Cyrille Vaillancourt

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(January 17, 1892 – October 30, 1969) was a journalist, civil servant, businessman and political figure in

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 ...

. Vaillancourt played an important role in the development of the

caisses populaires A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including deposit accounts, provisio ...

in Quebec.''In whose interest?: Quebec's caisses populaires, 1900-1945'' (1990)
Rudin, R p. 89 He represented La Durantaye division in the

Legislative Council of Quebec The Legislative Council of Quebec (French; ''Conseil législatif du Québec'') was the unelected upper house of the bicameral legislature in the Canadian province of Quebec from 1867 to 1968. The Legislative Assembly of Quebec, Legislative Assem ...

from 1943 to 1944 and sat for Kennebec division in 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 ...

from 1944 to 1969 as 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 ...

Life

He was born in

Saint-Anselme, Quebec Saint-Anselme is a village in the Bellechasse Regional County Municipality, part of the Chaudière-Appalaches administrative region. It is the second biggest municipality in the RCM, after Saint-Henri. The Etchemin River goes through the villag ...

, the son of Cyrille-Émile Vaillancourt and Marie-Louise Larochelle, and was educated at the Collège de Lévis and the

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montmo ...

. Vaillancourt worked for the ''Étoile du Nord'' at

Joliette Joliette is a city in southwest Quebec, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Montreal, on the L'Assomption River and is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of Joliette. It is considered to be a part of the North Shore of Greate ...

before serving in the Quebec Department of Agriculture, responsible for the areas of

beekeeping Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most-commonly-kept species but other honey-producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless bees are also kept. ...

and

maple syrup Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tree ...

production. He became director for the Caisse-Populaire at Lévis in 1924, then was vice-president from 1929 to 1932 and administrator from 1929 to 1969. From 1927 to 1963, he was general manager for the regional federation of caisses populaires for Quebec district. He was the first president of the Fédération des caisses populaires for the province of Quebec. Vaillancourt also served as president of Assurance-vie Desjardins, the Association Coopérative Desjardins and the Société de Gestion Aubigny. Vaillancourt was honorary lieutenant-colonel and then honorary colonel in the militia. He served on the school board for Lévis from 1927 to 1961. He was president of the

Saint Vincent de Paul Society The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor. Innumerable Catholic parishes have ...

at Lévis. He was invested as a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1944 and invested as a Commander of the

Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great ( la, Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni; it, Ordine di San Gregorio Magno) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of ...

in 1947. He established the following periodicals: * ''l'Abeille'' (later ''l'Abeille et l'érable'') in 1918 * ''la Caisse populaire Desjardins'' (later ''la Revue Desjardins'') in 1934 With Albert Faucher, he published ''Alphonse Desjardins Pionnier de la coopération d'épargne et de crédit en Amérique'' in 1950. He was married twice: to Maria Ferland in 1916 and to Marie-Blanche Normandin, dit Lajoie in 1920. Vaillancourt resigned from the Senate on January 3, 1969 due to ill health.''Winnipeg Free Press'', 8 January 1969, p. 10. He died at Lévis on October 30 of the same year, at the age of 77.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaillacourt, Cyrille 1837 births 1902 deaths Canadian senators from Quebec Liberal Party of Canada senators Quebec Liberal Party MLCs Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Université Laval alumni