Télesphore-Damien Bouchard Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Hon.
Télesphore-Damien Bouchard
Office:Member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for Saint-Hyacinthe
Predecessor:Henri Bourassa
Successor:Armand Boisseau
Term Start:1912
Term End:1919
Predecessor2:Armand Boisseau
Successor2:Ernest-Joseph Chartier
Term Start2:1923
Term End2:1944
Office3:Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
Predecessor3:Hector Laferté
Successor3:Lucien Dugas
Term Start3:1930
Term End3:1935
Office4:Leader of the Opposition of Quebec
Predecessor4:Maurice Duplessis
Successor4:Maurice Duplessis
Term Start4:1936
Term End4:1939
Office5:Senator for The Laurentides, Quebec
Predecessor5:Pierre Édouard Blondin
Successor5:Maurice Bourget
Appointed5:William Lyon Mackenzie King
Term Start5:1944
Term End5:1962
Birth Date:20 December 1881
Birth Place:Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec
Death Place:Westmount, Quebec
Party:Liberal
Otherparty:Quebec Liberal Party
Cabinet:Minister of Municipal Affairs, Trade and Commerce (1935–1936)
Minister of Municipal Affairs (1936)
Minister of Lands and Forests (1936)
Minister of Public Works (1939–1942)
Minister of Roads (1939–1944)

Télesphore-Damien Bouchard (December 20, 1881 – November 13, 1962) was a politician in Quebec, Canada.

Born in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, he was the mayor of the municipality from 1917 to 1930 and from 1932 to 1944 and president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in 1918. He also founded the Union des municipalités de la province du Québec (Federation of municipalities in the province of Quebec) in 1919. He served as Liberal leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1936 to 1939, after Liberal leader Adélard Godbout lost the 1936 election and also narrowly lost his own seat. Bouchard served as opposition leader while Godbout remained leader of the Liberal Party.

After the Liberals returned to power in the 1939 election, he served in Godbout's cabinet. Resigned in 1944 when he was appointed to the Senate, where he remained until his death. Overall, he was the MLA for the district of Saint-Hyacinthe from 1912 to 1919 and from 1923 to 1944.

A leading campaigner for public ownership of electric utilities, he became first president of Hydro-Québec in April 1944. Two months later he was fired by Premier Godbout, after Bouchard made a series of anticlerical statements.[1]

Biography

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Hogue, Clarence . Libre expression . 2-89111-022-6 . André Bolduc . Daniel Larouche . Québec : un siècle d'électricité . Montréal . 1979 . 239 . French .