Sir Hector-Louis Langevin National Historic Person (1826-1906)
The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada is reviewing designated national historic persons, events and sites for their connection to the history and legacy of the residential school system. This review responds to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 79, which calls on the federal government to commemorate the history and legacy of residential schools.
© Topley Studio / Library and Archives Canada / PA-026409
Sir Hector-Louis Langevin was designated as a national historic person in 1938.
The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada reviewed this designation in 2023. The following aspects of Langevin’s contributions to Canadian history were declared of national historic significance.
Reasons for designation
A Father of Confederation, Langevin attended all three conferences leading to Confederation in 1867 as a member of the Great Coalition government. An eloquent defender of Quebec’s interests, he helped draft the 72 Resolutions that formed the basis of the British North America Act and worked to ensure that the new constitution reflected the spirit of the resolutions.
An ardent federalist and capable administrator, he led the Quebec wing of the Conservative Party from 1873 to 1891, and served in the Cabinet for almost 20 years, most notably as Minister of Public Works between 1869–73 and 1879–91.
As Minister of Public Works and a member of Macdonald’s cabinet, he supported the government’s aggressive assimilation policy for Indigenous children, in particular the destruction of their cultures and traditions, which was rooted in the 19th-century settler beliefs that Euro-Canadian culture and Christianity were superior to Indigenous cultures, traditions, and spiritual beliefs, and that these Euro-Canadian values should be imposed on Indigenous Peoples by means of assimilation and colonization. In a speech made in the House of Commons in 1883, he called for the removal of Indigenous children from their homes and their placement in year-round institutions for the purpose of assimilation into Anglo-Canadian society and, as Minister of Public Works, announced the government’s intention of establishing three industrial schools in the Northwest. The federally-funded residential school system expanded, with devastating consequences for Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
Review of designation
Reviews are undertaken on an ongoing basis to ensure that designations reflect current scholarship, shifts in historical understandings, and a range of voices, perspectives and experiences in Canadian society.
In 2023, this designation was reviewed due to colonial assumptions and an absence of a layer of history in the commemorative plaque text. The original text, approved in 2008, highlighted Langevin’s career as a lawyer, journalist, and Father of Confederation. The original text did not reference his role in supporting the government’s assimilation policy for Indigenous children, and in the establishment of three residential schools in the Northwest.
New reasons for designation were developed that include Langevin’s involvement in the establishment of the residential school system. No plaque for this designation was ever installed. A new plaque will not be prepared as the limited text of a plaque does not allow for adequately communicating this complex history.
Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, December 2021; June 2022.
The National Program of Historical Commemoration relies on the participation of Canadians in the identification of places, events and persons of national historic significance. Any member of the public can nominate a topic for consideration by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.