Sir Antoine-Aimé Dorion (January 17, 1818May 31, 1891) was a

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

politician and

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

Early years

Dorion was born in Ste-Anne-de-la-Pérade into a family with liberal values that had been sympathetic to the

Patriotes The patriotes movement was a political movement that existed in Lower Canada (present-day Quebec) from the turn of the 19th century to the Patriote Rebellion of 1837 and 1838 and the subsequent Act of Union of 1840. The partisan embodiment o ...

in 1837–1838. His father, merchant Pierre-Antoine Dorion, was a representative of the Patriote party in the

Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The lower house consisted of ele ...

from 1830 to 1838. After studies at the Nicolet seminary from 1830 to 1837, in his twenty-second year went to

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 ...

to read law with Côme-Séraphin Cherrier, an eminent lawyer with whom he retained a lasting friendship. On the 6th of January 1842 he was admitted to the bar of the province, became the partner of M. Cherrier, and in the course of a few years attained the highest rank in his profession.

Political rise

Dorion descended from a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

family which from early days had supported the

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

party in Canada. In addition to his father, his maternal grandfather represented the county of Saint Maurice in the Legislative Assembly from 1819 to 1830. At the time that Dorion commenced the study of law, Canada was entering a struggle between

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

and

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

for a balance of representation. Although a decisive political victory had been gained, and a

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

formed, by

Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Sir Louis-Hippolyte Ménard '' dit'' La Fontaine, 1st Baronet, KCMG (October 4, 1807 – February 26, 1864) was a Canadian politician who served as the first Premier of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible governmen ...

and

Robert Baldwin Robert Baldwin (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was an Upper Canada, Upper Canadian lawyer and politician who with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine of Lower Canada, led the first responsible government ministry in the Province ...

in 1848, they did not press for an immediate overthrow of existing institutions, and in 1851, the administration was handed over to

Francis Hincks Sir Francis Hincks, (December 14, 1807 – August 18, 1885) was a Canadian businessman, politician, and British colonial administrator. An immigrant from Ireland, he was the Co-Premier of the Province of Canada (1851–1854), Governor of Barb ...

and

Augustin-Norbert Morin Augustin-Norbert Morin (October 13, 1803 – July 27, 1865) was a Canadien lawyer and judge. Born in Saint-Michel-de-Bellechasse, Lower Canada, into a large Roman Catholic farming family, Morin was identified by the parish priest at a young ...

. The elections of 1854 had brought new reformist blood into the ranks of the Liberal party. Dorion was elected as member of the assembly for the province of Canada for the city of Montreal, and was chosen as leader. It seemed that the coalition government under

Allan MacNab Sir Allan Napier MacNab, 1st Baronet (19 February 1798 – 8 August 1862) was a Canadian political leader who served as joint Premier of the Province of Canada from 1854 to 1856. Early life He was born in Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) to All ...

had clarified the situation, but by 1856 Upper Canada had increased, and it contributed a larger share to the revenue, and demanded proportionate representation. Dorion understood the true principle of

federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

as applicable to Canada, but he did not pursue this idea, and in fact his following was never sufficiently strong to enable him to give effect to the sound measures he was so capable of formulating.

Government

In 1858 Dorion served as Co-Premier of the Province of Canada with

Clear Grit Clear Grits were reformers in the Canada West district of the Province of United Canada, a British colony that is now the Province of Ontario, Canada. Their name is said to have been given by David Christie, who said that only those were wanted ...

leader

George Brown (Canadian politician) George Brown (November 29, 1818 – May 9, 1880) was a British-Canadian journalist, politician and one of the Father of Confederation#Fathers of Confederation, Fathers of Confederation; attended the Charlottetown (September 1864) and Quebec (Octo ...

but the government fell within three days. From 1863 to 1864 Dorion again served as Co-Premier, this time with

John Sandfield Macdonald John Sandfield Macdonald, (December 12, 1812 – June 1, 1872) was the joint premier of the Province of Canada from 1862 to 1864. He was also the first premier of Ontario from 1867 to 1871, one of the four founding provinces created at Conf ...

as well as taking the position of Attorney-General, but refused to participate in the

Great Coalition The Great Coalition was a grand coalition of political parties that brought an end to political deadlock in the Province of Canada. It existed from May 1864 until Confederation in 1867. Prelude Four different ministries had failed in the pre ...

government formed in 1864 by Brown,

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

and

George-Étienne Cartier Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, (pronounced ; September 6, 1814May 20, 1873) was a Canadian statesman and Father of Confederation. The English spelling of the name—George, instead of Georges, the usual French spelling—is explained ...

. Following the

Quebec Conference of 1864 The Quebec Conference was held from October 10 to 24, 1864, to discuss a proposed Canadian confederation. It was in response to the shift in political ground when the United Kingdom and the United States had come very close to engaging in war w ...

he denounced the proposed

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Canada, Dom ...

and led the opposition in Lower Canada to the project. He was also the leader of the Parti Rouge and thought the provinces would lose their power if Confederation was put into action. He disapproved that the colonies of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island were uniting under a central government. Dorion expressed his rejection of confederation through a manifesto in 1864, multiple articles from 1865 to 1867, and his attendance of opposition meetings in Lower Canada.

House of Commons

Nevertheless, when Confederation became a reality, Dorion won a seat in the new

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Hochelaga. He was re-elected three times in succession for

Napierville Napierville is a municipality in the Jardins de Napierville Regional County Municipality in Quebec, Canada, situated in the Montérégie administrative region. The population as of the 2021 Canadian Census was 4,020. It is the location of the ...

and served as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

in the Liberal government of Alexander Mackenzie from 7 November 1873 and during the six months that he was in office passed the Electoral Law of 1874 and the Controverted Elections Act. Dorion was appointed by

to the parliamentary committee to investigate allegations related to the

Pacific Scandal The Pacific Scandal was a political scandal in Canada involving bribes being accepted by 150 members of the Conservative government in the attempts of private interests to influence the bidding for a national rail contract. As part of British Colum ...

in 1873. On 1 June 1874 he was named chief justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of

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 ...

. After his death in 1891, he was entombed at the

Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (french: Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run a ...

in Montreal.

Honours

In 1878, Dorion was created a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

. The Township Municipality of Dorion in the

Outaouais Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts and the Papineau region. Geographically, it is located on the north side of the Ottawa ...

region of Quebec, Canada, was named in his honour (but renamed to

Cayamant Cayamant is a municipality in La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. The village of Lac-Cayamant is located at the north end of Lake Cayamant, west of Gracefield, Quebec, Gracefield. It was formerly known as the ...

Family

In 1848 Dorion married Iphigénie, the daughter of Dr. Jean Baptiste Trestler and Eulalie Delisle of Montreal.

References

Attribution: * *

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorion, Antoine-Aime 1818 births 1891 deaths Canadian Knights Bachelor Lawyers in Quebec Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Premiers of the Province of Canada Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Presidents of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montreal Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Attorneys-General of the Province of Canada Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery