Louis-Philippe Brodeur

The Honourable Louis-Philippe Brodeur P.C., Q.C.
9th Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada
In office February 6, 1901 – January 18, 1904
Preceded by	Thomas Bain
Succeeded by	Napoléon Antoine Belcourt
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Rouville
In office March 5, 1891 – September 21, 1911
Preceded by	George Auguste Gigault
Succeeded by	Rodolphe Lemieux
Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
In office August 11, 1911 – October 9, 1923
Nominated by	Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Preceded by	Désiré Girouard
Succeeded by	Arthur Cyrille Albert Malouin
13th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
In office October 31, 1923 – January 2, 1924
Monarch	George V
Governor General	The Viscount Byng of Vimy
Premier	Louis-Alexandre Taschereau
Preceded by	Charles Fitzpatrick
Succeeded by	Narcisse Pérodeau
Personal details
Born	(1862-08-21)August 21, 1862 Belœil, Canada East
Died	January 2, 1924(1924-01-02) (aged 61) Spencer Wood, Sillery
Party	Liberal
Spouse	Emma Brillon ​ ​ (m. 1887; Brodeur's death in 1924)​
Children	5
Alma mater	Université Laval à Montréal
Occupation	journalist, lawyer
Profession	politician

Louis-Philippe Brodeur, PC QC baptised Louis-Joseph-Alexandre Brodeur (August 21, 1862 – January 2, 1924) was a Canadian journalist, lawyer, politician and judge from Quebec. During his career he served as a federal Cabinet minister in the government of Wilfrid Laurier, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, and puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Early life

Born in Belœil, Quebec, he was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1891 election as Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Rouville, Quebec. He represented the riding continuously until his retirement prior to the 1911 election.

Brodeur was a firm supporter of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and came from a Rouges family. His father fought in the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837, and his maternal grandfather was killed in the Rebellion's Battle of Saint-Charles.

Legal and political career

As a young man, Brodeur studied law, graduating in 1884 with an LL.B. from the Université Laval in Montréal. He worked as a young lawyer with Honoré Mercier, before establishing his own law firm of Dandurand and Brodeuer with Raoul Dandurand. He also engaged in journalism for Liberal newspapers such as la Patrie and L'Électeur before becoming editor of Le Soir. He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons at the age of 29. After the Liberals won the 1896 election, Brodeur was appointed deputy speaker. He was appointed as a Queen's Counsel in 1899. He became Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada following the 1900 election.

Brodeur c. 1923

In 1904, he was appointed to the Laurier Cabinet as Minister of Inland Revenue where he introduced antitrust legislation to protect tobacco farmers from the monopolistic practices of the American Tobacco Company.

In 1906, he was promoted to Minister of Marine and Fisheries and reorganized the Montreal Harbours Commission and instituted reforms in the department to reduce patronage and corruption.

Brodeur was a member of the Canadian delegation to the 1907 Imperial Conference in London, and also helped negotiate a trade treaty with France.

In 1910, he became Minister of the Naval Service and was responsible for introducing legislation to create the Canadian Navy. This signified a move towards Canadian independence from Britain. It was opposed by the Conservative Party, which preferred Canada's participation in the Royal Navy. By the end of his term, the new Navy consisted of 233 sailors and two cruisers, one on each coast. The policy of creating a Canadian Navy was also opposed by French-Canadian nationalists such as Henri Bourassa who feared that the Canadian Navy would only be used as a device to engage Canada in British wars.

Prior to the 1911 election, Brodeur retired from politics.

Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada

On August 11, 1911, Prime Minister Laurier appointed Louis-Philippe Brodeur of Quebec to the Supreme Court of Canada after the death of Justice Désiré Girouard on March 22. Brodeur was well liked and a close friend of Laurier, though described as having shown "no great skill in politics or law."

Historians Snell and Vaughan note that Laurier appointees like Brodeur, Louis Henry Davies, and Charles Fitzpatrick, who came from elected office, lacked the well-developed legal reasoning expected of judges and did not "make as useful a contribution to the law" as their more qualified colleagues.

On October 9, 1923, Brodeur resigned from the Court at age 61 due to poor health and arthritis that impaired his ability to write. Mackenzie King, who described Brodeur as "like a brother or a father," arranged for his appointment as the 13th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, succeeding Charles Fitzpatrick.

Brodeur died on 2 January 1924, at the Lieutenant Governor's official residence of Spencer Wood in Sillery.

Family

Madame Emma Brodeur c. 1900 by William James Topley

Louis-Philippe Brodeur married Emma Brillon, daughter of J. R. (Joseph-Régnier) Brillon, of Belœil, P.Q., in June 1887. Their son, Victor, attained the rank of Rear Admiral in the Royal Canadian Navy. The École Victor-Brodeur in Esquimalt, British Columbia, is named after him. Victor's son Nigel attained the rank of Vice Admiral.

Archives

There are Louis-Philippe Brodeur fonds at Library and Archives Canada and Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.

Electoral record

1896 Canadian federal election: Rouville
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Louis-Philippe Brodeur	1,840
	Conservative	J. A. Fournier	870

1900 Canadian federal election: Rouville
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Louis-Philippe Brodeur	1,767
	Conservative	Joseph-Arthur David	682

By-election: On Mr. Brodeur being appointed Minister of Inland Revenue, 19 January 1904

By-election on 30 January 1904
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Louis-Philippe Brodeur	acclaimed

1904 Canadian federal election: Rouville
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Louis-Philippe Brodeur	1,671
	Conservative	J. A. Nadeau	999

1908 Canadian federal election: Rouville
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Louis-Philippe Brodeur	acclaimed

Further reading

• Bushnell, Ian (1992). Captive Court: A Study of the Supreme Court of Canada. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-0851-4.
• Castonguay, René (2005). "Brodeur, Louis-Philippe". In Cook, Ramsay; Bélanger, Réal (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XV (1921–1930) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
• Snell, James G.; Vaughan, Frederick (1985). The Supreme Court of Canada: History of the Institution. Toronto: The Osgoode Society. ISBN 978-0-8020-3417-5.

External links

• Supreme Court of Canada biography
• Louis-Philippe Brodeur – Parliament of Canada biography
• Works by Louis-Philippe Brodeur at Open Library
• Works by Brodeur, L. P. (Louis-Philippe), 1862-1924 at The Online Books Page