A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose
1876. Messrs. Angers and de Boucherville worked harmoniously together,
1416 words | Chapter 50
both being scrupulously honest and equally devoted to the public
interests. At that time the North Shore Railway, which had been talked
about for thirty years, was yet in an embryo state, private enterprise
having failed to carry out the scheme; they resolved to build the road
as a government work, with the help of the municipalities which had
voted liberal grants towards the construction of the road, Montreal and
Quebec having given $1,000,000 each. The wonderful debating powers of
Mr. Angers, and his keen foresight in looking upon this railway as the
future link of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and probably of a direct
route to the seaboard, helped to carry the measure. Thanks to the
construction of the North Shore Railway, Montreal, the metropolis of
Canada, and Quebec became _de facto_ the terminal points of the Canadian
Pacific Railway, and since the completion of this gigantic national
highway, Montreal has added 40,000 to her population. As a legislator,
Mr. Angers ranks among the foremost representative men of the Dominion;
the Electoral Act and the Controverted Elections Act bear testimony to
his intimate knowledge of law. The former act has been universally
admitted by the courts to be superior to the Dominion act, while the
latter ranks equally high. The _enquête_ is made before one judge only,
and the case is pleaded before three judges, whose decision is final,
whereas in the case of the Federal law, a controverted election case
that can be carried in appeal to the Supreme Court is distasteful to the
people of the province of Quebec, and an appeal invariably entails long
delays and enormous costs. The Superannuated Fund law, providing for the
widows and orphans of civil servants, is also due to Mr. Angers. This
law is now in force, and gives satisfaction to all the parties
concerned. Not the least important of the laws introduced by Mr. Angers,
and carried through the Lower House, in 1876, was the act framed by the
government concerning education, and giving control to both Catholics
and Protestants over their respective educational matters. It was mainly
due to his efforts that the new departmental buildings were erected in
Quebec, this being a guarantee that the historic city and the capital of
letters of the Dominion will permanently retain the seat of provincial
government. Montreal and many other municipalities having failed to meet
their obligations with respect to the grants they had voted to the North
Shore Railway, a measure was introduced during the session of 1877-8, to
compel these municipalities to hand over the amounts they owed to the
provincial treasury. Great importance was attached to this measure,
inasmuch as the province would have had to pay the large amounts
subscribed by the municipalities if the latter were allowed to evade
their just liabilities. This bill, however, as well as another
government measure having for its object an increase of revenue, created
some agitation in political circles. The lieutenant-governor, Mr.
Letellier de Saint-Just, a strong Liberal partisan, who had been a
bitter enemy of the Conservative party during twenty years, dismissed
the de Boucherville administration from power on divers pretexts, proved
groundless since, alleging among other pretences, that the premier had
not obtained the consent of the Crown before introducing the two
measures above mentioned. It was shown afterwards that Mr. de
Boucherville had obtained from the lieutenant-governor a blank form for
the introduction of the government’s financial measures. On the
dismissal of Mr. de Boucherville, the subject of our sketch took the
leadership of the Conservative opposition, and caused the legislature to
adopt several votes of want of confidence in the Liberal government,
with Mr. Joly as premier. The latter appealed to the electorate, and at
the general election held on the 28th of May, 1878, Mr. Angers was
defeated in his constituency (Montmorency) by a vote of twelve. His
defeat was due partly to the united energies of the Liberal party, and
partly to the influence of the city of Quebec, whose million Mr. Angers
had endeavoured to obtain for the province, were thrown in the balance
against him. Thoroughly convinced that the conduct of the
lieutenant-governor was contrary to the usages of responsible
government, and that such a precedent would prove dangerous to
provincial rights, Mr. Angers determined to bend his energies towards
procuring the dismissal of Mr. Letellier, and when Sir John A. Macdonald
came into power at Ottawa, at the general elections of 1878, he (Mr.
Angers), together with Hon. J. A. Ouimet (now Speaker, 1887), and the
late Hon. Justice Mousseau, took steps to attain that object, and their
efforts were crowned with success. In 1880, Mr. Angers was elected a
member of the House of Commons for the county of Montmorency by an
enormous majority, and after sitting one session, was elevated to the
bench, to the great regret of his friends who had every reason to
believe that a brilliant political career was still in store for him.
After the election of 1886, the provincial premiership was offered to
Mr. Angers, but as his acceptance of the post involved a question of
principle, he did not feel inclined to accept it, and on the Hon. L. O.
Taillon’s resignation, Mr. Mercier was offered the position, which he
accepted. The parliamentary career of Mr. Angers showed that as a
debater he had no superior, and few equals in the country. A generous
heart, a manly, straightforward character, an unblemished reputation,
profound legal learning, such are the sterling qualities that will make
of Mr. Angers an honour and an ornament to the Canadian bench. It may be
added that he is a Canadian, in the sense it is understood by the men
who intend to make this Dominion a great country.
* * * * *
=Wood, Robert Edwin=, Barrister, Peterboro’, Ontario, was born on the
31st of August, 1847, in the township of South Monaghan, county of
Northumberland. His father, Robert Wood, emigrated from Yorkshire,
England, and settled in South Monaghan, in 1833, and died in 1857. His
mother was Sarah Armstrong, of Monaghan, Ireland. Robert was educated at
the Cobourg Grammar School and Victoria College. He graduated in arts in
1873, and immediately afterwards entered the law office of the late John
Coyne, then M.P.P. for the county of Peel. Upon this gentleman’s death,
he entered the office of the late W. H. Scott, M.P.P., Peterboro’, and
afterwards studied with Edward Martin, Q.C., Hamilton. He passed his
final examination in Trinity term, 1876, but owing to the fact that only
two years and nine months had elapsed between his primary and final
examination, he could not be called to the bar until Michaelmas term of
the same year. He then commenced the practice of law in Peterboro’, in
September, 1876, and has so continued to the present. He has a large and
increasing practice, and owes his present position mainly to his own
energy and exertions. In March, 1886, upon the elevation of C. A. Weller
to the bench, he received from the Ontario government the appointment of
county crown attorney, and clerk of the peace for the county of
Peterboro’ (on the 31st of March, 1886.) Mr. Wood takes a deep interest
in Masonry, and is master of Corinthian lodge, No. 101, A. F. and A. M.
He was master of the same lodge in 1883. Prior to his present
appointment to office, he took a leading part in all parliamentary
contests, on the Reform side, principally in advocating the principles
of this party from the platform. Mr. Wood is an adherent of the
Presbyterian church. He was married on the 17th of February, 1881, to
Henrietta Frances, daughter of the late Philip Roblin, of Rednersville,
Prince Edward county, Ontario.
* * * * *
=Flynn, Hon. Edmund James=, Q.C., LL.D., Quebec, M.P.P. for Gaspé
county, is a native of the county he so ably represents in the Quebec
legislature, having been born at Percé, on the 16th of November, 1847.
His father, the late James Flynn, who was of Irish descent, was during
his lifetime a trader and farmer in Percé, the place of his birth. His
mother, Elizabeth Tostevin, was also a native of Percé, though her
father was from the island of Guernsey, one of the English channel
islands in Europe. The Hon. Mr. Flynn was educated at the Quebec
Seminary, and at the Laval University, Quebec, graduating with honours,
having taken at Laval the degree of master-in-law (LL.L.), in July,
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