Wilfrid Gariepy (March 14, 1877 – January 13, 1960) was a

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politician, member of the

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and provincial cabinet minister, member of the House of Commons of Canada, and municipal councillor in

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Early life

Wilfrid Gariépy was born in

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, on March 14, 1877, born to parents Joseph Gariépy and Etudienne Boissoneault. He graduated high school from St-Laurent College and came to Edmonton with his family in 1893. Shortly after he returned to Montreal for university, earning a B.A. from

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in 1899 and a B.C.L. from

McGill University 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, ...

in 1902. He married Albertina Lessard, with whom he would have four children. He was admitted to the Alberta bar the same year and began work with the firm Taylor, Boyle & Gariépy. Later, he would head Gariépy, Landry & Landry. His younger brother was Charles Gariépy who would, like Wilfrid and their father, take an interest in politics.

Edmonton municipal politics

Gariépy's involvement in politics began with his election to Edmonton's Catholic school board in the 1905 Edmonton election. He would serve in this capacity for nine years, eventually becoming chair. In the 1906 election, Gariépy ran for election to

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, finished first of twelve candidates for alderman, and was elected to a two-year term. He was re-elected in

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, finishing first of thirteen candidates, but did not seek re-election at the conclusion of this second term. He was known for supporting the viewpoints of organized labour.

Alberta provincial politics

Gariépy made a first, abortive, bid for provincial office during the 1905 Alberta election, when he planned to run as an independent Liberal in St. Albert but withdrew before the election. He stayed in the race until election day in the 1909 election (while he was still an alderman in Edmonton), running in the same riding and under the same banner after refusing to contest the Liberal nomination on the grounds that he considered it rigged in favour of Lucien Boudreau. Gariépy was defeated by Boudreau in the election itself, finishing second of three candidates. He was more successful in the 1913 election, when he ran in the new Beaver River electoral district. He handily defeated

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candidate Ambrose Gray in a two-person race, and became a member of the

. Premier Arthur Sifton named him to his cabinet as Minister of Municipal Affairs. In accordance with the customs of the day, Gariépy resigned to contest a by-election; no opponents stepped forward, and he was acclaimed. He was re-elected in the 1917 election by an even larger margin over Gray, his 1913 opponent. When Charles Stewart took over from Sifton as premier, he initially left Gariépy in the municipal affairs portfolio, but appointed him Provincial Secretary instead in 1918. Gariépy lasted only a short time in the job, and quit a month later to move to

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

, where he had been promised a seat in the

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. However, the promised seat didn't materialize, and he returned to Alberta shortly thereafter to resume his career as an MLA (a position from which he had not resigned). During the

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Gariépy aligned himself against

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's Unionist government (of which his old boss Sifton had resigned as premier to become a member), and toured the province with Frank Oliver speaking against it. A motion was moved in the Legislature in 1920 by John Stewart questioning whether Gariépy had a right to sit and vote in the legislature as he signed the Legislature registry with his home as being Three Rivers in Quebec. The motion asked the committee of privileges and elections for investigation. John Boyle amended the motion to ask the provincial courts to investigate the matter. The amendment and motion passed on a recorded division. He did not seek re-election in the 1921 election and moved back to Trois-Rivières.

Federal politics

Some time after his return to Quebec, Gariépy was again involved in politics. He was a Liberal organizer in Trois Rivières, and was rumoured candidate in the 1923 provincial election and the 1925 federal election, but did not run in either. When the Liberal MP for Three Rivers and St. Maurice, Arthur Bettez, died on January 4, 1931, Gariépy finally did run, securing the Liberal nomination in the by-election to replace Bettez. In the by-election, held August 10, he was defeated by thirty-eight votes by

candidate Charles Bourgeois. In the 1935 federal election, Gariépy was again the Liberal candidate in the riding (now called Three Rivers). This time, he was elected from a field of six candidates (Bourgeois not among them). On the outbreak of

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, he broke from the policy of the government of

William Lyon 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 ...

, going so far as to vote against war credits, and when he sought re-election in the 1940 election it was as an

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. He was defeated in the two person race by

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, the Liberal Party's duly-nominated candidate. The King government's policy of conscription cost it popularity in Quebec, and Gariépy's critical approach gained favour. So it was that when he ran again during the 1945 election, this time as an independent, he came out ahead of his six opponents (Ryan finished fourth). During this, his second term in the House of Commons, he reconciled with his old party, and ran in the 1949 election it was once again as a Liberal. He came in fifty-nine votes behind Progressive Conservative Léon Balcer, and did not seek public office again in his lifetime.

Other activities, personal life, and legacy

In 1894, Gariépy was co-founder of Edmonton's

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. He was also member of the Société Parler Français, and represented Alberta at 1912's Congrès de la langue française in Québec. He was a Rotarian and a member of the

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. In 1909, Gariépy founded ''le Progrès libéral'', Alberta's third French-language newspaper, in

Morinville Morinville is a town in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. It is approximately north of Edmonton along Alberta Highway 2, Highway 2. History Morinville was settled by Jean-Baptiste Morin, a priest and missionary of the Mi ...

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. In 1914, it relocated to Edmonton and was renamed ''le Progrès albertain''. The paper's loyalties were to the

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, and it encouraged francophone immigration to Alberta. It folded in August 1915. Wilfrid Gariépy died January 13, 1960, in Trois-Rivières. Gariépy Neighborhood in

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

is named in his family's honor.

Electoral record

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
*
Edmonton Public Library biography of Wilfred Gariepy

City of Edmonton biography of Wilfred Gariepy
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gariepy, Wilfrid 1877 births 1960 deaths Lawyers in Alberta Alberta Liberal Party MLAs Canadian Roman Catholics Edmonton city councillors Franco-Albertan people Independent MPs in the Canadian House of Commons Independent Liberal MPs in Canada Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Politicians from Montreal Lawyers from Montreal Université Laval alumni Members of the Executive Council of Alberta McGill University Faculty of Law alumni 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta