Irénée Vautrin

Irénée Vautrin was a Canadian politician from Quebec. [ [http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fra/membres/notices/v-z/vauti.htm Biography of Irénée Vautrin, Assemblée nationale du Québec] ]

Background

He was born on December 21, 1888 near Napierville and became an architect.

Member of the Legislature

Vautrin ran as a Liberal candidate in the 1919 election for the district of Montréal-Saint-Jacques and won, but was defeated by Conservative candidate Joseph-Ambroise-Eusèbe Beaudoin in the 1923 election.

He was re-elected in the 1927 and 1931 elections. He served as Deputy Speaker of the House from 1930 to 1934.

Cabinet Member

Vautrin was appointed to the Cabinet and served as Deputy House Speaker from 1930 to 1934, Minister without Portfolio in 1934 and Minister of Colonization from 1934 until his defeated in the 1935 election against Conservative candidate Henry Lemaître Auger.

Soon after he left office Vautrin appeared before the "Standing Committee on Public Accounts" and became one of the favorite targets of Conservative Leader Maurice Duplessis, who exposed the corrupt practices of the Liberal government. The undesired attention earned Vautrin the unflattering nickname of "Les culottes à Vautrin". [ [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDCC-0-17-1692-11649/politique_economie/scandales_politiques/ Les culottes à Vautrin, Les Archives de Radio-Canada] ]

Death

He died on February 2, 1974 in Montreal.

Footnotes

s-ttl|title=MLA for Montréal-Saint-Jacques
years=1919–1923s-ttl|title=MLA for Montréal-Saint-Jacques
years=1927–1935