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LA VERGNE, ARMAND, lawyer, journalist, politician, newspaper director, author, lecturer, and militia officer; b. 21 Feb. 1880 in Arthabaskaville (Victoriaville), Que., son of Joseph Lavergne, a lawyer, and Émilie Barthe*; m. 1 Dec. 1904 Georgette Roy in the parish of Notre-Dame in Montreal; they had no children; d. 5 March 1935 in Ottawa and was buried three days later in the cemetery of the parish of Saint-Christophe-d’Arthabaska in Arthabaska (Victoriaville).

Armand La Vergne’s ancestor, François Lavergne, a mason and a native of the Saint-Michel-des-Lions parish in Limoges, France, arrived in New France about 1669–70. On 19 Oct. 1671 he married, at Quebec, Françoise Lefrançois, a fille du roi, from the Ouville parish of Lisieux, France. At the end of the 17th or beginning of the 18th century, one of their sons, who was named Arnoul but called himself Renaud, settled at the Saint-Thomas-de-la-Pointe-à-Lacaille (Montmagny) mission in the region that would become Saint-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud. On 25 Nov. 1693 he married Marguerite Daniau. Among their descendants was Armand’s father, Joseph, who was born on 29 Oct. 1847. In 1874 he went to Arthabaskaville to join the law firm of Wilfrid Laurier* [see Sir Wilfrid Laurier].

At the time of Armand’s birth, Arthabaskaville, the administrative centre of the Arthabaska judicial district, numbered some 992 inhabitants, of whom 97.2 per cent were francophone and 99.4 per cent Roman Catholic. Joseph had married Émilie Barthe there in 1876 and the couple already had one child, Gabrielle, born in 1877. Joseph, a man of average ability, moved up the ranks, being elected Liberal mp for the federal riding of Drummond and Arthabaska in 1887. Émilie quickly joined the local elite, and her house became the social centre of the village. Her guests – one in particular – fell under her spell: Wilfrid Laurier. It was widely known that he and Émilie had a liaison, one of the most famous in Canadian political history. In fact a rumour, never substantiated, went the rounds: Armand was said to be Laurier’s son. Armand would later be taunted mercilessly.

Armand spent the best moments of his childhood in Arthabaskaville. He makes this clear in his memoirs, Trente ans de vie nationale. The mischievous, highly intelligent, and infectiously cheerful child, already lightning fast with his retorts, earned Laurier’s admiration. A voracious reader, he showed an intellectual curiosity unusual for his age. Freedom loving and ill-disciplined, he took great pleasure in roaming the forests, hunting small animals, and seeking traces of the passage of First Nations peoples. The forest would remain for him a favourite place and hunting a favourite activity; they would later be the cause of very serious health problems.

Armand was not, and never would be, a studious man. He was indolent and a dilettante, preferring to be inspired by mentors, a pattern he would repeat in his political life. Nonetheless, he won prizes and certificates of merit at Arthabaskaville’s Collège Commercial du Sacré-Cœur, to which he was admitted in 1885. On 5 Sept. 1890 he entered the Petit Séminaire de Québec to pursue classical studies, remaining there until his sixth year (Rhetoric). He won no prizes and had to be satisfied with honourable mentions and certificates of merit. In 1897–98 he was at the College of Ottawa, a post-secondary institution. He stayed for only a year, during which he became vice-president of the drama society and achieved a silver medal for excellence in Christian doctrine. In the summer of 1898 his family took him to Europe. In Paris he admired the actor Constant Coquelin, known as Coquelin the Elder, in Edmond Rostand’s play Cyrano de Bergerac and thereby discovered the foundation of what was to become the obsession of his career: his unwavering defence of the French language. Eventually, on 22 Aug. 1899, he was officially accepted to study the profession of law in the province of Quebec, which he did at the faculty of law at the Université Laval in Quebec City, becoming student president in September 1901. In July 1903 he was admitted, not without difficulty, to the provincial bar.

At age 23 the lawyer La Vergne had a pleasing manner that appealed to clients. In November 1903 he opened a solo practice in Quebec City, which paid little. The following January he moved the practice to Montmagny, the home of his ancestors, where in 1905 he also became the director of Le Courrier de Montmagny [see Philippe-Auguste Choquette*], a position he held until 2 Feb. 1906. He practised mainly in Quebec City, either alone or in association with other lawyers, while running a practice in Montmagny and the Beauce up to at least June 1907. For a little over 31 years he took on cases in various areas of the law and was engaged in well-known trials. None made him wealthy. Of note are the cases of conscripts during the First World War and victims of the Quebec City riots [see Georges Demeule*] in 1918. He also participated in the case of Télesphore Gagnon, who was accused of being involved in the death of Aurore Gagnon* (known as Aurore the martyred child) in 1920, and in 1921 and 1922 he took on cases related to the mysterious Blanche Garneau murder. La Vergne was named kc on 14 June 1918 and bâtonnier of the judicial district of Quebec on 1 May 1930.

Early on, La Vergne developed an all-consuming passion for his country’s political life. Until 1899 he found the Liberal Party and Wilfrid Laurier attractive. In 1899–1900, however, he became strongly attached to the policies of Liberal mp Henri Bourassa*, a sworn foe of the Laurier government, which had agreed to Canada’s participation in the South African War [see Relations with the British Empire]. Despite his dissenting viewpoint, La Vergne remained openly Liberal until the beginning of 1902. Thereafter, his Rouge ideas unsettled the party. He first joined young protesters that March to defend the rights and prerogatives of French speakers in Quebec. He then joined Bourassa in giving speeches. Finally, in March 1903, together with other young people who were inspired by Bourassa but gathered around Olivar Asselin, he founded the Ligue Nationaliste Canadienne, which promoted Canada’s political, economic, and cultural development. The league, whose keystone was the idea of autonomy for both the country and the provinces, sought to be a movement that operated outside political parties. The following year it launched Le Nationaliste, a weekly to which La Vergne contributed. Its hard-hitting articles shook up all those on the political stage.

The year 1904 proved decisive for La Vergne: he was elected Liberal mp in two federal elections, one a by-election on 16 February, when he was 23, the other a general election on 3 November, both in the riding of Montmagny. He refused, however, to endorse all of Laurier’s policies. Disappointed Liberals hoped to see him toe the line. This would never be the case. In a singular career La Vergne would take roundabout paths towards his aims. His close ties with Laurier came with a promise of promotions, and yet early on, La Vergne preferred to skirt around the edge of this destiny. He would choose what was, at the time, the most difficult route given the rigidity of the two-party system that prevailed in the country until the early 1920s: most often he worked outside party frameworks or challenged them from within. This decision would move tangible achievements, the measure of an apparently successful career, almost entirely out of his reach. In short, the nationalist La Vergne envisioned a mission that required him to operate, with few exceptions, beyond the borders of partisan demands. This mission, born in the crucible of Canadian nationalism, espoused a conservative social ideology and embraced four main causes: the promotion of the French language; the defence of minorities, both French and English; the necessity of bilingualism; and opposition to British imperialism.

The year 1904 was also a time of acquiring experience in the House of Commons. During the next three years La Vergne, inspired by Bourassa, acted upon his decision. Between February and July 1905 Laurier created Alberta and Saskatchewan [see Settlement of the West] without granting the Catholic, French minority full rights to religious schools and the French language. La Vergne rebelled. A xenophobe, in 1906–7 he opposed the government’s policies about intensive immigration and observing the Lord’s Day [see John George Shearer*; Moral and Religious Reforms]. Furthermore, during a 1906 by-election in the riding of Quebec, he contributed to the defeat of Liberal candidate Georges-Élie Amyot* and, at the same time, wrote virulent anti-government columns in Le Nationaliste under the pseudonym Montjorge. On 25 Jan. 1907 an exasperated Laurier expelled him from the party. La Vergne then became an independent mp while continuing to proclaim his support for the fundamental principles of liberalism.

Shortly thereafter La Vergne dedicated himself to promoting bilingualism. On 25 February he presented, unsuccessfully, a “draft motion” to parliament aimed at placing “on a footing of equality” the French and English languages on a national scale “in all public matters.” He took similar action on 28 Jan. 1908 by submitting, to no avail, a “draft bill” broadly setting out the same goals but applicable only in Quebec, and, on 21 May, a petition containing 433,845 signatures.

Taking stock of his lack of success in Ottawa, La Vergne, along with Bourassa, moved on to the provincial stage. By early summer 1907 the two had launched a campaign of public meetings against the economic policies of Lomer Gouin*’s Liberal government [see Henri Bourassa]. They gradually withdrew from Ottawa, Bourassa departing on 26 Oct. 1907 and La Vergne on 27 May 1908. They ran in the provincial general election of 8 June 1908. The results: Gouin retained power but the two nationalists were victorious, La Vergne in the riding of Montmagny and Bourassa in the ridings of Saint-Hyacinthe and Montreal, Division No.2.

La Vergne then began the first of two successive mandates that would add up to eight years serving as an mla. In the Legislative Assembly he was preoccupied with provincial issues but kept an eye on Ottawa. Between 1909 and 1912 La Vergne and Bourassa, allied with the 14 Conservative mlas led by Joseph-Mathias Tellier*, fiercely attacked Gouin’s government. Their efforts paid off: the state would have better control over speculation, would rent out waterfalls through long-term leases, and would impose an embargo on the export of pulpwood cut on crown lands. La Vergne, with his irresistible wit, contributed by making rousing speeches. And more was to come. On 4 March 1909 he again took up the fight for bilingualism. He tabled Bill 160, “An act to amend the Civil Code, respecting contracts made with public utility companies.” Initially passed in the assembly on 3 May, his bill was overhauled in the Legislative Council, and he withdrew it on 29 May. He reintroduced it on 17 March 1910. On 8 April, Bill 151, as it was called, was accepted in the assembly and passed through the council with little alteration [see Némèse Garneau]. It became law on 4 June 1910 and would be known as the La Vergne Law, the first dealing with language in Quebec. On pain of a fine, the public utilities established in the province, specifically railway, shipping, telegraph, telephone, transport, and parcel services and electric energy companies, had to use both French and English in their various written communications with customers.

The year 1910 was also dominated by federal politics. On 12 January Laurier created a navy [see Relations with the British Empire], which was an affront to La Vergne. Facing resurgent imperialism, Bourassa and La Vergne stood with Quebec Conservative mps led by Frederick Debartzch Monk* who, on this matter, opposed both their national leader, Robert Laird Borden, and Laurier. Together they formed the Conservative-Nationaliste alliance in May. This coalition henceforth brought together those Quebec Conservative mps who were independent of Borden’s federal Conservative Party and nationalists close to Bourassa and La Vergne. All embraced the principles championed by the Ligue Nationaliste Canadienne. The alliance, also known as the Parti Autonomiste, called for a plebiscite [see Henri Bourassa], held numerous meetings in Quebec over the summer, and was instrumental in defeating a Liberal candidate in a by-election on 3 November in the riding of Drummond and Arthabaska. La Vergne was deeply involved. His witty, emphatic, and theatrical eloquence played on audiences’ emotions as well as their passions. He organized the facts to suit his objective: to bring down Laurier and his policy, which, La Vergne believed, would drag Canada into the wars of the British empire and conscription. During the federal general election of 21 Sept. 1911 [see The Election Campaign of 1911], the alliance reasserted its nationalist principles. La Vergne, still an mla, led the organization in the Quebec City region, selected the candidates there, and made several speeches. The Liberals lost and 17 Conservative-Nationalistes were elected. Yet they did not gain the balance of power they had sought. La Vergne was nevertheless jubilant. At the age of 31 he was at the height of his influence. He turned down a portfolio in Borden’s cabinet and promoted the candidate of his choice, Louis-Philippe Pelletier*. He also warned, as he would recall in his memoirs, that “we are succeeding too quickly.” The immediate future confirmed his suspicions. In February–March 1912, when part of the District of Keewatin (Nunavut) was annexed to Manitoba [see George Robson Coldwell*], Borden sacrificed the Catholic minority’s separate schools. Only seven Conservative-Nationalistes stood by their nationalist principles. It was the beginning of La Vergne’s disappointments.

Nonetheless, a spark of hope animated La Vergne when he was re-elected as the mla for Montmagny on 15 May 1912. Without Bourrassa, who was busy at Le Devoir (to which La Vergne contributed), he faced a difficult task in the assembly. And starting in 1912, alarming signals were received from Ottawa and Toronto. On 5 December Prime Minister Borden revealed his plan for the navy: a contribution of $35 million to the mother country to build three warships [see Sir Robert Laird Borden]. Moreover, ten Conservative-Nationalistes had betrayed their nationalist principles and La Vergne was livid. He also intervened in the language question. On 13 April 1912 the Ontario government had issued Regulation 17, which limited instruction in French to the first two years of schooling [see Sir James Pliny Whitney*]. Until the end of his mandate La Vergne would fight on behalf of Franco-Ontarians. And finally, on 4 Aug. 1914, Canada, as a colony of the British empire, was automatically drawn into the Great War. That day and for the next two years, La Vergne, who was the lieutenant-colonel and commanding officer of a militia unit, the 61st Regiment of Montmagny, fulminated against the war. An anti-imperialist, he rejected Canadian involvement since the war would take place outside the country. In his opinion Great Britain was obliged to defend its colonies, not the reverse. In 1915 he turned down the proposal made by the minister of militia and defence, Sir Samuel Hughes*, that he form a battalion for service overseas. He summed up his argument on 12 Jan. 1916, as reported the next day by Le Devoir: “Not a man, not a penny, not a cannon.” If he acknowledged a wish to join the ranks, he linked French Canadian enlistment to settling the Ontario school question. He was opposed to conscription yet he would submit if it became law. In all these matters his cutting remarks caused him difficulties, especially in the Legislative Assembly.

La Vergne, who was the only Nationaliste in the assembly, held his seat until 1916. He presented a few bills, made xenophobic remarks about immigration, pleaded for voting rights for the Huron (Huron-Wendat) [see Ludger Bastien*], reiterated his support for Franco-Ontarians, and, despite being opposed to women’s participation in public life, backed their admission to the bar in vain [see Samuel William Jacobs; Annie Macdonald*]. The weekly Le Franc Parler, of which he was the founder (autumn 1913) and managing director, gave him opportunities to extend his interventions. When more men were required to fight the Germans, among others, La Vergne spewed forth acidic, provocative words in the assembly on 13 Jan. 1916. Coldly, he linked the unworthy treatment (in his opinion) of Franco-Ontarians resulting from the provincial government’s imposition of Regulation 17 to the treatment inflicted by the Germans on Allied soldiers and occupied countries. He lashed out: “I’m not afraid to be German, and I would remind you in this regard of an old axiom which says: ‘Bitten by a male dog or bitten by a female dog, it is still a bite.’ I wonder whether the German regime cannot be compared to the ultra-Boche regime in Ontario.” Colleagues such as Joseph-Mathias Tellier, still the Conservative member for Joliette and former head of the provincial Conservative Party, and Louis-Alexandre Taschereau*, the minister of public works and labour, disowned him; some Canadians wanted to exile him to Germany, and others accused him of high treason and wanted to have him shot at dawn. When he was expelled from the Garrison Club of Quebec, La Vergne vigorously defended himself.

On 7 May 1916 La Vergne announced that he was withdrawing from provincial politics and declared that he was readying himself for the next federal battle. Head held high, he summarized his contribution to public life, as reported in the next day’s issue of Le Devoir, thus: “[I have] preferred honour to honours.” So ended his time in the Legislative Assembly. Successes and failures had existed side by side. On the one hand, the La Vergne Law prevailed, as did numerous other nationalist projects adopted by the government. On the other, the concrete influence of the Nationaliste movement had effectively come to an end provincially. Yet despite criticism, La Vergne, at age 36, still enjoyed enviable public recognition.

La Vergne would have to be patient before winning a seat in Ottawa; he weathered four consecutive defeats at the federal ballot box. The first occurred in the general election of 17 Dec. 1917, which focused on Borden’s imposition of conscription and provoked fury in Quebec [see The First World War]. La Vergne, who was running as an independent candidate in Montmagny and was opposed to this law, had been calling for a referendum since the spring. He advised civil disobedience, raised the prospect of dying in the fight against it, and broached the subject of the province’s separation from Canada. He lost his gamble. His constituents, like other voters in Quebec, preferred the Liberals, but were roundly defeated in the country by Borden’s Unionists, which left the province isolated. Subsequently, La Vergne lost in the federal elections of 1921, 1925, and 1926; in addition, he suffered defeat in the provincial election of 1923.

Was La Vergne’s star fading? No doubt, but its waning was relative since the man remained in the public eye. At first, between 1918 and 1924, he was an undeniable presence even though he had sustained a fractured lumbar vertebra in a 1920 hunting accident, which slowed him down. As well as the previously mentioned famous legal cases in which La Vergne was involved, there are examples of his remaining active on several other fronts. For instance, he succeeded in dispersing the crowd during an anti-conscription riot in Quebec City on 31 March 1918 [see François-Louis Lessard*]. On 13 Sept. 1920 he wrote an editorial in Le Devoir on Quebec’s isolation. He also gave lectures on the French language (1919), Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine* (1921), Irish independence and his unwavering support of the Self-Determination for Ireland League of Canada and Newfoundland (1920, 1921) [see Katherine Angelina Hughes*], and the legend of Laurierism (1924).

Between 1924 and 1930 La Vergne decided to strike hard. In an unexpected reversal, probably owing to the daily call of politics, he apparently reconsidered the course he had been following since 1903. To the surprise of his friends, from the spring of 1924 he allied himself to Arthur Meighen*’s Liberal-Conservative Party. The Conservatives had been much reviled in Quebec since the imposition of conscription, and La Vergne’s aim was to convert the party to his form of nationalism. He thought he would succeed because, in his opinion, Meighen’s policies fell in line with his nationalism, and despite party divisions and suspicious looks in his direction, he campaigned energetically. This situation lasted until 11 Oct. 1926 when, undermined by losses, Meighen resigned. At the Conservative party conference in Winnipeg on 12 Oct. 1927, La Vergne laid out his fervent nationalism before Richard Bedford Bennett*, the Conservatives’ chosen leader, and declared his wish to spread the word. He did so until 1930, first to Bennett and then to others, while at the same time taking a critical view, which conformed with his past, on organizing the party. When the federal general election was called on 30 May 1930, La Vergne hesitated about standing: aside from his rebellious behaviour, he was suffering pain in his lower back. He nevertheless launched his Conservative campaign on 13 July in Montmagny, which was affected by the Great Depression. Declaring himself a free man, he displayed to the full the nationalism whose influence he sought to amplify. On 28 July he won the seat. He joyfully wired the good news to Bennett, who was soon to be prime minister thanks to his party’s victory in 137 ridings, 24 of them in Quebec.

La Vergne’s joy was short-lived. Until 1935 he endured many disappointments. This Conservative with slack party discipline wished to become a minister; he obtained only the post of deputy speaker, a secondary role he carried out competently from 1930 to 1935. He fought energetically for his nationalist proposals, which included the equality of French Canadians and English Canadians in the country, and of their languages and aspirations as minorities in the provinces where they could not claim majority status. He received nothing but crumbs, including at the Imperial Economic Conference in Ottawa during the summer of 1932. Noting Bennett’s cautious attitude towards bilingualism, La Vergne exploded in Le Devoir (21 July): “It must be said that never, under any government, has our race [French Canadians] had so little influence.” Subsequently, when the prime minister adopted the same attitude on the subject of issuing a bilingual currency [see Sir Thomas Chapais*], La Vergne even chanced making overtures to the Liberals. He despaired of the compromise reached by Bennett and Meighen (who was now a senator), writing in Le Devoir on 21 July 1934, “The Liberal Party has, through the voice of its leader, officially spoken in favour of bilingualism; and the Conservative Party, has, through its leader, officially spoken against it.” Between 1931 and 1934 La Vergne also crossed swords with three French Canadian ministers – Arthur Sauvé*, Maurice Dupré, and Alfred Duranleau – who, in his opinion, were incompetent, had no influence, and would be, among other things, of little help in obtaining benefits for his riding. Disillusioned, he distanced himself from the Conservative caucus, hoping in vain to leave Ottawa in the role of a delegate at the League of Nations in 1931 and 1933, or to be named lieutenant governor of Quebec in 1933. Even though he supported the 1933 election of Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis* as the head of the provincial Conservative Party, La Vergne was dispirited.

Questions now arose for La Vergne, first on the relevance of his career. On 30 Oct. 1933 he confided to Abbé Lionel Groulx* his fear that he had “taken the wrong path” and “had moments when [he] no longer knew…” Secondly, he spoke of his health. La Vergne realized that he would have to endure a long physical deterioration. His fractured vertebra inflicted “horrible tortures” that weakened him, forced him to use crutches, curtailed his activities, and caused changes in a body that no longer obeyed him. For Groulx, La Vergne was no more than a semi-paralysed man. Stooped and almost bald, he was prematurely aging. He submitted to various treatments to no avail; there was a delicate operation in 1931 and he had several stays in hospital. On 17 Jan. 1934 he confessed to Groulx: “I’m suffering a great deal and my morale is crumbling. I long for death.”

There were precious consolations – first, from his faith. His religious feeling strengthened, and he accepted his suffering. As well, he benefited from Groulx’s support, a sincere friendship having developed between them. La Vergne even introduced him as his “only leader” during a speech at Montreal’s Monument National on 10 April 1933, as was reported in Le Devoir the following day. The abbé assured La Vergne of the usefulness of his work, and the latter exclaimed on 30 October, “Thank you for your letter, such a comfort.” He was also grateful for the efforts of his wife, Georgette Roy, in dealing with Bennett. A worldly woman who was well aware of the undercurrents, manœuvres, and machinations surrounding political life, she attempted to draw the prime minister’s attention to her husband’s value and the need to offer him encouragement and the promotions he wanted, which must have pleased La Vergne. It is true that Armand and Georgette were not deeply in love. Constantly aware of this fact, he had been affected by and deplored the situation, but despite some difficult periods they had always shown each other tenderness and respect, as is evident in their personal correspondence. Other nationalists also soothed La Vergne: the members of Jeune-Canada who flocked around the students André Laurendeau* and Pierre Dansereau*. They welcomed his nationalism, including his opposition to the high number of Jewish and other immigrants. Although he rejected the label antisemitic, La Vergne had long been contemptuous of Jewish immigration. He wrote articles in Le Miroir and Le Goglu, antisemitic Montreal publications put out by Adrien Arcand* and Joseph Ménard, which he supported, as he expressed to Bennett, and he went so far as to accept Jewish ritual murder as a fact. La Vergne was the guest of honour when Jeune-Canada launched its campaign in 1932, and he contributed to two other meetings. Jeune-Canada, as he confided to Groulx on 27 Dec. 1933, offered assurance that “we shall not have lived in vain.” Eventually, in early 1935 he had the satisfaction of completing the first volume of his memoirs while struggling against a bad case of flu. In this work he attempted, not always skilfully or accurately, to tie together the scattered threads of his tumultuous existence and bold acts up until 1914. His memoirs are disappointing, being too much concerned with the superficial aspects of subjects. Now at the end of his life, La Vergne would not see them published on 15 March 1935.

At age 55 Armand La Vergne died of pneumonia in Saint-Vincent Hospital in Ottawa on 5 March 1935. Tributes followed, and the funeral, held on 8 March in Arthabaska, preceded various activities that honoured him: masses were said in Quebec and Manitoba, and his memory was hailed by several institutions, associations, ordinary citizens, clubs, and organizations of which he had been a member. There were also lectures by Laurendeau and Omer Héroux*, editor of Le Devoir, in March and April 1935, and on 4 Oct. 1936 a nationalist pilgrimage was made to Arthabaska. His name was later attached to avenues in Montreal and Montmagny, the principal town in the riding for which he had, to the best of his ability, played the role of its representative. A primary school and a long-term care home in Montreal were also named after him. People sometimes conjure up memories of him in newspapers, on websites, and in correspondence. In 2022 professor and author Claude Corbo portrayed him as one of the two main characters in a work of historical fiction. In sum, Armand La Vergne had a political career that was out of the ordinary. Admittedly, it was considered disappointing by those divided along party lines and even by Bourassa, for whom, as he caricatured him in a 1944 lecture, La Vergne was “all his life a promising young man.” For others, his winding, stormy, occasionally incomprehensible career path, littered with faults such as his xenophobia, remains motivating because it focused on acting independently in pursuit of ambitious, noble goals. A man who left few tangible accomplishments, La Vergne nevertheless had tried hard to raise the political consciousness and ethics of his compatriots in the hope that they would agree on a generous application of the pact of 1867. Not only would such an application demonstrate a true commitment to Indigenous people but, in his opinion, it would also respect the two contracting nations and their languages, one of which he loved deeply and which received indifferent support at the time.

Réal Bélanger