Louis Philippe Brodeur

Louis Philippe Brodeur (August 21, 1862 - January 1, 1924) was a Canadian parliamentarian and public servant.

He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1891 Canadian election as Liberal Member of Parliament for Rouville, Quebec and represented the riding continuously until his retirement prior to the 1911 Canadian election.

Brodeur was a firm supporter of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and came from a Rouges family. His father fought in the Patriotes Rebellion of 1837 and his grandfather was killed in the Rebellion's Battle of St-Charles.

As a young man, Brodeur studied law and engaged in journalism for Liberal newspapers such as la Patrie and L'Électeur before becoming editor of Le Soir. He was first elected to the House of Commons at the age of 29. After the Liberals won the 1896 Canadian election, Brodeur was appointed deputy speaker and became Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons following the 1900 Canadian election.

In 1904 he was appointed to the Laurier Cabinet as Minister of Inland Revenue where he introduced anti-trust legislation to protect tobacco farmers from the monopolistic practices of the American Tobacco Company.

In 1906 he was promoted to Minister of Marine and Fisheries and reorganized the Montreal Harbours Commission and instituted reforms in the department to reduce patronage and corruption.

Brodeur was a member of the Canadian delegation to the 1907 Imperial Conference in London and also helped negotiate a trade treaty with France.

In 1910 he became Minister of the Naval Service and was responsible for introducing legislation to create the Canadian Navy which signified a move towards Canadian independence from Britain and was opposed by the Conservatives who preferred Canada's participation in the British Navy. By the end of his term the new Navy consisted of 233 sailors and two cruisers, one on each coast. The policy of creating a Canadian Navy was also opposed by French-Canadian nationalists such as Henri Bourassa who feared that the Canadian Navy would only be used as a device to engage Canada in British wars.

Prior to the 1911 Canadian election, Brodeur retired from politics and was appointed by Laurier to a seat on the Supreme Court of Canada. He retired from the court in 1923 to accept an appointment as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec only to die on New Year's Day 1924.