Louis Archambeault

Who was Louis Archambeault?

Louis Archambeault was a Quebec notary and political figure. He was a Liberal-Conservative member of the Canadian House of Commons representing L'Assomption from 1867 to 1874.

He was born Louis Archambault at Longue-Pointe in Lower Canada in 1814. He became a notary in 1836 and set up a practice at Saint-Roch-de-l’Achigan, also becoming mayor. He was warden of Leinster County from 1848 to 1853, when the county was split into L'Assomption and Montcalm; he was warden of L'Assomption in 1854 and 1877.

In 1855, he moved to the village of L'Assomption. In the same year, he was accused of having inflated his expenses while serving as a returning officer in two earlier elections. In 1858, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for L'Assomption; he was defeated in 1861 but reelected in 1863. In 1867, he was commissioner of agriculture and public works in the provincial cabinet and he also represented Repentigny in the province's Legislative Council. He introduced measures to encourage settlement and encouraged French-speaking immigrants to settle in the province. He also served in the House of Commons until the practice of serving in both federal and provincial legislatures was made illegal in 1874. He was accused of involvement in the Tanneries scandal of 1874 which led to the fall of the provincial government of the time. From 1877 to 1882, he was mayor of the village of L'Assomption. In 1888, he gave up his seat on the Legislative Council to his son Horace.