Aubin-Edmond Arsenault Explained

Aubin-Edmond Arsenault
Honorific-Suffix:LL.D. M.A.
Order:13th
Office:Premier of Prince Edward Island
Predecessor:John A. Mathieson
Successor:John Howatt Bell
Lieutenant Governor:Augustine C. Macdonald
Murdoch McKinnon
Term Start:21 June 1917
Term End:9 September 1919
Office1:Leader of the Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island
Predecessor1:John A. Mathieson
Successor1:James David Stewart
Term Start1:21 June 1917
Term End1:1 May 1921
Office2:MLA (Assemblyman) for 3rd Prince
Predecessor2:Joseph F. H. Arsenault
Successor2:Adrien Arsenault
Term Start2:11 November 1908
Term End2:1 May 1921
Birth Date:1870 7, df=yes
Birth Place:Egmont Bay, Prince County, Prince Edward Island Colony
Death Place:Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Nationality:Canadian
Spouse:Anita
Party:Conservative
Relations:Joseph-Octave Arsenault (father)
Children:11
Residence:Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Alma Mater:St. Dunstan's College
Occupation:teacher, lawyer, and judge
Profession:Politician
Cabinet:Minister without Portfolio (1912–1917)
Attorney General (1917–1919)

Aubin-Edmond Arsenault (28 July 1870  - 29 April 1968) was a Prince Edward Island politician. He was the 13th premier of Prince Edward Island from 1917 to 1919.

Born in Egmont Bay, Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Arsenault's family settled on the island in 1729, when it was a French called Île-Saint-Jean. His father, Joseph-Octave Arsenault, was a provincial politician and the first Acadian from PEI to be named to the Senate of Canada. Arsenault was educated at St. Dunstan's College, Charlottetown, and St. Joseph University, New Brunswick. He studied law with McLeod, Morson and McQuarrie in Charlottetown and with Charles Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen in London. He was admitted to the bar in 1898. Arsenault married Bertha, the daughter of Francis Gallant.

He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in 1908 as a Conservative. In 1912 he became Attorney-General in the government of Premier John A. Mathieson. When Mathieson left politics for a judicial appointment in 1917, Arsenault succeeded him becoming the first Acadian to be premier in any province.

Arsenault's government repealed legislation to restrict automobile travel on the island to specific days and routes. His government also founded the PEI Travel Bureau. His government was defeated in the 1919 election, and he served as leader of the opposition until 1921 when he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island. He retired in 1946.

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