Robert Taschereau
{{Short description|Chief Justice of Canada from 1963 to 1967}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
| name = Robert Taschereau
| honorific-suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|CC|size=100%}}
| image = Robert Taschereau.png
| imagesize =
| caption = Robert Taschereau, c.1915
| order = 11th
| office = Chief Justice of Canada
| predecessor = Patrick Kerwin
| successor = John Robert Cartwright
| term_start = April 22, 1963
| term_end = September 1, 1967
| appointer = Georges Vanier
| nominator = John Diefenbaker
| office2 = Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
| predecessor2 = Lawrence Cannon
| successor2 = Wishart Spence
| term_start2 = February 9, 1940
| term_end2 = April 22, 1963
| appointer2 =
| nominator2 = William Lyon Mackenzie King
| office3 = Member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for Bellechasse
| predecessor3 = Antonin Galipeault
| successor3 = Émile Boiteau
| term_start3 = 1930
| term_end3 = 1936
| birth_date = {{birth date|1896|9|10}}
| birth_place = Quebec City, Quebec
| death_date = {{death date and age|1970|7|26|1896|9|10}}
| death_place = Montreal, Quebec
| nationality =
| spouse = {{marriage|Ellen Donohue|1926}}
| party = Liberal
| relations =
| children =
| residence =
| alma_mater = Université Laval
| occupation =
| profession =
| religion =
}}
Robert Taschereau {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|CC}} (September 10, 1896 – July 26, 1970) was a lawyer who served as the 11th Chief Justice of Canada from 1963 to 1967, as a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1940 to 1963, and briefly as the Administrator of the Government of Canada for one month from March to April 1967 following the death of Governor General of Canada Georges Vanier.
Biography
He was born in Quebec City in 1896 to Louis-Alexandre Taschereau and Adine Dionne. He came from a family of politicians and lawyers; his father later became Premier of Quebec and his grandfather, Jean-Thomas Taschereau, was on the Supreme Court of Canada. He studied at Laval University and obtained a B.A. degree in 1916 and LL.L. in 1920.{{Quebec MNA biography|taschereau-robert-5485}}
Following a career as a lawyer, Taschereau entered politics as a Liberal and won a seat in the Quebec Legislative Assembly in 1930. He held his seat of the riding of Bellechasse until retiring in 1936.
=Supreme Court Judge=
On February 9, 1940, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, filling the vacancy created by the death of his former law partner, Lawrence Cannon.[https://www.scc-csc.ca/about-apropos/judges-juges/list-liste/ "Supreme Court of Canada | List of current and former judges"] www.scc-csc.ca. Retrieved 2025-06-30. Cannon's death occurred shortly before Taschereau's appointment with no interim appointments or departures.
In 1946, he and fellow Justice Roy Kellock conducted the Royal Commission on Spying Activities in Canada that had been prompted by the Gouzenko Affair.[https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/472640/publication.html The report of the Royal Commission Appointed under Order in Council P.C. 411 of February 5, 1946 to Investigate the Facts Relating to and the Circumstances Surrounding the Communication, by Public Officials...] See file [https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2014/bcp-pco/CP32-103-1946-1-eng.pdf CP32-103-1946-1-eng.pdf] (PDF, 7.30 MB), page 7.
Taschereau was promoted to Chief Justice in 1963.{{Cite web |title=Supreme Court of Canada {{!}} The Right Honourable Robert Taschereau, P.C., C.C. |url=https://www.scc-csc.ca/about-apropos/judges-juges/list-liste/robert-taschereau/ |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=www.scc-csc.ca}}
Under the Letters Patent, 1947, the Chief Justice of Canada serves as the Administrator of the Government of Canada in the death, absence or incapacity of the Governor General of Canada.[https://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/LettersPatent.html Letters Patent Constituting the Office of Governor General of Canada, October 1, 1947.] Taschereau served as Administrator from the death of Governor General Georges Vanier on March 5, 1967 until April 17, 1967 when the Queen appointed Roland Michener as the new governor general, on the advice of Prime Minister Lester Pearson.[https://www.gg.ca/en/governor-general/former-governors-general Governor General of Canada: Former Governors General.]
Personal
Taschereau was married to Ellen Donohue, daughter of Joseph Timothy Donohue (co-founder of Donohue Inc.) and Émilie Normandin.{{Cite web |title=Robert Taschereau - National Assembly of Québec |url=https://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/deputes/taschereau-robert-5485/biographie.html |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=www.assnat.qc.ca |language=en}}
=Retirement and honours=
Taschereau remained on the Supreme Court until retiring in 1967.
In 1967, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Robert Taschereau died in 1970 at the age of 73, and was interred in the family plot at the Cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont in Sainte-Foy, Quebec.
References
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External links
- [http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=2317 Order of Canada Citation]
- [https://www.scc-csc.ca/judges-juges/bio-eng.aspx?id=robert-taschereau Supreme Court of Canada biography]
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{{succession box | title= Administrator of the Government of Canada | before=Georges Vanier | after= Roland Michener | years=1966–1967}}
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Category:Chief justices of Canada
Category:Administrators of the Government of Canada
Category:Companions of the Order of Canada
Category:Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Category:Politicians from Quebec City
Category:Quebec Liberal Party MNAs
Category:Université Laval Faculté de droit alumni
Category:Canadian King's Counsel
Category:20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec