In 1876, he was re-elected in the riding of Charlevoix. His opponent contested the election and it was declared invalid, but he won the subsequent by-election in 1877. He was defeated in Rimouski in 1878 but elected by acclamation in the riding of Trois-Rivières in the same year. Langevin became Minister of Public Works again in 1879. He lobbied behind the scenes against the hanging of Louis Riel in 1885 and was one of the few Conservatives Members of Parliament to survive the resulting backlash in the province of Quebec in 1887.
He was promised the post of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec by the new Conservative Prime Minister John Abbott if he resigned as Minister of Public Works. Langevin stepped down in 1891 but Abbott appointed Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau instead. That year, Langevin was implicated with Thomas McGreevy in what became known as the "McGreevy-Langevin scandal" over kickbacks to McGreevy associated with federal contracts granted to him by the department of public works overseen by Langevin. He retired to the backbenches and then left politics in 1896.
Outside politics he was previously a newspaper editor.[1]
View on Indigenous Canadians
In 1883 he stated in Parliament "In order to educate the (‘Indian’) children properly we must separate them from their families. Some people may say that this is hard but if we want to civilize them we must do that."[2] "The fact is that if you wish to educate the children you must separate them from their parents during the time they are being taught. If you leave them in the family they may know how to read and write, but they will remain savages, whereas by separating them in the way proposed, they acquire the habits and tastes…of civilized people."[3]
Posthumous recognition
The Langevin Block office building on Parliament Hill and the Langevin Bridge in Calgary were formerly named in his honour. Langevin's group of honours insignia was sold at auction in Ottawa on May 18, 2010 for $8000.00
1The office of Postmaster General was abolished when the Post Office Department became a Crown Corporation known as the Canada Post Corporation on October 16, 1981.
1The department was eliminated in 1993 when the government was reorganized. The position of Secretary of State for Canada was not legally eliminated until 1996 when its remaining responsibilities were assigned to other cabinet positions and departments, particularly the newly created position of Minister of Canadian Heritage.
1The offices of Minister of Immigration and Colonization, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Mines and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs were abolished and the office of Minister of Mines and Resources was created and came in force on December 1, 1936.
