Joseph-Irénée-René Hamel (February 9, 1910 – December 16, 1982) was a local politician in

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 ...

, Canada. He served as Member of the Canadian Parliament and as Member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec.

Early life

He was born in 1910 in Grand-Mère, Quebec, Mauricie.

World War II politics

During

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 ...

Hamel joined the Bloc Populaire Canadien, a political party that opposed conscription. He was the party’s provincial candidate in the district of Saint-Maurice in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

, but lost the election against

Marc Trudel Marc Trudel (March 29, 1896 – September 10, 1961) was a politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as Cabinet Member and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec. Early life He was born on March 29, 1896, in Sainte-Geneviève-de-Bati ...

. The following year though, he successfully ran in the federal district of

Saint-Maurice—Laflèche Saint-Maurice—Laflèche (previously known as St-Maurice—Laflèche) was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1935 to 1968. It was created as "St-Maurice—Laflèche" ridi ...

. After the war, the party quickly dissolved and by 1949 Hamel was sitting as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

MP. He lost re-election in that same year.

Fighting Duplessis

Hamel, who opposed Premier

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 ...

, made a political comeback in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. Benefiting from a strong support among Shawinigan’s labor class population, he was elected

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 ...

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. ...

for the district of Saint-Maurice. Hamel became one of the most effective Liberal

floor leader In politics, floor leaders, also known as a caucus leader, are leaders of their respective political party in a body of a legislature. Philippines In the Philippines each body of the bicameral Congress has a majority floor leader and a minor ...

s. In order to pressure voters into defeating Hamel, Duplessis refused to authorize the construction of a new bridge between Shawinigan and Shawinigan-Sud. Local Liberals jokingly claimed that they would rather swim than support Duplessis. Nonetheless, Hamel was narrowly re-elected against Shawinigan mayor

Gaston Hardy Gaston Hardy (April 22, 1917 – July 15, 1977) was a municipal and provincial politician in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec. He was the 13th Mayor of the City of Shawinigan Falls, from 1954 to 1957. Biography Gaston Hardy was born in 1917 in Portne ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

. Hamel was also a candidate for the 1958 Quebec Liberal Party leadership convention, but was defeated by

Jean Lesage Jean Lesage (; 10 June 1912 – 12 December 1980) was a Canadian lawyer and politician from Quebec. He served as the 19th premier of Quebec from 22 June 1960 to 16 June 1966. Alongside Georges-Émile Lapalme, René Lévesque and others, he is ...

Member of the Cabinet

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

the Liberals won the provincial election and Lesage became Premier. Shawinigan got a new bridge. Hamel was appointed to the Cabinet. He was Minister of Municipal Affairs from

to 1961, Minister of Labour from

to 1963 and Attorney General from 1963 to 1964.

After retirement from politics

In 1964, Hamel was appointed Judge and resigned his

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

and

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

functions. He died in Shawinigan in 1982.

Footnotes