
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...
(MLA) from 1921 to 1923, and Marie-Louise Duret. He studied at the Séminaire de
Rimouski
Rimouski ( ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski is the site of Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), t ...
, the agricultural school of
Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière
Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière is a parish municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec, located in the Kamouraska Regional County Municipality.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumer ...
and the
Massachusetts Agricultural College
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a Public university, public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricu ...
, in the U.S. state of
. He then became teacher at the Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière agricultural school from 1918 to 1930. He was an agronomist for the Ministry of Agriculture from 1922 to 1925.
Political career
Member of the legislature
Godbout became a
Member of the legislature for the district of
L'Islet in the
Chaudière-Appalaches area, after he won a by-election without opposition on May 13, 1929. He was re-elected in the
1931
Events
January
* January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics.
* January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa.
* January 22 – Sir I ...
and
1935 elections.
Cabinet Minister
Godbout was appointed to the Cabinet by
Premier Alexandre Taschereau
Louis-Alexandre Taschereau (; March 5, 1867 – July 6, 1952) was the 14th premier of Quebec from 1920 to 1936. He was a member of the Parti libéral du Québec.
Early life
Taschereau was born in Quebec City, Quebec, the son of Jean-Thoma ...
and served as Minister of Agriculture from November 27, 1930, to June 27, 1936.
First Premiership
Shortly after the
1935 election,
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
Leader
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A conservative, nationalist, anti-Communist, anti-unionist and fervent Catholic, he and hi ...
, a rising star in Québec politics, forced Taschereau to call the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, which brought to light the existence of widespread corruption in the provincial government. The revelations made by the committee were embarrassing for several Liberal insiders. On June 11, 1936, less than a year after being put back in office, Taschereau resigned. He recommended to Lieutenant Governor
Ésioff-Léon Patenaude the names of
Édouard Lacroix
Édouard Lacroix (January 6, 1889 – January 19, 1963) was a politician and business person in Quebec, Canada.
Background
He was born on January 6, 1889, in Sainte-Marie, Quebec. At the age of twelve he began working in United States lumb ...
and Adélard Godbout for his successor as Premier. Following constitutional conventions, the lieutenant governor offered the opportunity to form a government to Lacroix, who declined. He then made the offer to Godbout, who accepted. With the blessing of federal Cabinet Members, he took over Taschereau's job as Liberal Leader and Premier of Québec. Godbout formed his first government and an election was called for August 1936.
Godbout had remained untouched by the scandals. But despite Godbout's talks of "a new order" in an effort to distance himself from the Taschereau era, his first government lasted only two months, as his party suffered a humiliating defeat in the
1936 election. Led by Duplessis, the recently created
Union nationale was put in office. The Liberals were reduced to 14 seats. Godbout lost re-election in his own district of
L'Islet. He remained Liberal Leader after being reconfirmed at the
1938 party leadership convention, but
T.-D. Bouchard led the parliamentary wing of the party until the
1939 election.
Second Premiership
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
created the opportunity that Godbout needed to make a political comeback. An early
provincial general election was called in 1939 and federal Cabinet member
Ernest Lapointe
Ernest Lapointe (October 6, 1876 – November 26, 1941) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. A member of Parliament from Quebec City, he was a senior minister in the government of Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King, playing an importa ...
, the
Quebec lieutenant
In Canadian politics, a Quebec lieutenant is a Quebec politician who is selected by the party leader to be his or her main advisor and/or spokesperson on issues specific to Quebec. This is particularly the case when the leader is an anglophone, t ...
of Prime Minister
Mackenzie King, took the stump for Godbout. He guaranteed that no one would face conscription if voters supported the Liberals. Lapointe would die of cancer in 1941.
Through the campaign, Godbout relentlessly repeated the formal promise : "The government will never declare military conscription. I undertake, on my honour, weighing each of my words, to leave my party and even to fight against it, if even one French Canadian, before the end of the hostilities in Europe, is mobilized against his will under a Liberal government." Their promise would soon haunt Liberal politicians.
In the meantime though, Godbout made a spectacular comeback. He and 69 of his candidates were sent to the legislature. Godbout formed his second government, where he would serve as Premier and as minister of Agriculture.
Under Godbout's premiership, the provincial government implemented a number of significant
progressive legislations, laying the groundwork for the
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution (french: Révolution tranquille) was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in French Canada which started in Quebec after the election of 1960, characterized by the effective secularization of govern ...
that would be implemented by the government of Premier
Jean Lesage
Jean Lesage (; 10 June 1912 – 12 December 1980) was a Canadian lawyer and politician from Quebec. He served as the 19th premier of Quebec from 22 June 1960 to 16 June 1966. Alongside Georges-Émile Lapalme, René Lévesque and others, he is ...
a couple of decades later. In fact, the Liberal administration delivered many of the proposals made by
Paul Gouin
Paul Gouin (May 20, 1898 – December 4, 1976) was a politician in Quebec, Canada, was the son of Lomer Gouin and the grandson of Honoré Mercier.
Life and career
He was born in Montreal, Quebec to Lomer Gouin and Éliza Mercier. He fought ...
's
Action libérale nationale
The Action libérale nationale (ALN)('National Liberal Action') was a short-lived provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. It was founded during the Great Depression and led by Paul Gouin. The ALN played an important role in the foundatio ...
in
1935.
While Premier of Québec, Godbout published an article entitled "Canada: Unity in Diversity" (1943) in the Council on Foreign Relations journal. He asked, "How does the dual relationship of the French Canadians make them an element of strength and order, and therefore of unity, in our joint civilization, which necessarily includes not only Canada and the British Commonwealth of Nations, but also the United States, the Latin republics of America and liberated France?"
Accomplishments
These measures include:
![Adelard Godbout Quebec](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Adelard_Godbout_Quebec.JPG)
#the enactment of the
right to vote for women in 1940, despite resistance from Duplessis and the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
;
#the establishment of a
Civil Service Commission
A civil service commission is a government agency that is constituted by legislature to regulate the employment and working conditions of civil servants, oversee hiring and promotions, and promote the values of the public service. Its role is rou ...
in 1943;
#the passage of an act that enforced
compulsory school attendance
Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all people and is imposed by the government. This education may take place at a registered school or at other places.
Compulsory school attendance or compulsory schooling ...
until the age of 14 and the introduction of
free education
Free education is education funded through government spending or charitable organizations rather than tuition funding. Many models of free higher education have been proposed. Primary school and other comprehensive or compulsory education is fr ...
in primary schools in 1943;
#the adoption of a
Labour Code that established principles governing union certification and the negotiation of collective agreements in 1944;
#the nationalization of the
Montreal Light, Heat & Power
The Montreal Light, Heat and Power Company (MLH&P) was a public utility, utility company operating the electricity distribution, electric and gas distribution legal monopoly, monopoly in the area of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, until its nationaliza ...
Company, a private corporation who had a monopoly on gas and electric light in the
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
area, which led to the creation of
Hydro-Québec in 1944.
#encouragement of French culture and language
Relations with the Dominion government
Because he served during wartime and dealt with Dominion (federal) politicians who believed in a strong Dominion government, Godbout was forced to abandon a number of traditional provincial jurisdictions. The most notable prerogatives that he surrendered to the
Government of Canada
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...
include:
#the opportunity to create and oversight a provincial
unemployment insurance
Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...
system (a nationwide program was put into action in 1940);
#the power to tax the income of individuals and corporations, in exchange for a much more modest financial compensation from the federal government. (Almost simultaneously, the federal government of Australia usurped state governments' tax powers.)
In a
1942 plebiscite, Canadian voters were asked to release the federal government from its commitment made to the Québec voters not to declare military conscription. While the majority of predominantly French-speaking Québec refused to support such a release, English-speakers throughout Canada mostly did support it. Even though not that many people were forced to serve until the end of the war, the decision made by Mackenzie King to allow conscription (when both he and Godbout had specifically ruled out conscription earlier) was very unpopular in Québec. Duplessis, whose criticism of the federal encroachments upon the constitutional autonomy of the provinces capitalized on the Québec population's general mistrust of the federal government, had a field day.
Opposition Leader
In the
1944 provincial election, Godbout's Liberals and Duplessis' Union Nationale received similar shares of the popular vote, the Liberals getting slightly more votes but the UN enjoying a level of support in the province's rural areas that was strong enough to win a majority of seats to the legislature and thus form the government. During the 1944 election, Duplessis claimed in a very anti-Semitic speech that Godbout had together with the Dominion government agreed to take in 100,000 Jewish refugees and settle them in Quebec after the war in exchange for which the "International Zionist Brotherhood" was funding his reelection campaign.
[Knowles, Valerie ''Strangers at Our Gates: Canadian Immigration and Immigration Policy, 1540–2006'', Toronto: Dundun Press, 2007 page 149] Duplessis claimed that he would never take money from the Jews, and if were elected Premier again, he would stop this alleged plan to settle 100,000 Jewish refugees in Quebec. Through this story was entirely false, it was widely believed, sparking such a surge of antisemitism to allow the ''Union Nationale'' to win.
Godbout served as
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
until the
1948 election. Benefiting from post-war prosperity, the Union Nationale won an overwhelming majority. The Liberals won only eight seats, six of whom were located on the Montreal Island. Once again, Godbout narrowly lost re-election in his home district of L'Islet. In 1950, he relinquished the leadership of the Liberal Party.
Senator
In 1949, Godbout was appointed to the
Senate of Canada
The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The Senate is modelled after the B ...
on the recommendation of Canadian Prime Minister
Louis St. Laurent. He remained a senator until his death in 1956. His wife died in 1969 aged 79.
Legacy
Observers are divided about the significance of Godbout's legacy. Lacking the oratory skills of Duplessis, his main political competitor, Godbout is sometimes judged very severely.
Federalists
The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''.
History Europe federation
In Europe, proponents of de ...
stress the importance
progressive precedents that were set under Godbout's premiership.
Autonomists
The Autonomists (french: Autonomistes; it, Autonomisti) was a Christian-democratic Italian political party active in the Aosta Valley.
It was founded in 1997 by the union of the regional Italian People's Party with For Aosta Valley, and some ...
on the other hand criticize him for taking a weak stance in the matters of the province's autonomy.
More nuanced analysis claim that, being in power during World War II, he served in a difficult time, despite the shortcomings of his relations with the federal government.
In his 2000 film entitled ''
Traître ou Patriote
''Traitor or Patriot'' (french: Traître ou patriote) is a Quebec documentary produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in 2000. It is directed by and starring Jacques Godbout. Its style belongs to the Quebec cinéma direct school of ...
'', filmmaker
Jacques Godbout
Jacques Godbout, OC, CQ (born November 27, 1933) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, children's writer, journalist, filmmaker and poet. By his own admission a bit of a dabbler (''touche-à-tout''), Godbout has become one of the most important wri ...
, Adélard's nephew, lamented what he perceived as a lack of public knowledge about his uncle's work and premiership.
On September 27, 2007, in a ceremony attended by Premier
Jean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012 and the fifth deputy prime minister of Canada in 1993. Charest was elected to the House o ...
, a former electrical power station in Montréal, at the corner of Wellington and Queen streets, known as Poste Central-1 was named in honour of Godbout. A bust of Godbout by sculptor
Joseph-Émile Brunet
Joseph-Émile Brunet (1893–1977) was a Canadian sculptor based in Quebec. His output includes more than 200 monuments in bronze. Many of his sculptures depict national figures and events in Canada. He was born in Huntingdon, Quebec in 1893. He ...
(1893–1977) has been installed at the site.
For his contribution to the field of agriculture and the advancement or rural Quebec in general, Mr. Godbout was posthumously inducted to
Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame
The Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame (French: Temple canadien de la renommée agricole) honours and celebrate Canadians who have made outstanding contributions to the agriculture and food industry and publicizes the importance of their achieveme ...
in 1962 and to the
Agricultural Hall of Fame of Quebec in 1992.
Elections as party leader
He lost the
1936 election, won the
1939 election, lost the
1944 election and lost the
1948 election.
Bibliography
*Genest, Jean-Guy, ''Godbout'', Septentrion, Sillery, 1996, 390 pp.
See also
*
Politics of Quebec
The politics of Quebec are centred on a provincial government resembling that of the other Canadian provinces, namely a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The capital of Quebec is Quebec City, where the Lieutenant Governor, Pr ...
*
Quebec general elections
This article provides a summary of results for the general elections to the Canadian province of Quebec's unicameral legislative body, the National Assembly of Quebec (and its predecessor, the Legislative Assembly of Quebec). The number of ...
*
Timeline of Quebec history
This article presents a detailed timeline of Quebec history. Events taking place outside Quebec, for example in English Canada, the United States, Britain or France, may be included when they are considered to have had a significant impact on Qu ...
Footnotes
References
Biography of Adélard Godbout from Marianopolis College*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godbout, Adelard
1892 births
1956 deaths
Quebec Liberal Party MNAs
Premiers of Quebec
Canadian senators from Quebec
Liberal Party of Canada senators
People from Bas-Saint-Laurent
Quebec political party leaders
Canadian agronomists
Canadian people of World War II
Massachusetts Agricultural College alumni
20th-century agronomists