Pierre-Étienne Fortin Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable
Pierre-Étienne Fortin
Constituency Mp:Gaspé
Parliament:Canadian
Successor:Louis George Harper
Term Start:1867
Term End:1874
Predecessor2:John Short
Successor2:Louis-Zéphirin Joncas
Term Start2:1878
Term End2:1887
Office3:Member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for Gaspé
Successor3:Edmund James Flynn
Term Start3:1867
Term End3:1878
Office4:2nd Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec
Predecessor4:Joseph-Goderic Blanchet
Successor4:Louis Beaubien
Term Start4:November 4, 1875
Term End4:November 9, 1876
Office5:Senator for Kennebec, Quebec
Predecessor5:Charles Cormier
Successor5:George Alexander Drummond
Term Start5:May 13, 1887
Term End5:June 15, 1888
Birth Date:14 December 1823
Birth Place:Verchères, Lower Canada
Death Place:Laprairie (La Prairie), Quebec
Party:Conservative
Otherparty:Conservative Party of Quebec

Pierre-Étienne Fortin (December 14, 1823 – June 15, 1888) was a physician and political figure in Quebec, Canada. He represented Gaspé in the House of Commons of Canada as a Conservative member from 1867 to 1874 and from 1878 to 1887, he also represented Gaspé in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1867 to 1878. In 1887, he was appointed to the Senate of Canada for Kennebec division.

Biography

He was born in Verchères, Lower Canada in 1823, grew up in Laprairie and studied at the Petit Séminaire de Montréal. His uncle was Ludger Duvernay, Patriote and publisher of La Minerve. Fortin graduated from McGill College in medicine in 1845 and practiced at Laprairie. He helped treat patients during the typhus epidemic of 1847-48 at Grosse-Île. In 1849, he led a group of mounted constables that controlled riots after the passing of the Rebellion Losses Bill. From 1852 to 1867, he served as magistrate protecting fisheries in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Fortin also served as customs agent in the Gulf and, with his ship, La Canadienne, was the sole guardian of law and order in this region. During this period, Fortin also published a list of fish found in the Gulf region and prepared descriptions of marine mammals found there.

In 1867, he was elected to the federal and provincial legislatures for Gaspé. He was named commissioner of crown lands in the provincial executive council but resigned in 1874 after a scandal implicating the party in power. In the same year, he resigned from federal politics after it became illegal to hold seats in both houses. In 1875, he was named speaker for the provincial assembly; he was forced to resign in 1876 after allegations of improper procedures in his election. Although he was later exonerated, a replacement had already been chosen. While in office, he helped promote the development of the Baie de Chaleur Railway, telegraph service connecting the Gaspé peninsula to the rest of the province and the installation of lighthouses in the region. Fortin also helped to establish formal education in navigation in Canada. He opposed reciprocity with the United States and was a strong defender of Canadian fishing rights. He helped found the Société de Géographie de Québec and served as its first president.

He died in Laprairie in 1888, while still a member of the Senate.

In 2002, the Quebec Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune named a wildlife reserve on the Richelieu River after Pierre-Étienne Fortin.

References

External links