''Le Canadien'' () was a

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

published in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

from November 22, 1806 to March 14, 1810. Its motto was: ''"Nos institutions, notre langue et nos droits"'' (Our institutions, our language, our rights). It was released every Saturday and the yearly subscription was of 10

chelin The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...

s or

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...

History

The newspaper was founded in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

by lawyer

Pierre-Stanislas Bédard Pierre-Stanislas Bédard (September 13, 1762 – April 26, 1829) was a lawyer, judge, journalist and political figure in Lower Canada. He was born in Charlesbourg in 1762, descended from French ancestors who had first arrived in New France ...

and associates François Blanchet,

Jean-Antoine Panet Jean-Antoine Panet (June 8, 1751 – May 17, 1815) was a notary, lawyer, judge, seigneur and political figure in Lower Canada. He was born in Quebec in 1751, the son of Jean-Claude Panet. He served in the militia defending the town of Quebec ...

, Jean-Thomas Taschereau and Joseph Le Vasseur Borgia. All were members of the

Parliament of Lower Canada The Parliament of Lower Canada was the legislature for Lower Canada. It was created when the old Province of Quebec was split into Lower Canada and Upper Canada in 1791. As in other Westminster-style legislatures, it consisted of three component ...

at the time. The editor was Jean-Antoine Bouthillier. The newspaper quickly became the voice of the

Parti canadien The Parti canadien () or Parti patriote () was a primarily francophone political party in what is now Quebec founded by members of the liberal elite of Lower Canada at the beginning of the 19th century. Its members were made up of liberal pro ...

in their battle against the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

party and the government of governor James Craig. On March 17, 1810, the press and the papers of the editorial office on ''rue Saint-François'' were seized by the government. The printer Charles Lefrançois was imprisoned and a patrol searched the city for conspirators. '' The Quebec Mercury'' had previously insinuated that the

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

s and the

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

were plotting against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Two days later, no conspirators had been found. Bédard, Blanchet and Taschereau were arrested and also jailed. The prisoners were refused ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

''. While in prison, Bédard was nominated as member of parliament in the Surrey riding and elected at the general election of March 27, 1810. In 1811, MP

Louis-Joseph Papineau Louis-Joseph Papineau (October 7, 1786 – September 23, 1871), born in Montreal, Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the ''seigneurie de la Petite-Nation''. He was the leader of the reformist Patriote movement before the Lower ...

asked Governor Craig to clear Bédard of all charges. Governor Craig refused. Bédard was finally ordered out of prison at the end of the Legislative Assembly's session. He was never tried. The newspaper published again a few times, with intermissions. ''Le Canadien'' disappeared on February 11, 1893, then owned by

Joseph-Israël Tarte Joseph-Israël Tarte, (January 11, 1848 – December 18, 1907) was a Canadian politician and journalist. Tarte came to prominence as editor of several newspapers, ''Le Canadien'', '' L'Événement'', '' La Patrie'', and the '' Quebec Daily Me ...

References

External links

Chronologie de l'histoire du Québec
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Canadien, Le Defunct newspapers published in Quebec French-language newspapers published in Quebec Newspapers published in Quebec City Patriote movement Publications established in 1806 Publications disestablished in 1810 1806 establishments in Lower Canada 1810 disestablishments in Lower Canada

History

See also

References

External links