Noël Dorion, (July 24, 1904 – March 9, 1980) was a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

law professor, lawyer and politician. Dorion was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1927 and was the founding president of the ''Jeune Barreau de Québec'' in 1934. He was the

crown attorney Crown attorneys or crown counsel () or, in Alberta and New Brunswick, crown prosecutors are the prosecutors in the legal system of Canada. Crown attorneys represent the Crown and act as prosecutor in proceedings under the Criminal Code and vario ...

who prosecuted Wilbert Coffin in 1954. The "

Coffin affair The Coffin affair was an event in Canadian history in which a man named Wilbert Coffin was hanged for the murder of three men. The affair started in June 1953 in Gaspésie when three men from Pennsylvania were reported missing. Their bodies we ...

", as it became known, was a contributing factor in the decision to abolish the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

in Canada as it became a widespread belief that Coffin was wrongly convicted and executed. Dorion entered politics in the 1945 federal election, running 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 Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Quebec East Quebec East (also known as Québec-Est and Québec East) was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 2004. While its boundaries changed over the decades, it was essen ...

, but was unsuccessful. Dorion finished in second place behind

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 ...

, and was the unofficial Conservative standard-bearer as the riding had no official Tory candidate. He ran as an independent along with his brother

Frédéric Dorion Frédéric Dorion (August 23, 1898 – July 15, 1981) was a Quebec politician and chief justice. He led a group of Independent MPs in the House of Commons of Canada who were opposed to the implementation of conscription during World War II. ...

, an incumbent MP, due to his opposition to

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

in the

Conscription Crisis of 1944 The Conscription Crisis of 1944 was a political and military crisis following the introduction of forced military service for men in Canada during World War II. It was similar to the Conscription Crisis of 1917, but not as politically damaging. ...

. In the 1958 election he was elected as the Progressive Conservative (PC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bellechasse riding as part of PC leader

John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker (September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 an ...

's landslide victory. Dorion was appointed to the

Canadian Cabinet The Canadian Ministry ( French: ''Conseil des ministres''), colloquially referred to as the Cabinet of Canada (), is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms ...

in 1960 as

Secretary of State for Canada The Secretary of State for Canada, established in 1867 with a corresponding department, was a Canadian Cabinet position that served as the official channel of communication between the Dominion of Canada and the Imperial government in London. Sco ...

, and was reassigned to the position of

President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsidente ...

in 1961. He held this position until his defeat in the 1962 federal election. Dorion returned to his law practice and remained an active lawyer until his death. His brothers

and

Charles-Napoléon Dorion Charles-Napoléon Dorion, (13 August 1887 – 3 December 1978) was a Quebec lawyer and politician. He was born in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec and admitted to the Quebec bar in July 1914. He practiced law in Quebec City with his brothers Fré ...

were also MPs at various times. His granddaughter

Catherine Dorion Catherine Dorion is a Canadian politician from Quebec, who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2018 provincial election. She represented the electoral district of Taschereau as a member of Québec solidaire (QS) from 2018 to ...

was a former 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 ...

Sources

Law Society of Quebec biographies

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorion, Noel Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Lawyers in Quebec 1904 births 1980 deaths 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada Academic staff of Université Laval