Ernest Lapointe

Ernest Lapointe, PC (October 6 1876 – November 26 1941) was a Canadian politician.

Lapointe was a practicing lawyer in Quebec City and was appointed Crown Prosecutor for Kamouraska before entering politics.

He was first elected by acclamation to the Canadian House of Commons in an 1898 by-election as the Liberal MP for Kamouraska and was re-elected in 1908, 1911 and 1917. He resigned his seat in 1919 in order to run in the Quebec East seat vacated by the death of Sir Wilfrid Laurier.

In 1921, William Lyon Mackenzie King appointed Lapointe to his first Cabinet as Minister of Marine and Fisheries. In 1924 he became Minister of Justice and served in that position in successive Liberal cabinets until his death in 1941. Lapointe served as King's Quebec lieutenant and was one of the most important ministers in Cabinet. He shared King's vision of Canadian autonomy from Britain and chaired the Canadian delegation to the Imperial Conference of 1926 that led to the drafting of the subsequent Balfour Declaration that raised the status of dominions to one of equality with Britain and eventually led to the Statute of Westminster 1931. In the late 1930s, Lapointe disallowed several Acts passed by the Alberta Social Credit government of William Aberhart. However, he failed to disallow the Padlock Act passed by Maurice Duplessis fearing that doing so would only aid the Union Nationale government.

Lapointe helped draft Mackenzie King's policy against conscription for overseas service in 1939 and his campaigning helped defeat the Duplessis government in 1939.

His son, Hugues Lapointe, was also a parliamentarian and Lieutenant Governor of Quebec.

ee also

* Conscription Crisis of 1944

References

* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/bio.asp?lang=E&query=16322&s=M Political biography from the Library of Parliament]
* [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/king/05320113/053201130429_e.html Biography from Library and Archives Canada]