- Joseph Bolduc
from 1916 to 1922.
He was born in Beauce County,
Canada East (Quebec ) in 1847 and was educated at College Sainte-Marie andUniversité Laval . He graduated as a public notary in 1874 but also earned his living as a farmer and businessman.He became a leading member of his community and successfully promoted the construction of a railway connecting his town of St. Victor de Tring with the rest of his province and the eastern seabord. He was elected
mayor of his town and then warden of Beauce.In 1876 he was elected in a by-election to the
Canadian House of Commons representing the riding of Beauce,Quebec for the Conservative Party. He was re-elected in 1878 and 1882.He resigned his seat in the House of Commons upon being appointed to the Senate on
October 3 ,1884 .In 1910, he crossed party lines to support the controversial Laurier government's Naval Services Bill which created the
Royal Canadian Navy .He was appointed Speaker of the Senate by the Conservative government of
Robert Borden in 1916 and presided over the upper chamber during the contentious debate on the Military Service Act of 1917, a bill that would introduce conscription. During the debate, he felt obliged to "name" SenatorPhilippe Auguste Choquette who was attempting to delay passage of the bill.Bolduc continued as Speaker until 1922 when he stepped down to the election of a Liberal government. He remained a Senator until his death in 1924.
External links
* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/Key/SP-BL/sen/index.asp?Language=E¶m=1&id=2033 Speakers of the Senate biography]
* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/bio.asp?Language=E&query=2033&s=M Synopsis of federal political experience from the Library of Parliament]
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