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As the age of 22 he became the editor of Le Courrier de St-Hyacinthe. He opposed the Confederation project as early as 1864, believing that it would be detrimental to French Canadians.
In 1871 he founded the Parti National and was elected to the House of CommonsThe House of Commons (in French, la Chambre des communes is the directly elected lower house of the Parliament of Canada which sits in the nation's capital of Ottawa, Ontario. Leadership Prime Minister and Cabinet Under the Westminster system, the prime m in 1872Events January 2 Brigham Young, is arrested for bigamy (25 wives). February 20 In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens. March 1 Yellowstone National Park is established as the world's first national park March 5 George Westinghouse patents t. He became the leader of the Parti libéral du Québec in 1883Events January January 16 The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil service, is passed January 19 The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires begins service ( Roselle, New Jersey) It was built by Thomas E. He strongly opposed the execution of Louis RielLouis David Riel ( October 22, 1844 November 16, 1885), sometimes called the "Father of Manitoba", was a Canadian politician and leader of the Metis, an ethnic group of mixed Cree, Ojibway, Saulteaux, French Canadian, and British descent. He led a Resista in 18851885 is a common year starting on Thursday (click on link for calendar) Events January January 4 The first successful appendectomy is performed (Dr. William Grant; patient was Mary Gartside). January 20 L. Thompson patents the roller coaster. January 26 T; this event helped him win popular support, and the Quebec Conservative Party lost support because their federal government counterparts had ordered Riel's execution.
Seizing the opportunity to build a coalition with dissident Conservatives, Mercier revived the Parti National name for the 1886 Quebec election and won a majority of seats. However, the coalition consisted of mostly Liberals and only a few Conservatives, so the "Liberal" name was soon reinstituted. The Conservatives, reduced to a minority in the Legislative Assembly, clung to power for a few more months, but Mercier became Premier of Quebec in 1887.
He initiated the idea of interprovincial conferences in 1887 and became the first Quebec premier to defend the principle of provincial autonomy within the confederation, campaiging to abolish the federal government's claimed right to veto provincial legislation (a couple of years after his death, the British Privy Council did so).
With his strong nationalist stance, Mercier was very much a precursor of later nationalist Premiers in future decades who confronted the federal government and tried to win more power for Quebec. In this, he was somewhat ahead of his time. He promoted contacts with francophones in other parts of North America outside of Quebec including Western Canada and New England; at that point in history those francophones had not yet been assimilated to the extent they would be in the future. Mercier promoted reform, economic development, Catholicism, and the French language and won popularity but also made enemies. He was re-elected in the 1890 Quebec election with an increased majority.
On December 16, 1891, he was dismissed by Lieutenant Governor Auguste-Réal Angers after a report concluded that his government had diverted public funds. He lost the 1892 Quebec election and gave up the party leadership to Félix-Gabriel Marchand. He was brought to trial later that year and found not guilty when a second report concluded differently on the matter. However, his health had greatly deteriorated and his political career was over. He died in 1894 at the age of only 54 and was interred in the Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges in Montreal, Quebec.