Alexandre Gélinas was a local politician in

Shawinigan Shawinigan () is a city located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 49,349 as of the 2016 Canadian census. Shawinigan is also a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) an ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. He was the tenth Mayor of

from 1937 to 1938. He was born in 1894 in

Saint-Barnabé Saint-Barnabé (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Saint-Barnabé are called ''barnabéens'' in French. Map See also *Communes of the Côtes-d'Armor department T ...

, in the

Mauricie Mauricie () is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making it a prime tourist location. The region has a land area of 35,860.05 km² (13,845.64 sq mi) and a popu ...

region in Quebec, Canada and was married to Laure Lauterreur. Although they never had children of their own, they looked after Nicole Houde who was 12 years old at the time, from 1949 to 1951. She was the niece of Laure and had just lost her mother, Thérèse Laterreur, sister of Laure, to

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

. He studied law in Manitoba and also practiced as a lawyer in that province for a few years. He then returned to his home province of Québec where he founded his own law firm (Lafond, Gélinas) located on 5^e rue (Fifth Street).

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...

, Canada's 20th prime minister, articled and practiced at the firm from 1959 to 1960. He ran for

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

in the special election that was held on May 3, 1937, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Lucien Bourassa and won against J.A. Bilodeau. During the time he was mayor, a municipal auditorium and St. Marc Park were built. He served the remainder of Bourassa's unexpired term. In 1938, he ran for re-election but was defeated by Bilodeau. He was a long-standing member of

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

and a governor of its Shawinigan chapter. Gélinas died in 1965.

Footnotes

1894 births 1961 deaths Mayors of Shawinigan Lawyers in Quebec {{Quebec-mayor-stub