Joseph-Elzéar Bernier (January 1, 1852 – December 26, 1934) was a Canadian mariner from

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 ...

who led expeditions into the Canadian

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in the early 20th century. He was born in

L'Islet, Quebec L'Islet is a municipality within L'Islet Regional County Municipality in the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River halfway between Quebec City and Rivière-du-Loup. The Mus ...

, the son of Captain Thomas Bernier and Célinas Paradis. At the age of 14, he became a cabin boy on his father's ship. Three years later, he became captain of his own ship and commanded sailing ships for the next 25 years. Bernier was named governor for the jail at

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in 1895. From 1904 to 1911, he explored the

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on annual voyages in his ship the CGS ''Arctic'' and officially claimed the islands for Canada. Bernier retrieved documents that had been stored in caches by earlier Arctic explorers. He also established

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posts in the Canadian north. During

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, Bernier commanded a ship which transported mail along the eastern coast and carried goods in convoys across the

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. He returned to patrolling the arctic after the war's end, continuing until his retirement in 1925, when he was awarded the

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. Historian and expert on Northern Sovereignty Michael Byers noted that Bernier placed a plaque on Melville Island, in 1909, claiming Canadian Sovereignty over not only the entire Arctic Archipelago, but a wedge of the Arctic Ocean ''"from longitude 60°W to 141°W up to latitude 90°N,"'' ie, all the way to the

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. Byer characterized this claim as an articulation of

sector theory Sector may refer to: Places * Sector, West Virginia, U.S. Geometry * Circular sector, the portion of a disc enclosed by two radii and a circular arc * Hyperbolic sector, a region enclosed by two radii and a hyperbolic arc * Spherical sector, a po ...

, and noted how diplomats had widely rejected

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's claims to a wedge of the Arctic, extending to the North Pole. Bernier died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in Lévis at the age of 82. He published ''Master Mariner and Explorer: A Narrative of Sixty Years at Sea ...'' in 1939.

Joseph Idlout Joseph Idlout (1912/1913 - 2 June 1968) is an Inuk featured on the former Canadian two-dollar bill. When the High Arctic relocation occurred in 1959, Idlout helped Inuit families adjust to their new surroundings in Resolute, Northwest Territori ...

's daughter, Leah Idlout, has said that her father was the son of Bernier. It is thought that Idlout may have been the only son of Bernier. Joseph-Elzéar Bernier and his Northern expeditions are featured on pages 12 & 13 of the 36 page Canadian Passport.

References

''Joseph Bernier, the Arctic Islands for Canada'', Pathfinders and Passageways: The Exploration of Canada, Library and Archives Canada

''Joseph Elzéar Bernier (1852-1934)'', Arctic profiles, University of Calgary
(pdf)

External links

Entry from the Canadian Encyclopedia

''Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia'' (2003)
Mills, William James

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernier, Joseph-Elzear 1852 births 1934 deaths Canadian explorers Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows