Paul St. Pierre (October 14, 1923 – July 27, 2014) was a journalist and author in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He was the

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 ...

for the riding of

Coast Chilcotin Coast Chilcotin was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1979. It was located in the province of British Columbia. Geography The riding spanned the southern Coast Mountains and included the Ce ...

from 1968-1972. He was defeated in the 1972 election by New Democratic Party candidate Harry Olaussen in a tight three-way race (see results below). He was especially known for his popular fiction recounting adventures and quirks of life in the Chilcotin- Cariboo, and for a regular column that appeared for many years in the ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

''. One of his novellas set in the Chilcotin, ''Breaking Smith's Quarter Horse'', was adapted into a feature film starring

Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-American actor who often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the biggest box-offi ...

. Also starring in that film was Chief Dan George, who played the character Ol' Antoine in the CBC-TV series ''Cariboo Country'', based on his stories. St. Pierre continued to write and maintain residences in the Chilcotin, the

Fraser Valley The Fraser Valley is a geographical region in southwestern British Columbia, Canada and northwestern Washington State. It starts just west of Hope in a narrow valley encompassing the Fraser River and ends at the Pacific Ocean stretching from the ...

and Teacapán,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. In politics, he was a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. His riding spanned the Central Coast, then including the large pulp mill town of

Ocean Falls Ocean Falls is a community on the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Formerly a large company town owned by Crown Zellerbach, it is accessible only via boat or seaplane, and is home for a few dozen full-time residents, with the seasonal ...

and the western part of the Cariboo and the Squamish-Lillooet in a time when the largest town was

Bralorne Bralorne ( ) is a historic Canadian gold mining community in the Bridge River District of British Columbia, some 130 km on dirt roads west of the town of Lillooet. Background Gold has been the central element in the area's history going ba ...

, and both were isolated as well as separated by each other by vast mountains. Other voters were in the Chilcotin Plateau and Cariboo, over yet another set of mountains and/or huge plateaus from the other towns on the coast and in the southern part of the riding. In those days Squamish was still only accessible by ferry from downtown Vancouver, and the

rail line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

came no farther south. Most of the remaining major towns in the riding, Squamish,

Lillooet Lillooet () is a district municipality in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. The town is on the west shore of the Fraser River immediately north of the Seton River mouth. On BC Highway 99, the locality is by road abo ...

, Powell River,

Sechelt Sechelt (, Shishalh language chat'lich) is a district municipality located on the lower Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Approximately 50 km northwest of Vancouver, it is accessible from mainland British Columbia by a 40-minute ferry tr ...

and Bella Coola, were all separated from each other and all those mentioned by either water or rail - or, in the case of Lillooet to Bella Coola, an arduously long and difficult drive via

100 Mile House 100 Mile House is a district municipality located in the South Cariboo region of central British Columbia, Canada. History 100 Mile House was originally known as Bridge Creek House, named after the creek running through the area. Its origins ...

and Williams Lake; the latter was among the three or four largest towns in the riding and is today central to the Cariboo riding. Because it was easier St. Pierre was one of the "flying MPs" whose ridings spanned whole European countries in size, and where many voters were distant from the capital and living in areas difficult to get around in, never mind to. As with George Murray,

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. ...

in the provincial riding of

, which is in the southeastern part of the federal riding, once he became the area's representative, he moved there and fell in love with it. His books are classics of the cowboy genre and also constitute documents of individuals and notes on local natural history and myth, and serve as portraits of the cultures of the Chilcotin, Cariboo and Nechako districts of British Columbia. He died at home on July 27, 2014.

Books

*''Breaking Smith's Quarter Horse'' *''Smith and Other Events'' *''Boss of the Namko Drive'' *''Chilcotin Holiday'' *''British Columbia, Our Land'' *''Old Enough to Know Better'' *''Tell Me A Good Lie'' *''In the Navel of the Moon'' *''Sister Balonika''

Awards

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction, the more than 600 current members also include histori ...

Spur Award Spur Awards are literary prizes awarded annually by the Western Writers of America (WWA). The purpose of the Spur Awards is to honor writers for distinguished writing about the American West. The Spur awards began in 1953, the same year the WWA wa ...

(first Canadian honoured) *Terasen (BC Gas) Lifetime Achievement Award 2000

References

External links

Records of Paul St. Pierre are held by Simon Fraser University's Special Collections and Rare Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:St Pierre, Paul 1923 births 2014 deaths Canadian columnists Chilcotin Country Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia Politicians from Chicago Canadian expatriates in Mexico