George-Étienne Cartier was the composer of Ô! Canada, mon pays! mes amours !?

Score of Ô! Canada, mon pays! mes amours!
© Parks Canada

In 1834, George-Étienne Cartier joined the electoral campaign of Louis-Joseph Papineau and Wolfred Nelson. The same year, he took part in founding the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste patriotic society, where he sang his famous poem Ô Canada, mon pays ! mes amours ! (not to be confused with the national anthem of Canada )

Cartier was admitted to the bar in 1835. Although he had just begun his law career, Cartier became increasingly absorbed by the cause of the Patriote rebels. In 1837, he took part in the battle of Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu. After living in exile in the United States for a year following this event, he wrote to the secretary of Lord Durham in 1838 to declare his loyalty to the British Crown. Several months later, he returned to Montreal, where he resumed his law practice.