Étienne Parent
Portrait of Étienne Parent
Personal details
Born(1802-05-02)May 2, 1802
Parish of Notre-Dame de la Nativité, near the town of Beauport
DiedDecember 22, 1874(1874-12-22) (aged 72)
Ottawa
SpouseHenriette-Mathilde Grenier
Relations
Children5 girls, 1 boy
OccupationJournalist, editor, lawyer, civil servant, essayist and lecturer

Étienne Parent (May 2, 1802 – December 22, 1874) was a Canadian journalist, lawyer, politician and government official. A French-Canadian nationalist, he wrote extensively on political theory and governance during the 1820s and 1830s in various newspapers, particularly Le Canadien, of which he was editor. He was attracted to theories of constitutional governance based on the British constitution, rejecting constitutional developments in France, and opposing annexation to the United States.

Parent opposed the Lower Canada Rebellion in 1837, condemning the inevitable bloodshed, while also heavily attacking the colonial government for its military repression of Lower Canada's claims for self-government. As a result, he was condemned as a traitor by the advocates of the Rebellion, and imprisoned for seditious tendencies by the colonial government.

An initial opponent of the union of Lower Canada and Upper Canada into the Province of Canada, he gradually concluded that it opened the possibility for a system of responsible government through an alliance between reformers in Lower Canada and Upper Canada. His writings influenced Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine, who ultimately achieved responsible government, working in partnership with Robert Baldwin, leader of the Reformers from Upper Canada.

Parent was briefly a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, but with increasing deafness, he resigned his seat. LaFontaine appointed him as Clerk of the Executive Council, the provincial Cabinet. Parent became a public servant for the rest of his life, while providing a series of lectures on social and economic issues at the Institut canadien de Montreal. After Confederation in 1867, he continued as a federal public servant until his retirement.

Family and early life

Parent was born in the parish of Notre-Dame de la Nativité, near the town of Beauport (now part of Quebec City), in 1802. His parents were a farm couple: Étienne-François Parent and Josephte Clouet. He was the eldest of a large family of nine boys and six girls, and grew up working on the farm, acquiring habits of hard work and determination. His parents sent him to a primary school in Quebec, and then in 1814, when he was 12 years old, to the Collège de Nicolet for secondary schooling. He did well at school, winning several prizes. Five years later, in 1819, his parents sent him to the Petit Séminaire de Québec for further studies. Parent again did well, reading as many books as he could, and distinguishing himself for his writing abilities and good judgment.[1][2]

While he was at the Petit Séminaire, he met Augustin-Norbert Morin, a fellow student. Morin was already writing articles for Le Canadien, a newspaper which supported the nationalist political group, the Parti canadien. Morin encouraged Parent to submit articles to the newspaper as well, starting his career as a journalist before he was out of school. However, the seminary authorities forbade him from submitting further articles.

Parent left the school before taking his final examinations. The reason is not known. His family found him a job with his uncle, Michel Clouet, who ran a hardware store in Quebec and was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. Parent worked there for a while, then returned to work on the family farm. While there, he was visited by the publisher and editor of Le Canadien. Morin, who had been working at the paper, had relocated to Montreal for his studies in law. They offered Parent the post of editor. Parent accepted.[1]

Journalism and law

For the next three years (1822 to 1825), Parent was the editor and primary writer for Le Canadien, which supported the Parti canadien in its political battles with the governor. He wrote on the issues of the day, but also more generally, on questions of constitutionalism and governance. As editor, he also supported French Canadian journalism and writing. He was a strong supporter of the Lower Canada constitution, set out in the Constitutional Act, 1791, and condemned breaches of political liberties.[1]

He also wrote strong arguments condemning the proposal to reunite Lower Canada with Upper Canada, which the British government was considering in 1822. His writings provided intellectual rigour to the political arguments being made by leaders of the Parti canadien, such as Louis-Joseph Papineau and John Neilson. Ultimately, the British government withdrew the proposed reunification bill.[1][2]

In 1825, Le Canadien folded, and Parent began looking for other work. He held down a number of positions, including working for the former rival paper, La Gazette de Quebec, From 1825 to 1829 he studied law as a student in the office of Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal, and later in that of Charles-Eusèbe Casgrain, being called to the bar of Lower Canada in 1829. He also obtained positions as a French translator and law officer for the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada.[1]

During the turbulent politics of the 1830s, Parent was heavily involved in journalism in support of the Parti patriote, as the Parti canadienne came to be known. In 1831, he managed to revive Le Canadien for the third time, and again became the editor and leading writer. He chose "Notre langue, nos institutions, nos lois" ("Our language, our institutions, our laws") as the masthead motto, which became his own personal ideal.[1]

Rebellion

For his eventual attacks on the government, he was briefly imprisoned, even though he did not actively join the Rebellion of 1837.

Province of Canada

After the union of Lower Canada and Upper Canada into the Province of Canada in 1841, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for Saguenay. He resigned his seat a year later on appointment as Clerk of the Executive Council.

Public servant and lecturer

Parent lectured frequently at the Institut canadien de Montréal, and continued writing on questions of politics, governance, and social and economic development.

Marriage and family

In June 1829, after being called to the bar, Parent married Henriette-Mathilde Grenier, daughter of a cooper from Notre-Dame de la Nativité. The couple had six children: five daughters and one son. Three of their daughters married men who were journalists, writers, and public servants: Joséphine-Henriette married Antoine Gérin-Lajoie, Mathilde-Sabine married Évariste Gélinas, and Augustine married Benjamin Sulte, a future president of the Royal Society of Canada.[1][3][4][5]

Works

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Jean-Charles Falardeau, "Parent, Étienne", Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. X (1871-1880), University of Toronto / Université Laval.
  2. 1 2 "Biography of Étienne Parent". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
  3. ↑ Jean-Charles Falardeau, "Gérin-Lajoie, Antoine", Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. XI (1881-1890), University of Toronto / Université Laval.
  4. ↑ Philippe Sylvain, "Gélinas, Évariste", Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. X (1871-1880), University of Toronto / Université Laval.
  5. ↑ Hélène Marcotte, "Sulte, Benjamin", Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. XV (1921-1930), University of Toronto / Université Laval.

References

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