Joseph-Adélard Godbout (September 24, 1892 – September 18, 1956) was a Canadian
agronomist
An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the Uni ...
and politician. He served as the 15th
premier of Quebec
The premier of Quebec ( (masculine) or eminine is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of the Coalition Avenir Québec, sworn in on October 18, 2018, following tha ...
briefly in 1936, and again from 1939 to 1944, in addition to serving as the leader of the
Parti Libéral du Québec (PLQ) from 1936 to 1949.
Youth and early career
Adélard Godbout was born in
Saint-Éloi. He was the son of Eugène Godbout,
agriculturalist and Liberal
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...
(MLA) from 1921 to 1923, and Marie-Louise Duret. He studied at the Séminaire de
Rimouski
Rimouski ( ; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski, whose motto is ''Legi patrum fidelis'' (Faithful to ...
, the agricultural school of
Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière and the
Massachusetts Agricultural College
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the Flagship university, flagship campus of the Univer ...
, in the U.S. state of
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. He then became teacher at the Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière agricultural school from 1918 to 1930. He was an agronomist for the Ministry of Agriculture from 1922 to 1925.
Political career
Member of the legislature
Godbout became a
Member of the legislature for the district of
L'Islet in the
Chaudière-Appalaches area, after he won a by-election without opposition on May 13, 1929. He was re-elected in the
1931
Events
January
* January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics.
* January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa.
* January 22 – Sir I ...
and
1935 elections.
Cabinet Minister
Godbout was appointed to the Cabinet by
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 ...
Alexandre Taschereau and served as Minister of Agriculture from November 27, 1930, to June 27, 1936.
First Premiership
Shortly after the
1935 election,
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
Leader
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, ...
, a rising star in Québec politics, forced Taschereau to call the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, which brought to light the existence of widespread corruption in the provincial government. The revelations made by the committee were embarrassing for several Liberal insiders. On June 11, 1936, less than a year after being put back in office, Taschereau resigned. He recommended to Lieutenant Governor
Ésioff-Léon Patenaude the names of
Édouard Lacroix and Adélard Godbout for his successor as Premier. Following constitutional conventions, the lieutenant governor offered the opportunity to form a government to Lacroix, who declined. He then made the offer to Godbout, who accepted. With the blessing of federal Cabinet Members, he took over Taschereau's job as Liberal Leader and Premier of Québec. Godbout formed his first government and an election was called for August 1936.
Godbout had remained untouched by the scandals. But despite Godbout's talks of "a new order" in an effort to distance himself from the Taschereau era, his first government lasted only two months, as his party suffered a humiliating defeat in the
1936 election. Led by Duplessis, the recently created
Union nationale was put in office. The Liberals were reduced to 14 seats. Godbout lost re-election in his own district of
L'Islet. He remained Liberal Leader after being reconfirmed at the
1938 party leadership convention, but
T.-D. Bouchard led the parliamentary wing of the party until the
1939 election.
Second Premiership
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
created the opportunity that Godbout needed to make a political comeback. An early
provincial general election was called in 1939 and federal Cabinet member
Ernest Lapointe, the
Quebec lieutenant of Prime Minister
Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who was the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal ...
, took the stump for Godbout. He guaranteed that no one would face conscription if voters supported the Liberals. Lapointe would die of cancer in 1941.
Through the campaign, Godbout relentlessly repeated the formal promise: "The government will never declare military conscription. I undertake, on my honour, weighing each of my words, to leave my party and even to fight against it, if even one French Canadian, before the end of the hostilities in Europe, is mobilized against his will under a Liberal government." Their promise would soon haunt Liberal politicians.
In the meantime though, Godbout made a spectacular comeback. He and 69 of his candidates were sent to the legislature. Godbout formed his second government, where he would serve as Premier and as minister of Agriculture.
Under Godbout's premiership, the provincial government implemented a number of significant
progressive legislations, laying the groundwork for the
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution () was a period of socio-political and socio-cultural transformation in French Canada, particularly in Quebec, following the 1960 Quebec general election. This period was marked by the secularization of the government, the ...
that would be implemented by the government of Premier
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 ...
a couple of decades later. In fact, the Liberal administration delivered many of the proposals made by
Paul Gouin's
Action libérale nationale in
1935
Events
January
* January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims.
* January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...
.
While Premier of Québec, Godbout published an article entitled "Canada: Unity in Diversity" (1943) in the Council on Foreign Relations journal. He asked, "How does the dual relationship of the French Canadians make them an element of strength and order, and therefore of unity, in our joint civilization, which necessarily includes not only Canada and the British Commonwealth of Nations, but also the United States, the Latin republics of America and liberated France?"
Accomplishments
These measures include:

#the enactment of the
right to vote for women in 1940, despite resistance from Duplessis and the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
;
#the establishment of a
Civil Service Commission
A civil service commission (also known as a Public Service Commission) is a government agency or public body that is established by the constitution, or by the legislature, to regulate the employment and working conditions of civil servants, overse ...
in 1943;
#the passage of an act that enforced
compulsory school attendance
Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all people and is imposed by the government. This education may take place at a registered school or Homeschooling, at home or other places.
Compulsory school attendance or ...
until the age of 14 and the introduction of
free education
Free education is education funded through government spending or charitable organizations rather than tuition funding. Primary school and other comprehensive or compulsory education is free in most countries (often not including primary textboo ...
in primary schools in 1943;
#the adoption of a
Labour Code that established principles governing union certification and the negotiation of collective agreements in 1944;
#the nationalization of the
Montreal Light, Heat & Power
The Montreal Light, Heat and Power Company (MLH&P) was a utility company operating the electric and gas distribution monopoly in the area of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, until its nationalization by the government of Quebec in 1944, under a law crea ...
Company, a private corporation who had a monopoly on gas and electric light in the
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
area, which led to the creation of
Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec () is a Canadian Crown corporations of Canada#Quebec, Crown corporation public utility headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. It manages the electricity generation, generation, electric power transmission, transmission and electricity ...
in 1944.
#encouragement of French culture and language
Relations with the Dominion government
Because he served during wartime and dealt with Dominion (federal) politicians who believed in a strong Dominion government, Godbout was forced to abandon a number of traditional provincial jurisdictions. The most notable prerogatives that he surrendered to the
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...
include:
#the opportunity to create and oversight a provincial
unemployment insurance
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...
system (a nationwide program was put into action in 1940);
#the power to tax the income of individuals and corporations, in exchange for a much more modest financial compensation from the federal government. (Almost simultaneously, the federal government of Australia usurped state governments' tax powers.)
In a
1942 plebiscite, Canadian voters were asked to release the federal government from its commitment made to the Québec voters not to declare military conscription. While the majority of predominantly French-speaking Québec refused to support such a release, English-speakers throughout Canada mostly did support it. Even though not that many people were forced to serve until the end of the war, the decision made by Mackenzie King to allow conscription (when both he and Godbout had specifically ruled out conscription earlier) was very unpopular in Québec. Duplessis, whose criticism of the federal encroachments upon the constitutional autonomy of the provinces capitalized on the Québec population's general mistrust of the federal government, had a field day.
Opposition Leader
In the
1944 provincial election, Godbout's Liberals and Duplessis' Union Nationale received similar shares of the popular vote, the Liberals getting slightly more votes but the UN enjoying a level of support in the province's rural areas that was strong enough to win a majority of seats to the legislature and thus form the government. During the 1944 election, Duplessis claimed in a very anti-Semitic speech that Godbout had together with the Dominion government agreed to take in 100,000 Jewish refugees and settle them in Quebec after the war in exchange for which the "International Zionist Brotherhood" was funding his reelection campaign.
[Knowles, Valerie ''Strangers at Our Gates: Canadian Immigration and Immigration Policy, 1540–2006'', Toronto: Dundun Press, 2007 page 149] Duplessis claimed that he would never take money from the Jews, and if were elected Premier again, he would stop this alleged plan to settle 100,000 Jewish refugees in Quebec. Through this story was entirely false, it was widely believed, sparking such a surge of antisemitism to allow the ''Union Nationale'' to win.
Godbout served as
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
until the
1948 election. Benefiting from post-war prosperity, the Union Nationale won an overwhelming majority. The Liberals won only eight seats, six of whom were located on the Montreal Island. Once again, Godbout narrowly lost re-election in his home district of L'Islet. In 1950, he relinquished the leadership of the Liberal Party to
Georges-Émile Lapalme
Georges-Émile Lapalme (January 14, 1907 – February 5, 1985) was a Quebec, Canada, politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec and leader of the Quebec Liberal Party.
Background
Born in Montreal Lapalme studied law at th ...
.
Senator
In 1949, Godbout was appointed to the
Senate of Canada
The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...
on the recommendation of Canadian Prime Minister
Louis St. Laurent
Louis Stephen St. Laurent (; February 1, 1882 – July 25, 1973) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 12th prime minister of Canada from 1948 to 1957.
Born and raised in southeastern Quebec, St. Laurent was a leading la ...
. He remained a senator until his death in 1956. His wife died in 1969 aged 79.
Legacy
Observers are divided about the significance of Godbout's legacy. Lacking the oratory skills of Duplessis, his main political competitor, Godbout is sometimes judged very severely.
Federalists stress the importance
progressive precedents that were set under Godbout's premiership.
Autonomists on the other hand criticize him for taking a weak stance in the matters of the province's autonomy.
More nuanced analysis claim that, being in power during World War II, he served in a difficult time, despite the shortcomings of his relations with the federal government.
In his 2000 film entitled ''
Traître ou Patriote'', filmmaker
Jacques Godbout, Adélard's nephew, lamented what he perceived as a lack of public knowledge about his uncle's work and premiership.
On September 27, 2007, in a ceremony attended by Premier
Jean Charest, a former electrical power station in Montréal, at the corner of Wellington and Queen streets, known as Poste Central-1 was named in honour of Godbout. A bust of Godbout by sculptor
Joseph-Émile Brunet (1893–1977) has been installed at the site.
For his contribution to the field of agriculture and the advancement or rural Quebec in general, Mr. Godbout was posthumously inducted to
Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1962 and to the
Agricultural Hall of Fame of Quebec in 1992.
Elections as party leader
He lost the
1936 election, won the
1939 election, lost the
1944 election and lost the
1948 election.
References
Bibliography
*Genest, Jean-Guy, ''Godbout'', Septentrion, Sillery, 1996, 390 pp.
Biography of Adélard Godbout from Marianopolis College*
See also
*
Politics of Quebec
The politics of Quebec are centred on a provincial government resembling that of the other Canadian provinces, namely a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The capital of Quebec is Quebec City, where the Lieutenant Governor, Pr ...
*
Quebec general elections
This article provides a summary of results for the general elections to the Canadian province of Quebec's unicameral legislative body, the National Assembly of Quebec (and its predecessor, the Legislative Assembly of Quebec). The number of ...
*
Timeline of Quebec history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godbout, Adelard
1892 births
1956 deaths
Quebec Liberal Party MNAs
Premiers of Quebec
Canadian senators from Quebec
Liberal Party of Canada senators
People from Bas-Saint-Laurent
Quebec political party leaders
Canadian agronomists
Canadian people of World War II
Massachusetts Agricultural College alumni
20th-century agronomists
20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec
20th-century members of the Senate of Canada