Alphonse Desjardins (politician)

Not to be confused with Alphonse Desjardins (co-operator).

The Honourable Alphonse Desjardins PC
22nd Mayor of Montreal
In office 1893–1894
Preceded by	James McShane
Succeeded by	Joseph-Octave Villeneuve
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Hochelaga
In office 1874–1892
Preceded by	Louis Beaubien
Succeeded by	Séverin Lachapelle
Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec
In office 1892–1896
Appointed by	John Abbott
Preceded by	Alexandre Lacoste
Succeeded by	François Béchard
Minister of Militia and Defence
In office 15 January 1896 – 27 April 1896
Prime Minister	Mackenzie Bowell
Preceded by	Mackenzie Bowell
Succeeded by	David Tisdale
Personal details
Born	(1841-05-06)6 May 1841 Terrebonne, Province of Canada
Died	4 June 1912(1912-06-04) (aged 71) Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada
Profession	businessman, journalist, lawyer

Alphonse Desjardins, PC (6 May 1841 – 4 June 1912) was born in Terrebonne, Canada East, and was mayor of Montreal from 1893 to 1894 and later a Canadian cabinet minister. He married Virginie Paré in 1864 and remarried Hortense Barsalou in 1880.

He was a lawyer, journalist, businessman and politician. He owned a tile factory and participated in the founding of the Banque Jacques-Cartier, which later became part of the National Bank of Canada. He represented the riding of Hochelaga in the House of Commons for 18 years, serving as a cabinet minister and Minister of Militia and Defence for a few months at the end of the Mackenzie Bowell government and then the short-lived Tupper government in 1896. He was named a senator in 1892. He became mayor of Montreal from 1893–1894. For a time he held all three posts (member of the House of Commons, Senator, mayor) simultaneously.

In 1872, he was created a Knight of the Order of Pius IX in acknowledgment of his services to the Catholic Church.

Electoral record

1891 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alphonse Desjardins	5,266	58.05	+6.20
	Liberal	Joseph Lanctot	3,805	41.95	-6.20
Total valid votes			9,071	100.00

1887 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent Conservative	Alphonse Desjardins	3,050	51.85
	Liberal	Joseph Lanctot	2,832	48.15
Total valid votes			5,882	100.00

1882 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Alphonse Desjardins	acclaimed

1878 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Alphonse Desjardins	3,039	56.48
	Unknown	Laurent-Olivier David	2,342	43.52
Total valid votes			5,381	100.00

1874 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Alphonse Desjardins	acclaimed
Source: lop.parl.ca

Gallery

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References

• Alphonse Desjardins – Parliament of Canada biography
• "Alphonse Desjardins". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.
• Gaétan Frigon: Alphonse Desjardins, lawyer, banker and politician, section in: Prudent Beaudry and other pioneering Quebec businessmen, in Legacy. How french Canadians shaped North America. McClelland & Stewart, Toronto 2016; repr. 2019 ISBN 0771072392 p 74 sqq (in French: Bâtisseurs d'Amérique: Des canadiens français qui ont faite de l'histoire. Dir. André Pratte, Jonathan Kay. La Presse, Montréal 2016)