His Worship Camillien Houde | |
|---|---|
 Camillien Houde in 1930 | |
| 34thMayor of Montreal | |
| In office 1928–1932 | |
| Preceded by | Médéric Martin |
| Succeeded by | Fernand Rinfret |
| In office 1934–1936 | |
| Preceded by | Fernand Rinfret |
| Succeeded by | Adhémar Raynault |
| In office 1938–1940 | |
| Preceded by | Adhémar Raynault |
| Succeeded by | Adhémar Raynault |
| In office 1944–1954 | |
| Preceded by | Adhémar Raynault |
| Succeeded by | Jean Drapeau |
| Leader of theConservative Party of Quebec | |
| In office 1929–1932 | |
| Preceded by | Arthur Sauvé |
| Succeeded by | Charles Ernest Gault |
| MLA forMontréal–Sainte-Marie | |
| In office 1923–1927 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph Gauthier |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Gauthier |
| In office 1928–1931 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph Gauthier |
| Succeeded by | Gaspard Fauteux |
| In office 1939–1944 | |
| Preceded by | Candide Rochefort |
| Succeeded by | Camille Côté |
| Member of Parliament forPapineau | |
| In office 1949–1953 | |
| Preceded by | Riding created |
| Succeeded by | Adrien Meunier |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1889-08-13)August 13, 1889 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | September 11, 1958(1958-09-11) (aged 69) Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Resting place | Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery |
| Political party | Conservative Party of Quebec Conservative Party of Canada Independent |
Camillien HoudeCBE OStJ (French pronunciation:[kamiljɛ̃ud]; August 13, 1889 – September 11, 1958) was aQuebec politician, aMember of Parliament, and a four-timemayor of Montreal. He is of the few Canadian politicians to have served at all three levels of government. DuringWorld War II, Houde was interned under theWar Measures Act for campaigning against conscription.
Houde was born inMontreal on August 13, 1889 and died there on September 11, 1958. He was nicknamed "l'imprévisible"—the unpredictable. He was the only surviving child of Azade Houde and Josephine Frenette. He is descended from the first Houde ancestor, Louis Houde, who came fromManou, Eure-et-Loir,France to New France in 1647. Louis Houde's son was Louis H. who married Marie Lemay in 1685.
He was first elected to theLegislative Assembly of Quebec as a member of theConservative Party for the riding ofMontréal–Sainte-Marie in the1923 election. He was defeated in the1927 election, but re-elected in a by-election on October 24, 1928. He was elected leader of the Conservative Party on July 10, 1929, led the party to defeat in the1931 election, and failed to win a seat inMontréal–Saint-Jacques after vacating his previous seat. He resigned as Conservative leader on September 19, 1932.
In 1930, Jews inMontreal expressed anger over antisemitic statements made by Houde. During a speech, an audience member had yelled, "To hell with the Jews!" Houde replied, "Well said. They have a new country and if they won't meet your demands they can go to Palestine, their country."[1]
WhenGeorge VI andQueen Elizabeth visited Montreal on the1939 royal tour of Canada and were greeted by cheering crowds, Houde turned to the King and said: "You know, Your Majesty, some of this is for you."[2]
He moved to federal politics and lost in a bid for election as aConservative candidate for theHouse of Commons of Canada in a 1938by-election in the Montreal riding ofSt. Mary. In 1940, he was arrested and charged under theDefence of Canada Regulations. He was imprisoned atCamp Petawawa in Ontario until the end of the war. He ran again in St. Mary, this time as an independent candidate, in the1945 federal election, but was again defeated. He won a seat as an independent candidate in the riding ofPapineau in the1949 federal election by less than 100 votes. He did not run for re-election in the1953 election.
Houde became a figure of ridicule in parts ofEnglish Canada because of his conduct inopposition to conscription. During the 1949 federal election, theToronto Star, which openly supported theLiberal Party, attempted to link the unpopular Houde withGeorge Drew, then leader of theProgressive Conservative Party of Canada even though Houde was running as an independent candidate against an official Progressive Conservative candidate. TheStar accused Drew of making a secret pact with Quebec PremierMaurice Duplessis to appoint Houde to theCabinet as Drew'sQuebec lieutenant should the Tories win the election. The newspaper's campaign reached its culmination the Saturday before the election with a banner front-page headline reading:
KEEP CANADA BRITISH
DESTROY DREW'S HOUDE
GOD SAVE THE KING
(in later editions, the last line was changed to "VOTE ST. LAURENT").[3]
Concurrent to his career in provincial and federal politics, Houde was mayor of Montreal from 1928 to 1932, from 1934 to 1936, from 1938 to 1940, and from 1944 to 1954.
In 1939, Houde said that "French-Canadians are Fascists by blood", and stating that if there was a war between Britain andFascist Italy, he would prefer to side with Italy.[4]
DuringWorld War II, Houde campaigned againstconscription. On August 2, 1940, Houde publicly urged the men of Quebec to ignore the national registration measure introduced by the federal government.[5] Three days later, he was placed under arrest by theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police on charges ofsedition, and then confined without trial[6] ininternment camps inPetawawa, Ontario andRipples, New Brunswick for four years. Upon his release on August 18, 1944, he was greeted by a cheering crowd of 50,000 Montrealers,[7] and won back his job as Montreal mayor in 1944's civic election.
After the war, Houde signed a petition protesting Nazi collaboratorJacques de Bernonville's extradition to France.[8]
Houde was madeChevalier of the Légion d'honneur andCommander of the Order of the British Empire in 1935[9] and anOfficer of the Order of St John in 1953.[10]
On his death in 1958,[11] Camillien Houde was interred in theCimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges in Montreal, Quebec in an Italian marble replica ofNapoleon's tomb.
Mayor Houde was a reform-minded mayor in the areas of patronage, unemployment, and organized crime. He was also responsible for some of the major public park improvements in Montreal including the park onMont Royal with its man-made lake and park facilities. "Camilliennes" were public washrooms built by Houde during the Great Depression.[12]
After his death, MayorJean Drapeau named a new road over Mount Royal after Houde, an act many considered ironic, as Houde and many others had long opposed building roads over the city's famous mountain.
Mayor Houde threw a party for the then-new fellowship ofAlcoholics Anonymous, which was described byBill W in the book Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age as "probably the first official reception that any A.A. group ever had."[13]
| National Assembly of Quebec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | MLA forMontréal–Sainte-Marie 1923–1927 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | MLA forMontréal–Sainte-Marie 1928–1931 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | MLA forMontréal–Sainte-Marie 1939–1944 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of Canada | ||
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forPapineau 1949–1953 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of theQuebec Conservative Party 1929–1932 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of the Opposition in Quebec 1929–1931 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Mayor of Montreal 1928–1932 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Mayor of Montreal 1934–1936 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Mayor of Montreal 1938–1940 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Mayor of Montreal 1944–1954 | Succeeded by |
