Joseph-Napoléon-Henri Bourassa (September 1, 1868 – August 31, 1952) was a French Canadian political leader and publisher. He is seen by many as an ideological father of Canadian nationalism.
Born in Montreal, Quebec, to Napoléon and Marie Bourassa, Henri Bourassa was a grandson of the pro-democracy reformist politician Louis-Joseph Papineau. He was educated at Montreal's École polytechnique and at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts....
more
Joseph-Napoléon-Henri Bourassa (September 1, 1868 – August 31, 1952) was a French Canadian political leader and publisher. He is seen by many as an ideological father of Canadian nationalism.
Born in Montreal, Quebec, to Napoléon and Marie Bourassa, Henri Bourassa was a grandson of the pro-democracy reformist politician Louis-Joseph Papineau. He was educated at Montreal's École polytechnique and at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1890, he became mayor of the town of Montebello, Quebec, at age 22.
In 1896, he was elected to the House of Commons as an independent Liberal for Labelle County, but resigned in 1899 to protest against the sending of Canadian troops to the Second Boer War. He was re-elected soon after his resignation. He argued that Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier was un vendu ("a sell-out") to British imperialism and its supporters in Canada.
To counter what he perceived to be the evils of imperialism, in 1903 he created the Nationalist League (Ligue...
less
