Georges Parent (December 15, 1879 – December 14, 1942) was a Canadian lawyer, politician and

Speaker of the Senate of Canada The speaker of the Senate of Canada (french: président du Sénat du Canada) is the presiding officer of the Senate of Canada. The speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of parliamentary procedure and parliament ...

from 1940 until 1942. Parent was born in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

, the son of Simon-Napoléon Parent who served as

Premier of Quebec The premier of Quebec ( French: ''premier ministre du Québec'' (masculine) or ''première ministre du Québec'' (feminine)) is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of th ...

from 1900 to 1905 and Mayor of Quebec City from 1894 until 1905. He studied law at

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 Montm ...

and was admitted to the Bar of Quebec in 1904 and joined the law firm of Fitzpatrick, Parent, Taschereau, Roy and Cannon in Quebec City. That same year, at the age of 25, Parent was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1904 federal election as the

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 ...

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 o ...

for Montmorency,

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 ...

. As the youngest Member of Parliament and was asked by Prime Minister

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minis ...

to second the motion on the Speech from the Throne. He was re-elected in

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 4 ...

but defeated in the

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

. Out of office, Parent returned to his legal practice and pursued various business interests. He ultimately became president of Citadel Brick Ltd., Equitable Enterprises and of Wolfesfield Ltd., Vice-President of Donnacona Paper Company and was a director of several other firms including the publisher of ''

Le Soleil Le Soleil ("The Sun") is the name of several newspapers: * ''Le Soleil'' (Quebec), a French-language daily newspaper in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, founded in 1896 * ''Le Soleil'' (French newspaper), a defunct daily newspaper based in Paris fro ...

'' newspaper. Parent returned to Parliament in the 1917 federal election as a Laurier-Liberal representing

Quebec West Quebec West (french: Québec-Ouest) was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1935, and from 1949 to 1968. It was created by the ''British North America Act'', 1867 ...

. He remained an MP until June 3, 1930, when he was appointed to the Senate of Canada by Prime Minister

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A L ...

prior to the 1930 federal election. In 1940, King named him Speaker of the Senate on May 9, 1940. Parent died in office on December 14, 1942.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parent, Georges 1879 births 1942 deaths Canadian senators from Quebec Laurier Liberals Liberal Party of Canada MPs Liberal Party of Canada senators Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Lawyers in Quebec Speakers of the Senate of Canada Université Laval alumni