Édouard Lacroix

Canadian politician

Édouard Lacroix

Member of the Canadian Parliament for Beauce
In office 1925–1943
Preceded by	Henri Sévérin Béland
Succeeded by	Ludger Dionne
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for Beauce
In office 1944–1945
Preceded by	Henri-René Renault
Succeeded by	Georges-Octave Poulin

Personal details
Born	(1889-01-06)January 6, 1889 Sainte-Marie, Quebec
Died	January 19, 1963(1963-01-19) (aged 74) Saint-Georges, Quebec
Political party	Liberal
Children	Robert Dutil, grandson

Édouard Lacroix (January 6, 1889 – January 19, 1963) was a politician and business person in Quebec, Canada.^[1]

Background

He was born on January 6, 1889, in Sainte-Marie, Quebec. At the age of twelve he began working in United States lumber camps along the Maine border, where he learned the logging trade. He returned to Saint-Georges, Quebec, at the age of sixteen and formed his own company in 1911.^[2] He made career in forestry and opened a lumber plant in Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine.^[3]

Member of Parliament

Lacroix ran as a Liberal candidate in the district of Beauce in the 1925 federal election and won. He was re-elected in the 1926, 1930, 1935 and 1940 elections.

In September 1939, Lacroix and fellow Quebec Liberal MP Liguori Lacombe introduced an amendment calling for Canadian "non-participation" in the Second World War, reflecting some reluctance in French Canada to join Britain in war. The two MPs, who proved to be the amendment's only supporters, were condemned in a Globe and Mail editorial the following day as "two French-Canadians who gained eternal distinction by an attitude unworthy of their people and country."^[4]^[5]

He left the Liberals and joined the Bloc Populaire Canadien on February 18, 1943. He resigned his seat on July 11, 1944, to switch to provincial politics.

Provincial politics

Lacroix, who had been a supporter of the Action libérale nationale in the 1930s, successfully ran as a Bloc Populaire candidate in the provincial district of Beauce in the 1944 provincial election. He never took his seat at the Legislative Assembly. He resigned and left politics on May 14, 1945.

Death

He died on January 19, 1963.

References

^ "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
^ "Edouard Lacroix". The Canadian Business Hall of Fame. JA Canada. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
^ "Édouard Lacroix, Un Beauceron Gaspésien". Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2008.
^ "1939: 'Canada at the side of Britain'". The CBC Digital Archives Website. CBC Radio. 3 September 1939. Retrieved 20 June 2009. Last updated: 5 December 2008.
^ "Canada Has Decided". The Globe and Mail. 11 September 1939. Retrieved 20 June 2009. Via Canadian Museum of Civilization digital collections.