Home > Napoléon Antoine Belcourt

Belcourt was born in Toronto to a French-Canadian family and raised in Trois Rivieres, Quebec. He studied law at Laval University and began his legal practice in Montreal in 1882 before moving to Ottawa in 1884. He joined the law faculty at the University of Ottawa in 1891Events January 1 ? Paying of old age pensions begins in Germany January 20 James Hogg becomes the first native Texan to be governor of that state. January 29 Liliuokalani proclaimed Queen of Hawaii March 9 ? 12 ? Powerful storm off England?s south coast; and became proprietor of the newspaper Le Temps which supported the LiberalsLiberal 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 of Wilfrid LaurierWilfrid Laurier Rank 7th ( 1896- 1911) Date of Birth November 20, 1841 Place of Birth St-Lin, Quebec Spouse Zoe Lafontaine Profession lawyer Political Party Liberal Party of Canada Laurier re-directs here. For the Canadian federal electoral district see L.

He first ran for a seatSeat can refer to: A place to sit, particularly the area you sit on, rather than other elements, like armrests. See chair. The seat in a parliament. A " chair" or "seat" is also a seat of office, authority, or dignity, such as the chairperson of a committ in the Canadian 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 the 1891 Canadian election but was defeated. He first won a seat in the 1896 Canadian election and used his position as a Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament or MP is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. Australia In Australia, the term Member of Parliament refers specifically to a mem to lobby in favour of the Franco-Ontarian community.

In 1904 he became Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons but only remained in that position for the rest of that Parliament's term and stepped down following the 1904 Canadian election though he remained an MP.

In 1907, he was appointed to the Canadian Senate by Laurier.

Belcourt became a leader in the movement for French language Separate Schools in Ontario. He presided over the first Congress of Franco-Ontarians in 1910 called to oppose the Ontario government's attempts to suppress the use of the French language in schools. He was also a leader in the struggle against Regulation 17 which was implemented by the provincial government in June 1912 to limit the use of French as a language of instruction in both the public and separate school systems. Opposition culminated in demonstrations of several thousand people in Ottawa with Belcourt speaking on behalf of the protesters.

He unsuccessfully argued against Regulation 17 in Ontario's Supreme Court in 1914 and appealed all the way to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Britain where his arguments that the Regulation violated the rights of French taxpayers to have their money used in accordance to their wishes and that it deprived citizens the right to use their own language and decide upon their children's language of instruction. While Belcourt lost in court the protest movement he led prevented the Regulation from being fully implemented.

In 1924, Belcourt was made Canada's Minister Plenipotentiary to the Interallied Conference in London and, the next year, he presided over the meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Ottawa.