1.
William Lyon Mackenzie King
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William Lyon Mackenzie King OM, CMG, PC, also commonly known as Mackenzie King, was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada in 1921–1926, 1926–1930, a Liberal with 21 years and 154 days in office, he was the longest-serving prime minister in Canadian history. Trained in law and social work, he was interested in the human condition. King acceded to the leadership of the Liberal Party in 1919, taking the helm of a party bitterly torn apart during the First World War, he reconciled factions, unifying the Liberal Party and leading it to victory in the 1921 election. His party was out of office during the harshest days of the Great Depression in Canada, 1930–35 and he personally handled complex relations with the Prairie Provinces, while his top aides Ernest Lapointe and Louis St. Laurent skillfully met the demands of French Canadians. During the Second World War, he avoided the battles over conscription, patriotism. Though few major policy innovations took place during his premiership, he was able to synthesize, scholars attribute Kings long tenure as party leader to his wide range of skills that were appropriate to Canadas needs. He understood the workings of capital and labour, keenly sensitive to the nuances of public policy, he was a workaholic with a shrewd and penetrating intelligence and a profound understanding of the complexities of Canadian society. A modernizing technocrat who regarded managerial mediation as essential to an industrial society, King worked to bring compromise and harmony to many competing and feuding elements, using politics and government action as his instrument. He led his party for 29 years, and established Canadas international reputation as a middle power fully committed to world order, Kings biographers agree on the personal characteristics that made him distinctive. He lacked the charisma of such contemporaries as Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and he lacked a commanding presence or oratorical skill, his best writing was academic, and did not resonate with the electorate. Cold and tactless in human relations, he had allies but very few personal friends. He never married and lacked a hostess whose charm could substitute for his chill, a survey of scholars in 1997 by Macleans magazine ranked King first among all Canadas prime ministers, ahead of Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier. As historian Jack Granatstein notes, the scholars expressed little admiration for King the man but offered unbounded admiration for his political skills, on the other hand, political scientist Ian Stewart in 2007 found that even Liberal activists have but a dim memory of him. King was born in Berlin, Ontario, to John King and his maternal grandfather was William Lyon Mackenzie, first mayor of Toronto and leader of the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837. His father was a lawyer, and later a professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and he attended Berlin Central School and Berlin High School. Tutors were hired to teach him more politics, science, math, English and his father was a lawyer with a struggling practice in a small city, and never enjoyed financial security. King became a lifelong practising Presbyterian with a dedication to applying Christian virtues to social issues in the style of the Social Gospel and he obtained three degrees from the University of Toronto, B. A.1895, LL. B
2.
Liberal Party of Canada
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The Liberal Party of Canada, colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism, and generally sits at the centre of the Canadian political spectrum, the Liberal Party is traditionally positioned to the left of the Conservative Party of Canada and to the right of the New Democratic Party. During the beginning of the 21st century, the party lost a significant amount of support, in the present times, the Liberal party has favoured a variety of big tent policies from both right and left of the political spectrum. It also legalized same-sex marriage and allowed the use of cannabis for medical purposes, during the 2015 election, the Liberal partys proposed policies included, Cut the middle class tax bracket from 22% to 20.88 per $100 to $1. In the 29 years after Canadian confederation, the Liberals were consigned to opposition, with the exception of one stint in government. Alexander Mackenzie was able to lead the party to power for the first time in 1873, Mackenzie subsequently won the 1874 election, and served as Prime Minister for an additional four years. However the party was able to build a solid support base in Ontario. The Liberals would spend the next 18 years in opposition, in their early history, the Liberals were the party of continentalism and opposition to imperialism. The Liberals also became identified with the aspirations of Quebecers as a result of the hostility of French Canadians to the Conservatives. It was not until Wilfrid Laurier became leader that the Liberal Party emerged as a modern party, Laurier was able to capitalize on the Tories alienation of French Canada by offering the Liberals as a credible alternative. Laurier was able to overcome the reputation for anti-clericalism that offended the still-powerful Quebec Roman Catholic Church. In English-speaking Canada, the Liberal Partys support for reciprocity made it popular among farmers, Laurier led the Liberals to power in the 1896 election, and oversaw a government that increased immigration in order to settle Western Canada. Lauriers government created the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta out of the North-West Territories, there was no national membership of the party, an individual became a member by joining a provincial Liberal party. The new organization allowed individuals to join the national Liberal Party for the first time. No national convention was held, however, until 1948, the Liberal Party held only three national conventions prior to the 1950s – in 1893,1919 and 1948). Over time, provincial Liberal parties in most provinces were separated from provincial wings of the federal party, by the 1980s, the National Liberal Federation was officially known as the Liberal Party of Canada. Under Laurier, and his successor William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Liberals promoted Canadian sovereignty, after the King–Byng Affair of 1926, the Liberals argued that the Governor General of Canada should no longer be appointed on the recommendation of the British government. The decisions of the Imperial Conferences were formalized in the Statute of Westminster, which was passed in 1931
3.
Prime Minister of Canada
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Canadian prime ministers are styled as The Right Honourable, a privilege maintained for life. The office and its functions are instead governed by constitutional conventions, the prime minister, along with the other ministers in cabinet, is appointed by the governor general on behalf of the monarch. There are no age or citizenship restrictions on the position of prime minister itself, while there is no legal requirement for the prime minister to be a member of parliament, for practical and political reasons the prime minister is expected to win a seat very promptly. However, in rare circumstances individuals who are not sitting members of the House of Commons have been appointed to the position of prime minister, two former prime ministers—Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott and Sir Mackenzie Bowell—served in the 1890s while members of the Senate. Both, in their roles as Government Leader in the Senate, succeeded prime ministers who had died in office—John A. Macdonald in 1891 and that convention has since evolved toward the appointment of an interim leader from the commons in such a scenario. Prime ministers who are not Members of Parliament upon their appointment have since been expected to seek election to the commons as soon as possible. For example, William Lyon Mackenzie King, after losing his seat in the 1925 federal election, Turner was the last serving prime minister to not hold a commons seat. The Canadian prime minister serves at Her Majestys pleasure, meaning the post does not have a fixed term, once appointed and sworn in by the governor general, the prime minister remains in office until he or she resigns, is dismissed, or dies. Following parliamentary dissolution, the prime minister must run in the general election if he or she wishes to maintain a seat in the House of Commons. Should the prime ministers party subsequently win a majority of seats in the House of Commons, if, however, an opposition party wins a majority of seats, the prime minister may resign or be dismissed by the governor general. This option was last entertained in 1925, however, the function of the prime minister has evolved with increasing power. Caucuses may choose to follow rules, though the decision would be made by recorded vote. Either the sovereign or his or her viceroy may therefore oppose the prime ministers will in extreme, for transportation, the prime minister is granted an armoured car and shared use of two official aircraft—a CC-150 Polaris for international flights and a Challenger 601 for domestic trips. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police also furnish constant personal security for the prime minister, all of the aforementioned is supplied by the Queen-in-Council through budgets approved by parliament, as is the prime ministers annual salary of CAD$170,400. Should a serving or former prime minister die, he or she is accorded a state funeral, John Thompson also died outside Canada, at Windsor Castle, where Queen Victoria permitted his lying-in-state before his body was returned to Canada for a state funeral in Halifax. In earlier years, it was traditional for the monarch to bestow a knighthood on newly appointed Canadian prime ministers. Accordingly, several carried the prefix Sir before their name, of the first eight premiers of Canada, the Canadian Heraldic Authority has granted former prime ministers an augmentation of honour on the personal coat of arms of those who pursued them. To date, former prime ministers Joe Clark, Pierre Trudeau, John Turner, Brian Mulroney, the written form of address for the prime minister should use his or her full parliamentary title, The Right Honourable, Prime Minister of Canada
4.
R. B. Bennett
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Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett PC, KC was a Canadian lawyer, businessperson, politician, and philanthropist. He served as the 11th Prime Minister of Canada from 7 August 1930 to 23 October 1935, following his defeat as prime minister, Bennett moved to England, and was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Bennett. Bennett was born on 3 July 1870, when his mother, Henrietta Stiles, was visiting at her parents home in Hopewell Hill, New Brunswick, Canada. He grew up nearby at the Bay of Fundy home of his father, Henry John Bennett, in Hopewell Cape and his father was descended from English ancestors who had emigrated to Connecticut in the 17th century. His great-great-grandfather Bennett migrated from Connecticut to Nova Scotia c,1765, before the American Revolution, taking the lands forcibly removed from the deported Acadians during the Great Upheaval. Bennetts family was poor, subsisting mainly on the produce of a small farm and his early days inculcated a lifelong habit of thrift. The driving force in his family was his mother and she was a Wesleyan Methodist and passed this faith and the Protestant ethic on to her son. Bennetts father does not appear to have been a provider for his family. He operated a store for a while and tried to develop some gypsum deposits. However, the household was a one, subscribing to three newspapers. They were strong Conservatives, indeed one of the largest and last ships launched by the Bennett shipyard was the Sir John A. Macdonald, educated in the local school, Bennett was a good student, but something of a loner. In addition to his Protestant faith, Bennett grew up with a love of the British Empire. One day, while Bennett was crossing the Miramichi River on the ferry boat and this was the beginning of an improbable but important friendship with Max Aitken, later the industrialist and British press baron, Lord Beaverbrook. The agnostic Aitken liked to tease the Methodist Bennett, whose fiery temper contrasted with Aitkens ability to turn away wrath with a joke. This friendship would become important to his success later in life, as would his friendship with the Chatham lawyer, Lemuel J. Tweedie and he began to study law with Tweedie on weekends and during summer holidays. Another important friendship was with the prominent Shirreff family of Chatham, the son, Harry, joined the E. B. Eddy Company, a pulp and paper industrial concern, and was transferred to Halifax. His sister moved there to study nursing, and soon Bennett joined them to law at Dalhousie University
5.
House of Commons of Canada
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The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons chamber is located in the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the House of Commons is a democratically elected body whose members are known as Members of Parliament. There were 308 members in the last Parliament, but that number has risen to 338 following the election on Monday October 19,2015, Members are elected by simple plurality in each of the countrys electoral districts, which are colloquially known as ridings. MPs may hold office until Parliament is dissolved and serve for constitutionally limited terms of up to five years after an election, historically however, terms have ended before their expiry and the sitting government has typically dissolved parliament within four years of an election according to a long-standing convention. In any case, an Act of Parliament now limits each term to four years, seats in the House of Commons are distributed roughly in proportion to the population of each province and territory. However, some ridings are more populous than others, and the Canadian constitution contains some provisions regarding provincial representation. As a result, there is some interprovincial and regional malapportionment relative to population, the lower of the two houses making up the parliament, the House of Commons in practice holds far more power than the upper house, the Senate. Although the approval of both Houses is necessary for legislation, the Senate very rarely rejects bills passed by the Commons, moreover, the Government of Canada is responsible solely to the House of Commons. The Prime Minister stays in office only as long as he or she retains the support, or confidence, the term derives from the Anglo-Norman word communes, referring to the geographic and collective communities of their parliamentary representatives and not the third estate, the commonality. This distinction is clear in the official French name of the body. Canada and the United Kingdom remain the only countries to use the name House of Commons for a house of parliament. The new Parliament of Canada consisted of the Queen, the Senate, the Parliament of Canada was based on the Westminster model. Unlike the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the powers of the Parliament of Canada were limited in that other powers were assigned exclusively to the provincial legislatures, the Parliament of Canada also remained subordinate to the British Parliament, the supreme legislative authority for the entire British Empire. Greater autonomy was granted by the Statute of Westminster 1931, after which new Acts of the British Parliament did not apply to Canada and these exceptions were removed by the Canada Act 1982. From 1867, the Commons met in the chamber until that was destroyed by fire in 1916. It relocated to the amphitheatre of the Victoria Memorial Museum—what is today the Canadian Museum of Nature, since then, the Commons has sat in its current chamber. The House of Commons comprises 338 members, each of whom represents a electoral district. The constitution specifies a minimum of 295 electoral districts
6.
Canadian federal election, 1930
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The Canadian federal election of 1930 was held on July 28,1930, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 17th Parliament of Canada. Richard Bedford Bennetts Conservative Party won a majority government, defeating the Liberal Party led by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. The first signs of the Great Depression were clearly evident by the 1930 election, part of the reason for Bennetts success lay in the Liberals own handling of the rising unemployment of 1930. King was apparently oblivious to the unemployment that greeted the 1930s. Demands for aid were met with accusations of being the part of a great Tory conspiracy, in retrospect, one can understand Kings reasoning. Both the Western mayors and provincial Premiers who had visited King with requests of relief were overwhelmingly Conservative, in the Premiers case, the Federal Conservatives had certainly exaggerated the Depression in its early stages solely to attack Kings government. Several other factors entered into Kings defeat, Kings campaign was the epitome of Murphys law, every campaign stop appeared to meet the Prime Minister with some kind of mishap. By contrast, Bennetts Conservatives were electric, the self-made man who led them had practically rebuilt his party and developed an election machine which could rival the Liberals. Aside from superior party organization, the Tories used it and they bought out newspapers in key areas and ensured that pro-Tory slants were kept. In the first election where radio played an important role, Bennetts vibrant, also, Bennetts tariff policy, epitomized by his infamous promise to blast Canadas way into world markets, was extremely well received in the key Liberal strongholds of the West and Quebec. In the West, agricultural production had been hurt by worldwide overproduction, Bennetts Conservatives won much of the former Progressive and Farmers vote in the West, and they were elected with 44% of the popular vote in Quebec as a protest vote. All those factors led to Bennetts eventual election, Canadian voters agreed with Bennett and the Conservatives were elected with a majority of 135 seats in the House Of Commons. The incumbent Liberals under William Lyon Mackenzie King became the opposition after being reduced to 89. Unfortunately for Bennett and the Conservatives, the Depression brought complex problems to politicians, Bennett and the Conservatives lost the 1935 election to the Liberals under the previous Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. Note, * The party did not nominate candidates in the previous election, xx - less than 0. 05% of the popular vote 17th Canadian Parliament List of Canadian federal general elections List of political parties in Canada
7.
Speaker of the House of Commons (Canada)
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The Speakers role in presiding over Canadas House of Commons is similar to that of speakers elsewhere in other countries that use the Westminster system. The current Speaker is Geoff Regan, the Speaker with the longest tenure is Peter Milliken who served four consecutive parliaments in 10 years,124 days. In Canada it is the Speakers responsibility to manage the House of Commons and it is also the Speakers duty to act as a liaison with the Senate and the Crown. He is to rule over the house and have the government answer questions during the period as well as keep decorum with the house. The term Speaker originates from the British parliamentary tradition, by convention, Speakers are normally addressed in Parliament as Mister Speaker, for a male, and Madame Speaker, for a female. While the Constitution requires that the Speaker be elected by the House of Commons, however, in 1986 this was changed and they are now selected by secret ballot. The Speaker remains a sitting MP, but only votes on matters in the case of a tie, all MPs except for Cabinet ministers and party leaders are eligible to run for the Speakership. Any MP who does not wish to put his or her name forward must issue a letter withdrawing from the ballot by the day before the vote. The election is presided over by the Dean of the House, currently Louis Plamondon, all candidates who receive less than 5% of the vote are removed from the ballot. If no candidate received less than 5% of the then the MP with the fewest vote drops off. This continues, with a break between ballots, until one candidate receives more than 50% of the vote. In the event of a tie on the ballot, the ballot is taken again. This happened once, in 1993, when Gilbert Parent won over Jean-Robert Gauthier, the winner is escorted to the Speakers chair by the Prime Minister and Leader of the Official Opposition. Scheer was the youngest Speaker in Canadian history, on December 2,2015, Geoff Regan was elected Speaker in a secret ballot by members of the 42nd Parliament over Liberal candidates Denis Paradis, Yasmin Ratansi and Conservative Bruce Stanton. Regan won on the first ballot and is the first speaker from Atlantic Canada in over a hundred years, the Speaker usually comes from among MPs of the governing party. In the 39th Parliament, three members, Peter Milliken, Diane Marleau and Marcel Proulx, ran for Speaker. So far, every Speaker from a party has been a Liberal. The Speaker is required to perform his or her office impartially, Speaker Lucien Lamoureux decided to follow the custom of the Speaker of the British House of Commons and ran in the 1968 election as an independent
8.
Canadian federal election, 1926
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The Canadian federal election of 1926 was held on September 14 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 16th Parliament of Canada. The election was called following an event known as the King-Byng Affair, in the 1925 federal election, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie Kings Liberal Party of Canada won fewer seats in the Canadian House of Commons than the Conservative Party of Arthur Meighen. Mackenzie King, however, was determined to continue to govern with the support of the Progressive Party, the combined Liberal and Progressive caucuses gave Mackenzie King a plurality of seats in the House of Commons, and the ability to form a minority government. The agreement collapsed, however, following a scandal, and Mackenzie King approached the Governor-General, Baron Byng of Vimy, Byng refused on the basis that the Conservatives had won the largest number of seats in the prior election, and called upon Meighen to form a government. Prime Minister Meighens government was defeated in a vote of non-confidence. The Liberals did not run candidates in all ridings, having an electoral pact with the Progressives and Liberal-Progressives. Note in particular the results in Manitoba, where Meighens party captured almost 40 percent of the vote, twice the vote share of any other party. Thus, Mackenzie Kings Liberals were able to govern with the support of Liberal-Progressive Members of Parliament, Byng returned to Britain at the end of the year and was raised to the rank of Viscount as an expression of confidence in him. After his partys defeat and the loss of his own seat, note that with 40% of the vote, the Conservatives did not win a single seat in the province. The explanation for this occurrence is that only three ridings in Manitoba were three-way races - Springfield, St. Boniface, and Winnipeg North -. The other 13 ridings were two-way races between the Conservatives and either the Liberals, Progressives, Liberal-Progressives, or Labour Party. Xx - less than 0. 05% of the popular vote List of Canadian federal general elections List of political parties in Canada 16th Canadian Parliament Argyle, Ray. Turning Points, The Campaigns That Changed Canada -2011 and Before excerpt and text search ch 7 Principles vs Puffiness, by J. L. Granatstein
9.
Hugh Guthrie
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Hugh Guthrie, PC, KC was a Canadian politician and Cabinet minister in the governments of Sir Robert Borden, Arthur Meighen and R. B. He was born in Guelph, Ontario, the son of Donald Guthrie, Guthrie was named a Kings Counsel in 1902. He married Maude Henrietta, the daughter of Guelph businessman Thomas H. Scarff, Guthrie was first elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal in 1900 from the riding of Wellington South. He sat in Wilfrid Lauriers caucus for 17 years, but crossed the floor to join the Unionist government of Robert Borden as a result of the Conscription Crisis of 1917, the former Liberal backbencher became a leading light in his new party, serving as Solicitor General under Borden. With the end of World War I, most Liberal-Unionists either rejoined the Liberal Party or joined the new Progressive Party, Guthrie, however, stayed with the Conservatives, becoming Minister of Defence and running for re-election as a Conservative in the 1921 election. After the election, he joined the Tories on the Opposition benches, as a result of the 1926 King-Byng Affair, Meighens Conservatives formed a government in which Guthrie served as Minister of Justice and Minister of National Defence. This second stint in Cabinet ended with the defeat of the Meighen government in that falls election, Meighen lost his seat, and Guthrie served as Leader of the Opposition and interim leader of the Conservative Party for a full year. Guthie sought the party leadership at the convention that the party held in 1927. Bennett led the Tories to victory in the 1930 election, and Guthrie was appointed Minister of Justice, in 1931, he led the Canadian delegation to the League of Nations. In 1933, he introduced legislation making it illegal to carry a weapon without authorization. In 1935, he clashed with opposition Member of Parliament Agnes Macphail who demanded an inquiry into conditions in Canadas prisons such as the whipping of prisoners. As the Great Depression worsened and millions were unemployed, the government became concerned about political instability. Guthries department was responsible for the persecution of the Communist Party of Canada, in 1933, Tim Buck was shot at by soldiers in an apparent assassination attempt while he was in his cell during a prison riot. Guthrie was forced to admit that the attack was deliberate, but claimed the intent was only to him, however. In 1935, unemployed workers in British Columbias deserted the remote relief camps established by the Bennett government, thousands of unemployed workers hopped on freight trains heading east intending to converge in Ottawa and press their demands on the government. Bennetts cabinet saw this as a movement and panicked. In the House of Commons, Guthrie charged that the protesters were a menace to the peace, order. As the protesters entered Saskatchewan, Guthrie had the Trek banned and he and Bennett ordered the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to use tear gas and revolvers to break up the Trek when it entered Regina
10.
14th Canadian Ministry
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The Fourteenth Canadian Ministry was the second cabinet chaired by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. It governed Canada from 25 September 1926 to 7 August 1930, the government was formed by the Liberal Party of Canada. Mackenzie King was also Prime Minister in the Twelfth and Sixteenth Canadian Ministries, guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation
11.
Rodolphe Lemieux
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Rodolphe Lemieux, PC, FRSC was a Canadian parliamentarian and long time Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons. He was born in Montreal as the son of a Customs officer, after a career as a journalist, lawyer and law professor he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1896 election as a Liberal. He was a follower of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and, in 1904 became Solicitor General of Canada in Lauriers Cabinet. He subsequently served as Postmaster General of Canada, Minister of Labour and Minister of Marine and his Deputy Minister in the Department of Labour was future Prime Minister of Canada, William Lyon Mackenzie King. In 1907, Laurier sent Lemieux to Japan to defend Canadian immigration policies which were discriminatory against the Japanese and he succeeded in obtaining an agreement from Japan to curtail emigration of its citizens to Canada. He also continued in his pursuits, becoming a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1908. In the 1911 election, Lemieux engaged in a series of public debates before audiences of thousands with nationalist leader Henri Bourassa who was threatening the Liberals base in Quebec. The Liberals retained a majority of seats in the province but lost government because of its loss of seats in Ontario, Lemieux was a sharp critic of the Conservative government of Robert Borden accusing it of putting the interests of the British Empire ahead of those of Canada. During World War I, Lemieux opposed conscription and supported Laurier during the Conscription Crisis of 1917, when Mackenzie King led the Liberals back to power in the 1921 election, he chose Ernest Lapointe as his Quebec lieutenant rather than Lemieux. Instead, he nominated Lemieux as Speaker of the House of Commons, Lemieux presided over the House during several minority governments. He was Speaker during the King-Byng Affair of 1926 and he remained Speaker when Governor General Byng appointed Arthur Meighen as Prime Minister rather than call an election. He attempted to rule in a neutral manner despite the charged atmosphere. Instead Lord Byng invited the Conservatives to form a government, in spite of assurances of support from the Progressive Party, the Conservatives were unable to maintain control of the House. Lemieux had to make several crucial rulings, five were appealed and one was overturned. Lemieux presided over three successive Parliaments and was the longest serving Speaker until Lucien Lamoureux broke the record in 1974, on June 30,1930, King appointed Lemieux to the Canadian Senate, where he served until his death in 1937. Rodolphe Lemieux – Parliament of Canada biography
