Émilien Lafrance (September 6, 1911 – October 21, 1977) was a Canadian politician, cabinet minister and a five-term Member of the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

Background

Lafrance was born in 1911 in the Quebec town of Danville. He studied at Séminaire Saint-Charles-Borromée in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

and Collège Sacré-Cœur in

Victoriaville Victoriaville () is a town in south-central Quebec, Canada, on the Nicolet River. Victoriaville is the seat of Arthabaska Regional County Municipality and a part of the Centre-du-Québec (Bois-Francs) region. It is formed by the 1993 merger of ...

. He married his wife Géraldine Langlois in Magog in 1942. Together, he and Langlois had five children. In a 2010 interview with

Le Devoir (, ) is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. is one of few independent large-circulation newspapers in Quebec ...

, Madame Langlois said that her husband tried to avoid talking politics at home, especially due to their disagreements on

Quebec sovereignty The Quebec sovereignty movement (French: ''mouvement souverainiste du Québec'', ) is a political movement advocating for Quebec's independence from Canada. Proponents argue that Quebecers form a distinct nation with a unique culture, language, ...

Early politics

Lafrance was politically involved long before his first election to the National Assembly. He served as a local organizer for

Action libérale nationale The Action libérale nationale (; ALN; ) was a short-lived provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. It was founded during the Great Depression and led by Paul Gouin. The ALN played an important role in the foundation of the Union National ...

in the 1935 election and ran as a member of the Bloc populaire in the riding of Richmond—Wolfe in the 1945 federal election, coming in a distant second to the local Liberal candidate. Between his federal loss in 1945 and his provincial victory in 1952, he served on the school-board in his hometown of Danville, later becoming the chairman.

Member of the National Assembly

Lafrance was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

in the 1952 Quebec election as a member for

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. As a member of the opposition during

Maurice Duplessis Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis, (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959) byname "Le Chef" (, "The Boss"), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A Conservatism in Canada, conservative, Quebec nationalism, ...

' time as

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

, he served as the party's deputy whip, and later its chief whip. When

Jean Lesage Jean Lesage (; June 10, 1912 – December 12, 1980) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the 19th premier of Quebec from July 5, 1960, to June 16, 1966. Alongside Georges-Émile Lapalme, René Lévesque and others, he is often v ...

led the Liberal Party to victory in the 1960 election, Lafrance became Minister of Social Welfare, and later Minister of Family and Welfare in the Lesage Government. Lafrance played an interesting role in the politics of marijuana and other drugs in Quebec. During debate on the creation of OPTAT (the Office of Prevention and Treatment of Alcoholism and the other Toxicomanias), Lafrance relied on research of the day to suggest that alcoholism was a disease, rather than a vice, like some of his other colleagues suggested. Additionally, Lafrance suggested that not only was drug use and alcoholism not specifically a problem with school-age children, but was instead indicative of larger social problems within the community. Lafrance did not run in the 1970 election, and was replaced by

Yvon Brochu Yvon Brochu (born April 25, 1944) was a politician in Quebec, Canada, and a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA). Background He was born in Asbestos, Quebec, on April 25, 1944, and was a psychologist. First term Brochu ran as a cand ...

Later life

After his retirement from the National Assembly, Lafrance continued to be involved in the community, serving on the Asbestos Regional School Board (Commission scolaire de l'Asbesterie) until 1976, and was an active member in the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic Church, Catholic Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney, Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. ...

, the local chamber of commerce, and the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste. Lafrance received an honorary doctorate in social sciences from

Université de Sherbrooke The Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS; Quebec English, English: ''University of Sherbrooke'') is a French-language Public university, public research university in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, with a second campus in Longueuil, a suburb on the Mont ...

in 1962. Émilien Lafrance died on October 21, 1977, near Lac Memphrémagog. He was buried in Danville, in the cemetery of Saint-Anne's Parish.

Post life Merits and honours

He was inducted into the Danville select club, 3rd edit, on October 20, 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafrance, Emilien Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Politicians from Estrie 1911 births 1977 deaths 20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec