Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau

Who was Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau?

Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, born in Charlesbourg, near Quebec City, was the first Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec following the establishment of the Dominion of Canada in 1867.

He was a lawyer by profession, and practiced in Quebec City. He co-founded the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste of Quebec City in 1842. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada in 1844, and reelected in 1848, 1851, and 1854. He served as solicitor-general of Lower Canada, without a seat in cabinet, from 1851 to 1853. From 1855 to 1867, he was superintendent of the bureau of Education.

In 1867, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec in Québec-Comté electoral district and headed a Conservative government as the first Premier of Quebec. He was also the Minister of Education and Provincial Secretary. Also beginning in 1867, he was simultaneously the federal Member of Parliament for the riding of Quebec County. He resigned both his federal and provincial seats, as well the office of Premier, on February 25, 1873, following appointment as Speaker of the Canadian Senate on February 21, 1873. He resigned from the Senate on January 8, 1874, and later that year ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for Member of Parliament in the federal election in the riding of Charlevoix.