Martial Asselin

Who was Martial Asselin?

Martial Asselin, PC OC QC was a Canadian politician and the 25th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec.

Born in La Malbaie, Quebec, the son of Ferdinand Asselin and Eugénie Tremblay, he was called to the Quebec Bar in 1951. He was created Queen's Counsel in 1967. From 1957 to 1963, he was the Mayor of La Malbaie, Quebec.

Asselin was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1958 election as a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament in the Diefenbaker sweep. He represented the riding of Charlevoix.

Asselin was defeated in the 1962 election. Despite no longer having a seat, he was appointed to the position of Minister of Forestry in Diefenbaker's pre-1963 election Canadian cabinet in the hope that he and the Tories would both win the upcoming election. He served for only a month until the defeat of the Conservatives and Asselin's failure to regain his seat.

He returned to the House of Commons in the 1965 election, and was re-elected in the 1968 election.

Prior to the 1972 election, he accepted an appointment to the Canadian Senate.