Cartier, Sir George-Étienne National Historic Person
Québec, Quebec
Sir George-Étienne Cartier
(© Topley Studio / Library and Archives Canada / PA-025472)
Address :
Montmorency Park, Côte de la Montagne Street, Québec, Quebec
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1937-05-20
Life Date:
1814 to 1873
Other Name(s):
-
Cartier, Sir George-Étienne
(Designation Name)
Importance:
Major 19th-century French-Canadian leader, Father of Confederation
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: Montmorency Park Côte de la Montagne Street, Québec, Quebec
This Montréal lawyer was one of the principal architects of Canadian Confederation. Elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada in 1848, he promoted the rights of French Canadians, reformed the legal and public education systems in Canada East (Quebec), and encouraged railway expansion. A leading member of the Parti Bleu, Cartier later headed the government with Sir John A. Macdonald, and played a key role during the conferences that led to Confederation, bringing Canada East into the federal union in 1867. A minister of influence in the first Parliament of Canada, Cartier contributed to the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway and to the creation of the provinces of Manitoba and British Columbia.