Joseph Raymond Fournier Préfontaine, (; 16 September 1850 – 25 December 1905) 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 ...

politician. He was the

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from 1898 to 1902, and sent Captain Joseph-Elzéar Bernier to explore the Arctic.

Biography

Born in

Longueuil, Quebec Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly ...

, he studied at the law faculty of

McGill College McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, articled with

Antoine-Aimé Dorion Sir Antoine-Aimé Dorion (January 17, 1818May 31, 1891) was a French Canadian politician and jurist. Early years Dorion was born in Ste-Anne-de-la-Pérade into a family with liberal values that had been sympathetic to the Patriotes in 1837 ...

and Christophe-Alphonse Geoffrion, and was called to the bar in 1873. He was named a

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in 1899. In 1875, he was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Quebec A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the authority, legal authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with th ...

for the riding of Chambly. A Liberal, he was defeated in 1878. He was re-elected in an 1879 by-election, but was defeated again in 1881. He was acclaimed to the

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for the riding of Chambly in an 1886 by-election. A Liberal, he was re-elected in every election in one or another riding until dying in office in 1905. From 1902 to 1905, he was the Minister of Marine and Fisheries. When Joseph-Israel Tarte resigned from the Cabinet as Minister of Public Works in October 1902, Wilfrid Laurier, under pressure from Montréalers, gave Préfontaine the portfolio of Marine and Fisheries and, for the same reason, transferred to it from public works as "the major services relating to navigation." The new minister, while maintaining his predecessor's policy, tackled his duties with dynamic energy. He approved experiments in winter navigation and a program for installing illuminated buoys in the channel of the St Lawrence. He appointed a commissioner to preside over all inquiries into marine disasters, in place of the harbour commissioners. He also investigated the possibility of creating an independent Canadian Navy. He sent Captain Joseph-Elzéar Bernier to explore the Arctic in order to strengthen Canada's rights in this region. In 1905, he went to Great Britain and France, one of his goals being to promote a sea link between Marseilles and Montréal. He was in Paris when he was struck down by

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on 25 December. The French government held his funeral in the Église de La Madeleine in central Paris. A British battleship brought his remains back to Halifax for subsequent burial in Montréal. From 1879 to 1883, he was the mayor of Hochelaga, after which the city was amalgamated with Montreal. From 1898 to 1902, he was the

. Montréal's Préfontaine metro station, aréna Raymond-Préfontaine, parc Raymond-Préfontaine and rue Préfontaine are all named in his honour.

Gallery

Image:Raymond Préfontaine.png Image:Raymond Prefontaine.JPG Image:Raymond Préfontaine pierre tombale.JPG

Electoral record

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prefontaine, Raymond 1850 births 1905 deaths 19th-century mayors of places in Quebec 20th-century mayors of places in Quebec Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Liberal Party of Canada MPs Mayors of Montreal Lawyers in Quebec Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada McGill University Faculty of Science alumni People from Longueuil Canadian King's Counsel Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec 19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada