Home > Joseph-Aldéric Ouimet

Ouimet was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1873 Canadian election as Member of Parliament for Laval, Quebec. He was a Liberal-Conservative and supporter of the government of Sir John A. Macdonald.

After being educated in a seminary, Ouimet became a lawyer after a brief career as a journalist. He was first elected to the House of Commons at the age of 25. His advocacy of the rights of French-Canadians was challenged by the Conservative government's attitude to Louis Riel. Following the First Riel Rebellion, Ouimet argued for Riel to be pardonA pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. It is granted by a sovereign power, such as a monarch. Clemency is an associated term which is the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime itself. The acted and, in 1875Events January 12 Kwang-su becomes emperor of China. February 27 Newton Booth, 11th Governor of California resigns, having been elected Senator. Lieutenant Governor of California Romualdo Pacheco becomes acting Governor. He is later replaced by elected go, voted against a Conservative motion to expel Riel from the seat in the Canadian House of Commons to which he had been elected.

With the beginning of the Second Riel Rebellion 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 Minister of Militia Adolphe Caron asked Ouimet to raise a regiment from MontrealMontreal (/mVn. tri"Al/ in English, /mO~. re"al/ in French) is the largest city in the province of Quebec, Canada, where it also constitutes an administrative region. It is Canada's second most populous city after Toronto ( Statistics Canada), and the sec to join in the suppression of the uprising. Ouimet raised three hundred men and led his regiment as its Lieutenant-Colonel and was put under the command of Thomas Bland Strange who rejected Ouimet's proposal to negotiate safe passage for Riel.

Strange sent Ouimet to Ottawa to secure supplies resulting in newspapers accusing him of desertion. He returned west and was placed in command of Fort EdmontonFort Edmonton was established in 1795 as a trading post on the North Saskatchewan River for the Hudson's Bay Company near a post of the North West Company in what is now Edmonton, Alberta. In 1915, the original fort was dismantled. In 1966 the fort was re.

Despite fighting against the rebels Ouimet opposed the execution of Riel when he returned to Ottawa. Ouimet's pleas fell on deaf ears and despite his efforts he was condemned by French-Canadians for having helped put down the rebellion.

Ouimet voted in the House of Commons for a LiberalLiberal Party of Canada Current Leader Paul Martin Founded July 1, 1867 (nation's founding) Headquarters Suite 40081 Metcalfe Street Ottawa, OntarioK1P 6M8 Colours Red Political ideology liberal International alignment Liberal International The Liberal Pa motion to censure the government for executing Riel.

The execution of Riel seriously damaged the Conservative Party in Quebec and was one of the key factors in the party's decline and eventual loss of power. In an attempt at conciliation Prime Minister Macdonald nominated Ouimet forthe position of Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons following the 1887 Canadian election.

Due to the custom of alternating between English and French Speakers following each general election, Ouimet returned to the backbench following the 1891 Canadian election. Macdonald died in June 1891 and his longtime Quebec lieutenant , Sir Hector Langevin, was forced to resign from Cabinet due to a corruption scandal in August. In January 1892 Prime Minister Sir John Abbott made Ouimet the senior minister from Quebec and appointed him to Langevin's old job as Minister of Public Works. Ouimet stayed in that position under the succession of Prime Ministers who attempted to keep the Conservative government together and also served as Acting Minister of Agriculture and Acting Secretary of State for Canada under Sir Mackenzie Bowell. Bowell faced a caucus revolt over his handling of the Manitoba Schools Question and was forced to resign. The issue split the party as English Protestant Conservatives rejected Bowell's proposal to create a new Catholic School Board in Manitoba. With the fall of Bowell's cabinet the opposition of Tory MPs to French Catholic rights in Manitoba further hurt the party's prospects among Catholic Quebecers. Perhaps sensing that the Conservative government was doomed and that his prospects of keeping his seat were dim as Quebecers turned against the Tories, Ouimet decided not to run in the 1896 Canadian election and declined to serve in the short lived Cabinet of the Sir Charles Tupper, the final Tory Prime Minister prior to the election. He instead accepted a judicial appointment which he held until his death in 1916.