Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

DORION, SIR ANTOINE

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 429 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

DORION, See also:SIR See also:ANTOINE AIME' (1816–1891), See also:Canadian lawyer and statesman, son of See also:Pierre Dorion and See also:Genevieve See also:Bureau, was See also:born in the See also:parish of Sainte See also:Anne de la Perade on the 17th of See also:January 1816. He was educated at Nicolet See also:College, and in his twenty-second See also:year went to See also:Montreal to read See also:law with M. Cherrier, an eminent lawyer for whom he retained a lasting friendship. On the 6th of January 1842 he was admitted to the See also:bar of the See also:province, became the partner of M. Cherrier, and in the course of a few years attained the highest See also:rank in his profession. He married in 1848 Iphigenie, daughter of Dr See also:Jean See also:Baptiste Trestler, of Vaudreuil. Dorion descended from an old Liberal See also:family which from See also:early days had supported the reform party in See also:Canada. His See also:father, a See also:merchant of Sainte Anne, was a. member of the legislative See also:assembly for the See also:county of See also:Champlain, from ' In the baptismal certificate the name is entered as " See also:Erne " (= Edme-Aime).183o to 1838, and his grandfather, on the maternal See also:side, represented the county of See also:Saint See also:Maurice in the same See also:body from 1819 to 1830. At the See also:time that Doricn commenced the study of law, Canada was entering upon a new phase of her See also:political See also:life. The See also:rebellion of 1837 had resulted in the suspension of the constitution of 1791, and the See also:union of the provinces, effected under the Imperial See also:Act of 184o, was framed to compel the obedience of the refractory See also:population. It was an unsatisfactory measure, providing a single legislature for two provinces, with an equal number of representatives from each province, irrespective of population. At the time the See also:lower province was the larger, but it was foreseen that a See also:tide of See also:English See also:emigration would eventually See also:place the upper province in the stronger position.

Indeed, at the dateof the Union, there were many English residents in the lower province, so that in the aggregate the English had then the See also:

majority. From the first it was apparent that See also:representation by population would become an issue, and for several years there was a See also:constant struggle for the See also:establishment of responsible See also:government, which was only achieved after the contest of 1848, when the La See also:Fontaine-See also:Baldwin See also:administration was maintained in See also:power. The difficulty had been avoided during the first years of the Union by La Fontaine, who succeeded in uniting English and See also:French Liberals, and by substituting principles for See also:race carried out a policy based upon a broader conception of human interests. Although a decisive victory had been gained by La Fontaine and Baldwin in 1848, they did not See also:press for an immediate overthrow of institutions which for years had been a cause of contention, and their See also:influence gradually diminished until, on the 28th of See also:October 1851, the administration was handed over to See also:Hincks and See also:Morin. Liberal principles had now become aggressive; the new leaders did not keep abreast of the spirit of the times, their majority decreased, and, on the 11th of See also:September 1854, a government was formed by McNab and Morin. The elections of 1854 had brought new See also:blood into the ranks of the Liberal party, See also:young men eager to carry out See also:measures of reform, and Dorion was chosen as See also:leader. Under the See also:coalition brought about by McNab between the Tories of Upper Canada and the Liberals of the lower province old abuses were removed, and, after the abolition of seigneurial See also:tenure and See also:clergy reserves, it appeared that the political See also:atmosphere was clear. In 1856 the question of representation by population was again prominent. Upper Canada had increased, and it contributed a larger See also:share to the See also:revenue, and demanded proportionate representation. La Fontaine had pointed out, at the time he was See also:prime See also:minister, that representation by population would subject the weaker province to the See also:control of the stronger, and that as he would not impose the principle upon Upper Canada at the time he would not concede it, without constitutional See also:restraint, if her position were reversed. Upper Canada now became aggressive and the question had to be settled. See also:Macdonald, who became prime minister in 1856, and had formed a new government with See also:Cartier in 1857, maintained that no See also:amendment to the constitution was necessary; that existing conditions were satisfactory.

See also:

Brown, on the opposite side of the See also:House, declared that representation by population was imperative, with or without constitutional changes; and Dorion appears to have suggested the true remedy, when he gave See also:notice of a See also:motion in 1856: "That a See also:committee be appointed to inquire into the means that should be adopted to See also:form a new political and legislative organization of the heretofore provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, either by the establishment of their former territorial divisions or by a See also:division of each province, so as to form a federation, having a federal government and a See also:local legislature for each one of the new provinces, and to deliberate as to the course which should be adopted to regulate the affairs of See also:united Canada, in a manner which would be equitable to the different sections of the province." Dorion was in advance of the time. He understood the true principle of federative union as applicable to Canada. But he did not pursue this See also:idea, and in fact his following was never sufficiently strong to enable him to give effect to the See also:sound measures he was so capable of formulating. This, perhaps, was his See also:special weakness. On the 2nd of See also:August 1858 he formed an administration with Brown, but was forced to resign after being in See also:office three days. When the question of See also:confederation was discussed a few years later he opposed the See also:scheme, believing there was nothing to justify the union at the time, although he admitted " that commercial intercourse may increase sufficiently to render confederation desirable." In 1873 he accepted the See also:portfolio of minister of See also:justice in the See also:Mackenzie government, and during the six months that he was in office passed the Electoral Law of 1874 and the Controverted Elections Act. Dorion sat as member of the assembly for the province of Canada for the See also:city of Montreal from 1854 to 1861, for the county of Hochelaga from 1862 to 1867; as member of the House of See also:Commons for the county of Hochelaga from 1867 to See also:July 1872, and for the county of Napierville from September 1872 to See also:June 1874, when he was appointed See also:chief justice of the province. In 1878 he was created a See also:knight See also:bachelor. He died at Montreal on the 31st of May 1891. No more able or upright See also:judge ever adorned the Canadian See also:bench. He had a broad, clear mind, vast knowledge, and commanded respect from the loftiness of his See also:character and the strength of his abilities. The keynote of his life was an unswerving devotion to See also:duty.

See Dorion, a See also:

Sketch, by Fennings See also:Taylor (Montreal, 1865) ; and " Sir Antoine Arnie Dorion," by Sir See also:Wilfrid See also:Laurier, in The See also:Week (1887). (A. G.

End of Article: DORION, SIR ANTOINE

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
DORIANS 		[next]
DORIS

Site © 2006 - Net Industries