Douglas Charles Abbott, (May 29, 1899 – March 15, 1987) was a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
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 ...
, federal
Cabinet Minister
A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, â ...
, and justice of the
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
. Abbott's appointment directly from the
Cabinet of Canada
The Cabinet of Canada (french: Cabinet du Canada) is a body of Minister of the Crown, ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the ...
as
Finance Minister
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
to the Supreme Court was one of the most controversial in the Supreme Court's history.
Early life
Abbott was born in
Lennoxville, Quebec
Lennoxville is an ''arrondissement'', or borough, of the city of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Lennoxville is located at the confluence of the St. Francis and Massawippi Rivers approximately five kilometres south of downtown Sherbrooke.
Lennoxvi ...
(now
Sherbrooke
Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional count ...
,
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 attended
Bishop's University
Bishop's University (french: Université Bishop's) is a small English-language Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Lennoxville, a borough of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The founder of the institution was the Anglican Diocese of Quebe ...
, graduating with a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
. He then attended
McGill Law School
The Faculty of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the oldest law school in Canada, and continually ranks among the best law schools in the world. The faculty is known for it ...
, but interrupted his studies to sign up for service overseas, in 1916. Returning from the Great War, he completed his legal studies, earning his
Bachelor of Civil Law
Bachelor of Civil Law (abbreviated BCL, or B.C.L.; la, Baccalaureus Civilis Legis) is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. The BCL originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of Oxford and Camb ...
. He then went to France to attend the Université de Dijon.
Returning to Canada, he was called to the
Barreau du Québec
The Bar of Quebec (french: Barreau du Québec) is the regulatory body for the practice of advocates in the Canadian province of Quebec and one of two legal regulatory bodies in the province. It was founded on May 30, 1849, as the Bar of Lower Ca ...
in 1921 and practised law in Montreal with the firm of Fleet, Phelan, Fleet & Le Mesurier.
Political career
Abbott successfully stood for election to the House of Commons in 1940, and remained a member of the House for fourteen years. A member of the
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...
, Abbott served as both
Minister of National Defence (1945–46) and
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
(1946–54).
Supreme Court justice
He was appointed to the
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
on July 1, 1954
and served as
Puisne Justice
A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use
The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...
until December 23, 1973.
Abbott was appointed to the court directly from the
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...
's Cabinet, where he had served the previous 7 years as Finance Minister.
The appointment is considered one of the most controversial in the history of the Supreme Court.
It was the first appointment directly from cabinet since the 1911 appointment of
Louis-Philippe Brodeur
Louis-Philippe Brodeur, baptised Louis-Joseph-Alexandre Brodeur (August 21, 1862 – January 2, 1924) was a Canadian journalist, lawyer, politician, federal Cabinet minister, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, and puisne justice o ...
.
As of , Abbott was the last Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada appointed directly to the Court from the
Cabinet of Canada
The Cabinet of Canada (french: Cabinet du Canada) is a body of Minister of the Crown, ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the ...
, and the last Justice to have held elected office prior to his appointment.
Parliamentary seats
House of Commons
* 16 May 1940 – 16 April 1945:
St. Antoine—Westmount, Quebec
* 6 September 1945 – 30 April 1949: St. Antoine—Westmount, Quebec
* 15 September 1949 – 13 June 1953: St. Antoine—Westmount, Quebec
* 12 November 1953 – 30 June 1954:
Saint-Antoine—Westmount
St. Antoine—Westmount and Saint-Antoine—Westmount were federal electoral districts in Quebec, Canada, that were represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1935 to 1968.
"St. Antoine—Westmount" riding was created in 1933 from part ...
, Quebec
Parliamentary functions
Ministry
* 18 April 1945 – 11 December 1946:
Minister of National Defence for Naval Services
* 21 August 1945 – 11 December 1946:
Minister of National Defence
* 10 December 1946 – 30 June 1954:
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
and
Receiver General
A receiver general (or receiver-general) is an officer responsible for accepting payments on behalf of a government, and for making payments to a government on behalf of other parties.
See also
* Treasurer
* Receiver General for Canada
* Recei ...
Parliamentary Secretary
* 1 April 1943 – 7 March 1945:
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance
* 8 March 1945 – 16 April 1945:
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of National Defence
Archives
There is a Douglas Charles Abbott
fonds
In archival science, a fonds is a group of documents that share the same origin and that have occurred naturally as an outgrowth of the daily workings of an agency, individual, or organization. An example of a fonds could be the writings of a poe ...
at
Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...
. Archival reference number is R4773 (former archival reference number MG32-B6).
References
External links
*
Supreme Court of Canada biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Douglas
Canadian Expeditionary Force soldiers
Canadian Ministers of Finance
Defence ministers of Canada
Canadian Anglicans
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec
Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada
Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
1899 births
1987 deaths
Politicians from Sherbrooke
Anglophone Quebec people
McGill University Faculty of Law alumni