Télesphore-Damien Bouchard

The Hon.
Télesphore-Damien Bouchard
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for Saint-Hyacinthe
In office
1912–1919
Preceded byHenri Bourassa
Succeeded byArmand Boisseau
In office
1923–1944
Preceded byArmand Boisseau
Succeeded byErnest-Joseph Chartier
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
In office
1930–1935
Preceded byHector Laferté
Succeeded byLucien Dugas
Leader of the Opposition of Quebec
In office
1936–1939
Preceded byMaurice Duplessis
Succeeded byMaurice Duplessis
Senator for The Laurentides, Quebec
In office
1944–1962
Appointed byWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King
Preceded byPierre Édouard Blondin
Succeeded byMaurice Bourget
Personal details
Born(1881-12-20)December 20, 1881
Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec
DiedNovember 13, 1962(1962-11-13) (aged 80)
Westmount, Quebec
Political partyLiberal
Other political
affiliations		Quebec Liberal Party
CabinetMinister 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 de 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

  • GUTTMAN, Frank Myron, The Devil from Saint-Hyacinthe: Senator Télesphore-Damien Bouchard, A Tragic Hero, iUniverse Books, New York, 2007, 405 p.

See also

References

  1. ^ Hogue, Clarence; André Bolduc; Daniel Larouche (1979). Québec : un siècle d'électricité (in French). Montréal: Libre expression. p. 239. ISBN 2-89111-022-6.