Georges-Émile Lapalme (January 14, 1907 – February 5, 1985) was a politician in Quebec, Canada and a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Quebec The Legislative Assembly of Quebec (French: ''Assemblée législative du Québec'') was the name of the lower house of Quebec's legislature from 1867 to December 31, 1968, when it was renamed the National Assembly of Quebec. At the same time, t ...

, and leader of the

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; e ...

Background

He was born in Montreal. He studied law at the Université de Montréal. Lapalme was married to Maria Langlois for nearly 50 years, with whom he had seven children.

Member of Parliament

Lapalme was elected to 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 1945 federal election and served until 1950.

Provincial politics

He resigned his federal seat to be acclaimed Leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec in 1950. He ran for a seat to the

in the district of

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 ...

in the 1952 election, but was defeated by Minister of Labor and Union Nationale candidate Antonio Barrette. Lapalme won a by-election in the district of Montréal-Outremont in 1953. He was re-elected in the 1956 election, but under his leadership, his party lost the election against the Union Nationale. He remained a Liberal leader until 1958 and remained

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in Quebec until 1960. It was during his leadership that the Quebec Liberal Party severed its affiliation with the federal Liberal Party in 1955.

Member of the Cabinet

Lapalme won re-election in the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

and

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

elections. He never became

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

, but served as deputy premier under Jean Lesage, and as Attorney-General and was the province's first Minister of Cultural Affairs. Lapalme did not run for re-election in the 1966 election.

Elections as party leader

Lapalme lost two general elections as party leader, the 1952 election and the 1956 election.

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