Louis Robichaud | |
|---|---|
 Robichaud in 1960 | |
| 25th Premier of New Brunswick | |
| In office July 12, 1960 – November 11, 1970 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Lieutenant Governor | Joseph Leonard O'Brien John B. McNair Wallace Samuel Bird |
| Preceded by | Hugh John Flemming |
| Succeeded by | Richard Hatfield |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick | |
| In office September 22, 1952 – April 30, 1971 | |
| Preceded by | J. Killeen McKee |
| Succeeded by | Omer Léger |
| Constituency | Kent |
| Senator forSaint-Louis-de-Kent,New Brunswick | |
| In office December 21, 1973 – October 21, 2000 | |
| Appointed by | Pierre Trudeau |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Louis Joseph Robichaud (1925-10-21)October 21, 1925 Saint-Antoine, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Died | January 6, 2005(2005-01-06) (aged 79) |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouses |
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Louis Joseph RobichaudPC CC ONB QC (October 21, 1925 – January 6, 2005), popularly known as "Little Louis" or "P'tit-Louis", was the second[1] (but first elected)Acadianpremier of New Brunswick, serving from 1960 to 1970.
With theEqual Opportunity program, the language rights act of 1969 establishing New Brunswick as anofficially bilingual province, and for his role in the creation of theUniversité de Moncton, Robichaud is credited with ushering in major social reform in New Brunswick.
Louis Joseph Robichaud was born on October 21, 1925,[2] in a two-storey house inSaint-Antoine,New Brunswick.[3]
At the age of 14, Robichaud left home to enter the Juvénat Saint-Jean-Eudes inBathurst to study for a career in theChurch. After his third year at the school, he decided instead to pursue a political career. He attended theCollège du Sacré-Coeur (now part of theUniversité de Moncton) and graduated in 1947 with aBachelor of Arts degree. He then went on to study economics and political science atUniversité Laval. He articled with alaw firm in Bathurst for three years and, upon being admitted to thebar, practised law for a short period of time inRichibucto.
He was elected to theLegislative Assembly of New Brunswick in 1952 as the youngest ever Acadian member of the assembly to that date.[4]
He became provincialLiberal leader in 1958 and led his party to victory in1960,1963 and1967 before being defeated byRichard Hatfield'sConservatives in the1970 election.
Robichaud was the firstAcadianPremier of New Brunswick sincePeter J. Veniot and the first to win an election. He modernized the province's hospitals andpublic schools and introduced a wide range ofsocial reforms. The Liberals also passed theNew Brunswick Official Languages Act (1969) making New Brunswick officially bilingual. "Language rights", he said when he introduced the legislation, "are more than legal rights. They are precious cultural rights, going deep into the revered past and touching the historic traditions of all our people."[5]
Robichaud also restructured themunicipal tax regime, ending the ability of business to play one municipality against another in order to extract the lowest tax rates. He introduced in 1963 theMunicipal Capital Borrowing Act and Board,[6] which is designed to act as a brake for spendthrift municipalities.[7] He also expanded the government and sought to ensure that the quality of health care, education and social services was the same across the province—a programme he calledEqual Opportunity, which is still a politicalbuzz phrase in New Brunswick. "When I first realized that there was absolutely no equal opportunity, no equality, in New Brunswick," he recalled in the 1980s, "well, I had to come to the conclusion that something had to be done immediately."
A desk made for Robichaud by theSaint John Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company and given to him in 1966, which he used during his last years as premier and which was used by his successor Richard Hatfield was returned to the Premier's Office byShawn Graham in 2006.[8]
He was instrumental in the creation of theUniversité de Moncton in 1963, while in 1969, a high school was named in his honour inShediac, New Brunswick.
In 1971, upon resigning from the legislature, he was made a Companion of theOrder of Canada and Canadian chairman of theInternational Joint Commission, a post he held until being called to theSenate of Canada on December 21, 1973. He sat in the Senate until his mandatory retirement from theupper house on October 21, 2000 upon reaching his seventy-fifth birthday.
He was a resident of New Brunswick at the time of his death fromcancer at theStella-Maris-De-Kent Hospital inSainte-Anne-de-Kent, near his birthplace ofSaint-Antoine, New Brunswick. The cancer had been discovered only a few weeks before his death. He died on January 6, 2005.[9]
| British Crown colony (1854–67) | |
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| Canadian Province (1867–present) | |
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