Eugène "Gene" Rhéaume (December 3, 1932 – November 1, 2013) was a politician, insurance agent, and social worker from

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

, Canada.

Life

Born in High Prairie,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, he was the eighth of nine children. Their father was French-Canadian and their mother was of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Ojibwa The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

, and

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

heritage. Rhéaume studied English at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, obtaining a BA in 1953, and later received a social work degree after working in that field for a time. He married Helen Gessler in 1954. They had six children between 1955 and 1963. They were married 37 years, then, following a divorce, Rhéaume's partner for 15 years until his death was Margaret Jones of

Okanagan Falls, British Columbia Okanagan Falls (also known as OK Falls) is a community located on the south end of Skaha Lake in British Columbia. History The community was founded in 1893 as Dogtown, which was derived from the name Dog Lake ("skaha" means "dog" in the Okanagan ...

. Rhéaume first ran for the

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 ...

in the

1962 Canadian federal election The 1962 Canadian federal election was held on June 18, 1962, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 25th Parliament of Canada. The governing Progressive Conservative (PC) Party won a plurality of seats in this election, and ...

against Isabel Hardie; he lost the hotly contested election by only 300 votes. He faced Hardie again just a year later in the

1963 Canadian federal election The 1963 Canadian federal election was held on April 8, 1963 to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 26th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the minority Progressive Conservative (Tory) government of Prime Mini ...

, this time defeating her. Rhéaume served in the House of Commons for one term, before getting defeated himself in the

1965 Canadian federal election The 1965 Canadian federal election was held on November 8, 1965 to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 27th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was re-elected with a larger number of seat ...

by Robert Orange. He was the PC candidate in the

1974 Canadian federal election The 1974 Canadian federal election was held on July 8, 1974, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 30th Parliament of Canada. The governing Liberal Party was reelected, going from a minority to a majority government, and ga ...

running in the

Saskatoon—Humboldt Saskatoon—Humboldt was a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1979, and from 1988 to 2015. Geography The riding consisted of the northeastern quadrant of Saska ...

electoral district in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

; he was defeated by incumbent

Otto Lang :''see also Otto Lang (film producer) and Otto Lang (actor)'' Otto Emil Lang, (born May 14, 1932) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician. Life and career Lang was born in Handel, Saskatchewan. In 1961, he was appointed Dean of Law at the U ...

. Rhéaume died on November 1, 2013, from complications related to cancer surgery.Mackay, Susan Ferrier (December 11, 2013).
Idolizing Riel, MP Gene Rheaume helped Métis find a place
, ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

''. Retrieved December 12, 2013. He was the grandfather of singer-songwriter Amanda Rheaume.Glenn Wilkins
"Rheaume to sing out at Downie tribute concert"
'' Barrie Today'', January 24, 2018.

Electoral history

References

External links

* 1932 births 2013 deaths Members of the House of Commons of Canada from the Northwest Territories Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Métis politicians Canadian Métis people People from Big Lakes County Indigenous Members of the House of Commons of Canada {{Saskatchewan-politician-stub