Mark Robert Drouin, (October 24, 1903 – October 12, 1963) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician and lawyer. Drouin served as

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 parliamentar ...

from 1957 until 1962. Drouin was born 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 ...

and educated at the

Séminaire de Québec The Seminary of Quebec (French: Séminaire de Québec) is a Catholic community of diocesan priests in Quebec City founded by Bishop François de Laval, the first bishop of New France in 1663. History The Séminaire de Québec is a Society of d ...

and

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 Montmo ...

. He trained as a lawyer and was called to the

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 ...

bar in 1926 ultimately becoming senior partner in the firm of Drouin, Drouin, Bernier and Vaillancourt. He became secretary of the Quebec bar in 1934. He was also a

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

enthusiast and served as vice-president of Quebec's senior amateur hockey league for more than two decades. He was also director of the National School of Theatre and helped gain the 1967 World's Fair for Montreal (which became known as

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

). Drouin ran as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the 1949 federal election against Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent in the riding of

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 essenti ...

but was defeated by St. Laurent by 18,000 votes. He also served as chairman of the Quebec Conservative Association in 1949, 1953 and 1957 and as first vice-president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 1955 and was the only French Canadian to support

John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electio ...

's candidacy to lead the Progressive Conservatives at their 1956

leadership convention {{Politics of Canada In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader. Overview In Canada, leaders of a party generally rem ...

. The Conservatives took power following the 1957 federal election and Diefenbaker, as prime minister, had Drouin appointed to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

on October 4, 1957 and named him Speaker of the Senate despite his lack of parliamentary experience. During his tenure he served as joint-president of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, chairman of the Canada-NATO Parliamentary Association and the chairman of the Canada-United States Interparliamentary Association. Drouin retired as Speaker in 1962 and was appointed to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. He died a year later.

References

Senate Biography

Mark-Robert Drouin fonds

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drouin, Mark Robert 1903 births 1963 deaths Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Speakers of the Senate of Canada Canadian senators from Quebec Progressive Conservative Party of Canada senators Université Laval alumni