Joseph-Goderic Blanchet

Who was Joseph-Goderic Blanchet?

Joseph-Goderic Blanchet, PC was a Canadian physician and politician. He was the only person to serve as both Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons and Speaker of a provincial legislature. He represented Lévis in the Canadian House of Commons as a Liberal-Conservative member from 1867 to 1873 and from 1879 to 1883; he represented Bellechasse from 1875 to 1878. He also represented Lévis in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1867 to 1875.

He was born in Saint-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud, Lower Canada in 1825. He studied at the Petit Séminaire de Québec and Collège de Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière. He then studied medicine with his uncle Jean Blanchet and qualified as a doctor in 1850. A popular physician, Blanchet entered politics with his election as Mayor of Notre-Dame-de-la-Victoire, now part of Lévis Quebec in 1845 at the age of 25. With the Province of Canada on military alert due to the American Civil War, Blanchet joined the militia and raised a battalion to defend the frontier against raids from the United States. During the Fenian Raids of 1866 and 1870, he was in command of the militia on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River.