Joseph-Irénée-René Hamel (February 9, 1910 – December 16, 1982) was a local politician in Quebec, 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 Grand-Mère (, ) is a settlement and former municipality in central Quebec, Canada on the Saint-Maurice River. As a result of the municipal reorganization in Quebec which took effect at the beginning of 2002, Grand-Mère now forms part of the ...

Mauricie Mauricie () is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making it a prime tourist location. The region has a land area of 35,860.05 km² (13,845.64 sq mi) and a popu ...

World War II politics

During World War II Hamel joined the Bloc Populaire Canadien, a political party that opposed

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

. 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-Batisc ...

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

Fighting Duplessis

Hamel, who opposed

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 governm ...

Maurice Duplessis, 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 Shawinigan () is a city located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 49,349 as of the 2016 Canadian census. Shawinigan is also a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) an ...

’s labor class population, he was elected Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly for the district of Saint-Maurice. Hamel became one of the most effective Liberal floor leaders. 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 in

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

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

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 * Ja ...

the Liberals won the provincial election and Lesage became Premier. Shawinigan got a new bridge. Hamel was appointed to the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. He was Minister of Municipal Affairs from

to 1961, Minister of Labour from

to 1963 and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

from 1963 to 1964.

After retirement from politics

In 1964, Hamel was appointed Judge and resigned his legislative and executive functions. He died in Shawinigan in 1982.

Footnotes