Louis-René Beaudoin, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetLouis-René Beaudoin
Canadian politician
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
About Louis-René Beaudoin
- Louis-René Beaudoin, (May 5, 1912 – February 21, 1970) was Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada from 1953 to 1957. Though trained as a lawyer, Beaudoin came from a working class background and financed his education by working as a bus driver and labourer.
- He became a legal advisor to the Quebec Federation of Labour and volunteered for the Quebec Liberal Party prior to winning election to Parliament.
- He founded a law firm in Montreal with Maurice Riel during the 1950s under the name Beaudoin, Riel, Geoffrion & Vermette. Beadouin was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1945 election as a Liberal from Quebec.
- He became Deputy Speaker in 1952 and was appointed Speaker of the House of Commons on November 12, 1953. Beaudoin's nomination was seconded by Leader of the Opposition George Drew.
- His reputation as a competent Speaker grew until the Pipeline Debate in 1956 in which the government invoked closure repeatedly in an attempt to force legislation through the house and force a vote with a minimum of debate. In the course of the debate, Beaudoin initially ruled that debate could occur on an appeal of a ruling by the Deputy Speaker.
- The next day, Beaudoin reversed his ruling and moved that the vote on the appeal proceed without debate.
- The Opposition was outraged and a number of Members of Parliament (MPs) stormed the Chair, calling the Speaker a "traitor" and "coward". The following Monday, George Drew introduced a motion of censure against Beaudoin whom he accused of destroying the Speakership.
- The Liberal majority defeated the motion, but less than a month later, Mr.
- Drew called attention to a newspaper in which there was a letter by Beaudoin criticizing the behaviour of opposition members during the pipeline debate.
- Beaudoin argued it was a private letter, not intended to be published.
- The following day, however, he placed his resignation before the House.
- Prime Minister Louis St.
- Laurent was out of the country, but on returning, he persuaded Mr.
- Beaudoin to stay on until the end of the Parliament. Beaudoin's reputation was destroyed.
- While he was re-elected to the House in the 1957 election, he had lost interest in political life and did not contest the 1958 election. After obtaining a Reno, Nevada divorce from his wife of 21 years, he married Alice Margaret Outram, 24 years his junior, and moved to the United States.
- Briefly enrolled in a doctoral program at Columbia University, he left without finishing his thesis and spent the remainder of his life drifting from job to job, eventually finding work as a bartender at Freddy's Tavern in Tempe, Arizona.
- In 1964 his second marriage failed and the following year he returned to Canada.
- For part of 1965 he taught high school French at Morin Heights High School in the Quebec Laurentians. In February 1970 he died aged 57 of a heart attack, "virtually penniless and alone, in the back seat of a Montreal taxi."
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