Joseph-Roméo-Liguori Lacombe (June 17, 1895 – April 13, 1957), generally known as Liguori Lacombe, was a

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 ...

in the House of Commons of Canada from 1925 to 1930 and again from 1935 to 1948. He is best known for having quit the Liberal Party of Canada because of his

isolationist Isolationism is a political philosophy advocating a national foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality and opposes entan ...

opposition to Canada's entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and for campaigning against the government during the Conscription Crisis of World War II. Liguori_Lacombe

Early life and career

Lacombe was born and raised in

Sainte-Scholastique, Quebec The village of Sainte-Scholastique, Quebec, Canada, was the historic seat of Deux Montagnes County from 1834 until its amalgamation with neighbouring towns in 1971. Two years later, it was renamed to Mirabel. The village was named after Saint Sc ...

. He studied law at the

University of Montreal A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

and began his practice in 1923 working out of law offices in both Sainte-Scholastique and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. He earned fame for his involvement in several high-profile murder cases.

Political career

Lacombe was first elected to parliament as the Liberal MP for Laval—Two Mountains,

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 ...

in the 1925 federal election. He was re-elected in 1926 but defeated by former Quebec Conservative Party leader Arthur Sauvé in the 1930 federal election. Lacombe returned to parliament as a Liberal in the 1935 federal election defeating federal Minister of Marine and Fisheries Lucien Henri Gendron who had opted to run in Laval—Two Mountains after Sauvé was appointed to the Senate of Canada.

Opposition to World War II

On September 10, 1939, Lacombe broke with the Liberal Party to vote against Canada's entry into

. He and fellow maverick Liberal Edouard Lacroix introduced an amendment calling for "non-participation" in the war, reflecting some reluctance in French Canada to join Britain in war. The two MPs, who proved to be the amendment's only supporters, were condemned in a ''

Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it f ...

'' editorial the following day as "two French-Canadians who gained eternal distinction by an attitude unworthy of their people and country." He stood as an "

Independent Liberal Independent Liberal is a description allowed in politics to denote party affiliation. It is used to designate a politician as a liberal, yet independent of the official Liberal Party of a country. Those parties were the Liberal Party of Canada, ...

" in the 1940 federal election and was re-elected, defeating the official Liberal nominee by almost 2,000 votes. Later that year, Lacombe and Lacroix attempted to lead a revolt of Quebec MPs against the

National Resources Mobilization Act The ''National Resources Mobilization Act, 1940'' (4 George VI, Chap. 13) was a statute of the Parliament of Canada passed to provide for better planning of a much greater Canadian war effort, both overseas and in military production at home. Sco ...

. The bill gave the government

emergency powers A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

to mobilize resources, including manpower for the war effort, called up all men between the ages of 19 and 45 for a thirty-day training period, and required everyone over the age of 16 to register with the government in preparation for a possible

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

. Lacombe and Lacroix moved an amendment that would have substituted the measures of the act with a statement that Canadian participation in the war must be free, voluntary and moderate. The government responded during the debate by insisting that the measures are for home defence only and that there would be no conscription for overseas service.''Ernest Lapointe: Mackenzie King's Great Quebec Lieutenant''
by Lita-rose Betcherman. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 2002, page 313-314 In 1942, Liguiori formed 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 ...

to run candidates in two federal

by-elections A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election use ...

on a platform opposing the imposition of conscription and to oppose 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 ...

's plan to hold a plebiscite on conscription. The party stood candidates against Liberal Louis St. Laurent in

Quebec East Quebec East (also known as Québec-Est and Québec East) was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 2004. While its boundaries changed over the decades, it was essentia ...

and

Gaspard Fauteux Gaspard Fauteux, (August 27, 1898 – March 29, 1963) was a Canadian parliamentarian, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada (1945–1949), and the 19th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (1950–1958). He was born in St-Hyacinthe, Quebec, to a ...

in Montreal St. Mary and did well enough to inspire other anti-conscriptionists to form the Bloc populaire canadien later that year. Lacombe used the party as a platform to campaign for a "no" vote during the April plebiscite on conscription. In June he invited Quebec Liberal MPs who opposed conscription to join his party but had no takers, remaining the party's sole MP. He subsequently was part of an unofficial "Independents Group" of five anti-conscription MPs led by

Frédéric Dorion Frédéric Dorion (August 23, 1898 – July 15, 1981) was a Quebec politician and chief justice. He led a group of Independent MPs in the House of Commons of Canada who were opposed to the implementation of conscription during World War II. ...

."'Something Different' Is Party Cardin to Lead In Protest Against King", ''Globe and Mail'', April 26, 1945

Later political career

In the weeks before the 1945 federal election, Lacombe and the other members of the Independents Group led by Dorion joined with former Liberal cabinet minister Pierre Joseph Arthur Cardin, who had quit the Mackenzie King cabinet in 1942 over the issue of conscription, to form the "National Front" which was to be a united nationalist party. However, Cardin dropped the National Front project a month before the election when several nationalist candidates and groups failed to join and Lacombe was re-elected an Independent MP, defeating his Liberal opponent by 300 votes. He resigned from the House of Commons in 1948 in order to accept an appointment as district

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

by the provincial government of

Maurice Duplessis Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A conservative, nationalist, anti-Communist, anti-unionist and fervent Catholic, he and hi ...

."Duplessis Names L. Lacmobe District Magistrate", ''Globe and Mail'', June 5, 1948 Lacombe also served as mayor of Ste-Scholastique, Quebec from 1935 to 1948.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lacombe, Liguori 1895 births 1957 deaths Lawyers in Quebec Independent MPs in the Canadian House of Commons Independent Liberal MPs in Canada Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec People from Laurentides