Québec City, Québec
6 September 2014
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today marked the 200th anniversary of Sir George–Étienne Cartier’s birth in a ceremony at Château Frontenac National Historic Site of Canada. During the event he unveiled a commemorative plaque and paid tribute to the important role Cartier played as a Father of Confederation. The Prime Minister was joined by Denis Lebel, Minister of Infrastructure, Communities and Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, Philippe Couillard, Premier of Quebec, and Régis Labeaume, Mayor of Quebec City.
Cartier was born two hundred years ago today on September 6, 1814 in Saint–Antoine–sur–Richelieu, Québec. Following a career in law in Montréal, he was elected a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada in 1848. A leading member of the Parti Bleu, Cartier later served as co–Premier of the Government with John A. Macdonald throughout most of the 1857 to 1862 period, and was a key player in the movement towards the Quebec Conference and Confederation. He promoted the rights of French Canadians, championed provincial rights, reformed the legal and public education systems in Canada East (Québec) and encouraged the expansion of the national railway.
The 200th anniversary of the birth of Sir George–Étienne Cartier is one of a number of nation–building milestones the Government of Canada is commemorating in the lead up to Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017. These anniversaries represent an opportunity to celebrate the events that have shaped our history and made Canada what it is today.
