Raoul Dandurand, PC KC (November 4, 1861 – March 11, 1942) was a Canadian politician and longtime organizer in Quebec for the Liberal Party of Canada.

Raoul Dandurand
Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec
In office
January 22, 1898 – March 11, 1942
Appointed byWilfrid Laurier
Preceded byFrançois Béchard
Succeeded byThomas Vien
Personal details
Born(1861-11-04)November 4, 1861
Montreal, Canada East
DiedMarch 11, 1942(1942-03-11) (aged 80)
Resting placeNotre Dame des Neiges Cemetery
Political partyLiberal

Biography

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Dandurand and Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King in state clothing, 19 May 1939.

Dandurand graduated from the Faculty of Law at Université Laval, and worked as a corporate lawyer in Quebec.[citation needed]

Dandurand, a Montreal lawyer, was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1898 by Sir Wilfrid Laurier. He served as Speaker of the Senate of Canada from 1905 to 1909 and was either Leader of the Government in the Canadian Senate or Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian Senate from 1921 until 1942.[1][2][3] As Government Leader in the Senate he served in every Cabinet formed by William Lyon Mackenzie King from 1921 until Dandurand's death in 1942.[4]

He also served as President of the League of Nations Assembly in 1925 and was Canada's delegate to the League's council from 1927 to 1930.[5] He is perhaps best remembered for having said, in 1927, that in international affairs Canada was “a fireproof house, far from inflammable materials.”[6]

King relied heavily on Dandurand and Ernest Lapointe for advice on Quebec as well as on international affairs and it was Dandurand who suggested Louis St. Laurent for King's Cabinet after Lapointe's death.

After his death, he was entombed at the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal.[7]

Family

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In January 1886, Dandurand married Joséphine Marchand, daughter of Quebec premier and dramatist Hon Félix-Gabriel Marchand and his wife, Marie Herselie Turgeon. Josephine was born in Saint-Jean-d'Iberville, and was educated at the Convent of Les Dames de la Congregation de Notre Dame a branch of Villa-Maria. Her literary works included dramatic pieces, papers and essays on subjects of public interest and in relation to women's duties, rights and place. She founded and edited Le Coin du Feu, a women's paper. They were parents to daughter Gabrielle-Marie-Melinda Dandurand (1886–1933).

She was a member and office-bearer of the National Council of Women of Canada, in which she advanced practical schemes for the promotion of the industrial and fine arts in Canada and the establishment of a Department of Art. She was a member and office-bearer of the Women's Historical Society, the Victorian Order of Nurses. She was President of the Crèche of the Sisters of Mercy, Montreal, Quebec. In 1898, she was created an Officier Academic by the French government. In 1900, she was appointed as a Commissioner from the Canadian government of Canada to the Paris Exposition in Ottawa. In March 1903, she delivered an address before the Alliance française on "La Sociabilite."[8]

Archives

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There is a Dandurand-Marchand collection at Library and Archives Canada.[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Price, Peter (Winter 2017). "Senator Raoul Dandurand: Champion of an Independent Senate" (PDF). Canadian Parliamentary Review.
  2. ^ "Leaders of the Government". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  3. ^ "Leaders of the Opposition". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  4. ^ Canada, Senate of. "'A desire to do our best': Former senator Raoul Dandurand and the Quebec sculptor who immortalized him". SenCanada. Retrieved 2024-05-19.
  5. ^ "Right Hon. Raoul Dandurand". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  6. ^ Gibson, Sarah Katherine (2013-09-16). "Dreams of a 'fireproof house'". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  7. ^ Répertoire des personnages inhumés au cimetière ayant marqué l'histoire de notre société (in French). Montreal: Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery.
  8. ^ Morgan, Henry James, ed. (1903). Types of Canadian Women and of Women who are or have been Connected with Canada. Toronto: Williams Briggs. p. 73.
  9. ^ "Dandurand-Marchand collection, Library and Archives Canada".
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Parliament of Canada
Preceded by Speaker of the Senate of Canada
1905–1909
Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition in the Senate of Canada
1919
Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Government in the Senate of Canada
1921–1926
Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition in the Senate of Canada
1926
Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Government in the Senate of Canada
1926–1930
Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition in the Senate of Canada
1930–1935
Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Government in the Senate of Canada
1935–1942
Succeeded by