Charles Marcil
Charles Marcil (July 1, 1860 - January 29, 1937) was a long time member of the
Canadian House of Commons and served as Speaker of the House from
1909 - 1911.
He was first elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal MP in the 1900 Canadian election and represented the riding of Bonaventure Quebec in the Gaspé Peninsula without interruption until his death in 1937.
Marcil was born to a French-Canadian father and Irish mother. His father's family had settled near Quebec City in 1670. Marcil worked as a
journalist for the Montreal Gazette and several other newspapers
until he ran unsuccesfully as a candidate for the Quebec
Liberal Party in the 1897 Quebec election before
winning a seat in the federal parliament
in 1900.
He worked hard to obtain projects for his community including the construction of bridges, lighthouses and the establishment
of a ferry service.
Marcil was nominated for the position of Speaker by Wilfrid
Laurier following the 1908 Canadian election.
Despite initial opposition by Ontario Tories he
was unanimously elected to the position.
He was a popular Speaker and might have continued through a second Parliament had the Liberals not been defeated in the
1911 Canadian election. He returned to the backbenches and concurrently was elected to sit on Montreal's city council as an alderman in 1918 while remaining an MP.
From 1921 to 1931 he served as Chairman of the
Liberal caucus in Ottawa.
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