Louis Lacoste

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Louis Lacoste (April 3, 1798 – November 26, 1878) was a notary and politician from Lower Canada, who later served in Canada East and the Province of Canada (now Quebec). He was born in Boucherville and became a leading civil-law notary, eventually serving as president of the Montreal district’s Chambre des notaires.

In 1834, Lacoste was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for Chambly as a supporter of the Parti patriote and Louis-Joseph Papineau. He spoke at the Assembly of the Six Counties in 1837, calling for major reforms. When the Lower Canada Rebellion began, he was arrested in December 1837 and imprisoned without trial until July 1838, then released on bail and returned to his notary work.

After the 1840 Union Act created the Province of Canada, Lacoste was elected to its Legislative Assembly for Chambly in 1843. He joined the French-Canadian Group under LaFontaine and Baldwin and backed the push for responsible government. He was re-elected several times (1844, 1849, 1851, 1858) and, in 1861, moved to the Legislative Council, where he served until Confederation in 1867.

With Confederation, Lacoste became one of the original Senators of Canada, serving from 1867 until his death in 1878. He was married three times and had two sons, including Alexandre Lacoste, who also became a senator and later chief justice of Quebec’s highest court. Lacoste died in Boucherville at the age of 80.

His career shows a long commitment to reform, French-Canadian rights, and national governance in Canada.