Pierre Sévigny

Joseph Pierre Albert Sévigny, PC, OC, CD, VM, ED (September 12, 1917 – March 20, 2004) was a Canadian soldier, author, politician, and academic. He is best known for his involvement in the Munsinger Affair.

Born in Quebec City, Quebec, the son of Albert Sévigny, the Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons in 1916, he graduated from Université Laval and Columbia University. Sévigny served in the Canadian Army during World War II. He was awarded the Virtuti Militari, Poland's highest military decoration for his involvement in the battle at Mont Hormel and hill 262. His Polish comrades of the 1st Light Armoured Regiment and he denied access to three Panzer divisions trying to break out of the Falaise pocket in August 1944. The action resulted in the encirclement and capture of 25,000 SS troops. He also received France's Croix de Guerre and Belgium's Croix de Guerre. After the war he wrote a book "Face à l’ennemi" about his experiences. It won the Prix Ferrières de l’Academie Française in 1948. In 1965, he wrote his second book "This Game of Politics" (McClelland and Stewart).

He was elected to the House of Commons in the 1958 election, representing the electoral district of Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, and served as Associate Defence Minister in the Progressive Conservative government of John Diefenbaker. He was reelected in the 1962 election, but was defeated in the 1963 vote. At the height of the Cold War between the Americans and Russians and acting on information provided by American sources,the RCMP warned Justice Minister Fulton that Munsinger was a alleged prostitute and a possible security risk.He was among several cabinet ministers that were named in the Munsinger Affair, a sex scandal in which it was revealed that Sévigny had had an affair with Gerda Munsinger, an alleged spy. A Royal Commission was called by the Pearson Minority government. Judge Spence was appointed to look into the matter. The inquiry chastised Sévigny for his behavior and criticized Diefenbaker for leniency towards his Ministers but absolved Sévigny of any guilt relating to any breach of security.

In 1967, he started teaching business administration at Concordia University eventually becoming Executive-in-Residence in 1982. He retired in 1995 but returned two years later as a visiting assistant professor. Later, in 1978, Sévigny and Camil Samson founded the shortlived political party Les Démocrates in Quebec.

Sévigny was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1994.

He died in Montreal in 2004.

References

* [http://mediarelations.concordia.ca/mediaroom/pressreleases/2003/10/000986.shtml 2003 Honorary Life Membership — Colonel Pierre Sévigny]

External links

* [http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/22/canada/sevigny_obit040322 CBC.ca Eye of Cold War storm, Sévigny dead at 86]
* [http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=3394 Order of Canada Citation]
* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/bio.asp?lang=E&query=12904&s=M Political Biography from the Library of Parliament]

s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for Longueuil
years=1957–1963