Maurice Riel, (April 3, 1922 – July 20, 2007) 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 ...

lawyer and

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. A distant relative of Louis Riel, Maurice Riel studied law and was admitted to the bar of

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 1945. Establishing his own law firm in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

with

Louis-René Beaudoin Louis-René Beaudoin, (May 5, 1912 – February 21, 1970) was Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada from 1953 to 1957. Though trained as a lawyer, Beaudoin came from a working class background and financed his education by working as a bus ...

under the name Beaudoin, Riel Geoffrion & Vermette, Riel worked in

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

with a number of clients in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He also practiced at Dunton Rainville. He was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1958, and served as chairman of the Metropolitan Montreal Corporation from 1965 to 1969. He served on the board of the

Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; french: Banque du Canada) is a Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surveys: Ca ...

from 1969 to 1973. Riel joined the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

in 1947, and served in various capacities with the party. He was appointed to the Senate on the advice of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

in 1973, and worked on

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

policy and foreign affairs amongst other issues. He was appointed

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 ...

on December 16, 1983, but served for less than a year in that position due to the Progressive Conservative Party's victory in the 1984 general election. He was replaced as Speaker by Progressive Conservative

Guy Charbonneau Guy Charbonneau (June 21, 1922 – January 18, 1998) was a Canadian senator who was the longest serving sSpeaker of the Canadian Senate, serving from 1984 to 1993. During his tenure, amendments to the Standing Orders of the Senate extend ...

. Riel remained active in the Senate until his retirement in 1997. He died on July 20, 2007.

References

External links

*
The Gazette, May 24, 1958
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riel, Maurice 1922 births 2007 deaths Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Speakers of the Senate of Canada Canadian senators from Quebec Canadian King's Counsel