Léo Richer Laflèche

Who was Léo Richer Laflèche?

Léo Richer La Flèche, PC DSO was a Canadian general, civil servant, diplomat, and politician.

Léo Richer La Flèche was born in Concordia, Kansas, on April 16, 1888. The same year, with his parents, Zotique and Ida Richer La Flèche, Léo moved to Sorel, Quebec, because of his father's work in Ottawa with the government for the civil service. Léo served with the 22nd Battalion, CEF, during World War I as a captain and major. In 1917, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the Légion d'honneur of France. He later became a lieutenant-colonel commanding the District Depot No. 4, Montreal. He would achieve the rank of major general. From 1932 to 1939, he was Deputy Minister of National Defence, Vice-Chairman Defence Council and briefly served as military attaché to Paris before the German invasion.

From 1940 to 1942, he was the associate deputy minister of War Services and was chairman of the National Film Board from 1941 to 1943. In 1941, he received an honorary LL.D. from the University of Ottawa.

He was elected as the Liberal candidate to the Canadian House of Commons for the Quebec electoral district of Outremont in a by-election on November 30, 1942, called after the current MP, Thomas Vien, resigned. He defeated Jean Drapeau, future mayor of Montreal. This same fall, Prime minister Mackenzie King named him Minister of National War Services, a post he kept until he became the first Canadian ambassador to Greece on April 17, 1945.