Leonidas Alcidas Giroux (July 26, 1885 – September 7, 1936) was a Canadian provincial politician from

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 served as a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from singl ...

sitting with the provincial

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 ...

caucus in opposition from 1924 until his death in 1936.

Early life

Leonidas Alcidas Giroux was born July 26, 1885, at West Farnham,

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 ...

, to Leonide Giroux and Isabella D'Aragon. He attended

Collège de Montréal The Collège de Montréal is a subsidized private high school for students attending grades 7–11 located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A former Roman Catholic minor seminary, it was founded on June 1, 1767 as the ''Petit Séminaire'' ...

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

and the

Université catholique de Louvain The Université catholique de Louvain (also known as the Catholic University of Louvain, the English translation of its French name, and the University of Louvain, its official English name) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It ...

in Belgium where he completed his post-graduate studies in Philosophy and Economics. He married Marie Irene Shinners on April 10, 1912.

Political career

Giroux ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in a by-election held on July 11, 1924, in the electoral district of Grouard. He stood as a candidate for the Alberta Liberals running in a two way contest against United Farmers candidate J.M. Cull. Giroux held the seat for his party winning double the vote count of Cull to earn his first term in office. Giroux ran for a second term in office less than two years later. when the

1926 Alberta general election The 1926 Alberta general election was held on June 28, 1926, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The United Farmers of Alberta government that had first been elected in 1921 was re-elected, taking a majority of the seats in t ...

was called. He ran for re-election in another two way contest and won easily. He increased his popular vote count by 200 over the by-election. Giroux ran for a third term in the

1930 Alberta general election Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condit ...

. This election saw him run in a hotly contested race against United Farmers candidate Jean Field who served as an original member on the

Alberta Eugenics Board The Alberta Eugenics Board was an agency created by the Alberta government in 1928 that attempted to impose sterilization on a disabled subset of its population, in accordance with the principles of eugenics. It remained active until 1972, when it ...

. Giroux won the two way race by just under 700 votes. The

1935 Alberta general election The 1935 Alberta general election was held on August 22, 1935, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The newly founded Social Credit Party of Alberta won a sweeping victory, unseating the 14-year government of the United Farmer ...

saw the new Social Credit party sweep to power. Giroux was the only opposition candidate in a rural candidate that managed to retain his seat. He won the highest popular vote of his career fending off a strong challenge from two other candidates. Giroux died on September 7, 1936. He had traveled to

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, to be treated at the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

for an undisclosed illness and died shortly after his arrival.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Giroux, Leonidas Alberta Liberal Party MLAs Canadian King's Counsel 1936 deaths Franco-Albertan people 1885 births