Source: Courtesy of Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec / 52327/1956786

MORIN, LOUIS-SIMÉON, lawyer and politician; b. 20 Jan. 1831 at Lavaltrie, Lower Canada, of the marriage of Joseph Morin, a farmer, and Félicité Peltier, niece of Salomon Juneau*, the founder of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; d. a bachelor on 7 May 1879 at Lavaltrie, Que.

From 1841 to 1849 Louis-Siméon Morin pursued his classical studies at the college of L’Assomption, then trained for the profession of lawyer in the office of Côme-Séraphin Cherrier* and Antoine-Aimé Dorion*. He was called to the bar of Lower Canada in 1853, and went into partnership at Montreal with Gédéon Ouimet* and Louis-Wilfrid Marchand*. While still young, he shone in the court-room by his eloquence and skill, especially in criminal cases. He contributed to La Patrie, a journal published in Montreal from 1854 to 1858 which gave moderate support to the Liberal-Conservative coalition.

In the general election of 1854, Louis-Siméon Morin waged a brilliant but unsuccessful struggle in the constituency of L’Assomption against Joseph Papin*, the distinguished Rouge party candidate; he was returned unopposed as mla for Terrebonne in the general election of 1857, and in 1860 entered the cabinet of John A. Macdonald* and George-Étienne Cartier as attorney general for Canada East. During the by-election which at that time was necessary after an mla entered a cabinet, the government’s opponents, represented by Godefroy Laviolette*, put up a stiff fight against Morin; he emerged victorious, but was defeated in the 1861 election in the constituency of Terrebonne by Louis Labrèche-Viger. He then stood in Laval, where he won out over Joseph-Hyacinthe Bellerose*. In 1863 Morin was again defeated in Terrebonne by Louis Labrèche-Viger.

In 1865 the government appointed him French secretary of the commission for the codification of the laws of Lower Canada relating to civil matters, replacing Joseph-Ubalde Beaudry, who had been raised to the position of commissioner following the death of Judge Augustin-Norbert Morin*. Morin held this office until the commission completed its task in 1867, on the eve of confederation [see René-Édouard Caron]. Afterwards he lived at Lavaltrie, out of public life. On 27 July 1871 the Quebec government appointed him joint protonotary, with Joseph-Octave Désilets, of the Superior Court, and clerk of the crown for the district of Joliette. He died on 7 May 1879 at Lavaltrie.

In Souvenirs et biographies, 1870–1910, Laurent-Olivier David*, while praising Morin’s talents highly, judged him as follows: “He became a minister at the age of 28, he was surrounded by friends and admirers, but he had lost in the hurly-burly of politics the habits of moderation, work, and love of duty that were required if he was to continue to add lustre to his name and bring honour to his country. He showed that he had more talent than character; his best friends were dismayed, the people disappointed.”

J.-C. Bonenfant