Ernest Lapointe: Mackenzie King's Great Quebec Lieutenant (review)

Given the universal agreement among historians that understanding Ernest Lapointe is central to understanding the politics of the Mackenzie King era, a solid biography of the great Quebec lieutenant is long overdue and most welcome. Betcherman thoroughly surveys all the important turning points in her subject's long career in federal politics. Lapointe emerges as King's principal confidant, the defender of francophone Quebec's interests in Ottawa, the passionate fighter for national unity, and the talented political magician whose electoral conjuring entrenched King and the Liberals in power. But who was Lapointe, what did he really achieve, and what was his legacy?

Lapointe the politician emerges most clearly as a traditional regional baron, albeit of a region vitally important to both the country and the Liberal party. Betcherman is at her best in describing, without any apology for her admiration, Lapointe's heroic efforts to frustrate the aspirations of the Quebec nationalists. She rightly points to his decisive role in bringing Quebec into the war in 1939 as his greatest political achievement - and courageously risking his career to cement that participation by confronting Maurice Duplessis. Throughout the book, we learn that Quebec was never 'safe,' either for the Liberals or for Canada. It took all of Lapointe's considerable political skill to maintain a strong federalist option in his home province, a task made endlessly more difficult by both the narrow nationalist vision of his French-speaking rivals and the insensitive attitude of his English-speaking colleagues. In attempting to explain away some of the less admirable elements of Lapointe's political record - his unwillingness to act on the infamous Padlock law, his sympathies for Vichy, and his tolerance (or worse) of anti-Semitism - Betcherman is quick to point out that he 'had to cater to the priorities and prejudices of his own people if he was to continue as their spokesman in Ottawa.' Without losing sight of the difficult circumstances under which he laboured, surely, there is more to leadership than following.

The biography overwhelms us with instances of Lapointe's loyalty to King and argues, not entirely convincingly, that King relied on Lapointe's judgment in all matters. At times, though, Betcherman hints that the relationship was more one-sided and that Lapointe may have deluded himself about his capacity to influence. What did Lapointe actually achieve and, more specifically, what did he initiate beyond matters largely of concern to French Canada? As John MacFarlane has convincingly argued in Ernest Lapointe and Quebec's Influence on Canadian Foreign Policy, Lapointe ensured that Quebec's voice was heard in Canadian foreign policy - no mean feat. Ernest Lapointe points to little more. To all intents, the country was as divided when Lapointe died as it had been when he and King assumed office twenty years earlier. Betcherman argues that 'Lapointe wisely did not press Quebec's demands beyond what English Canada would tolerate.' But given that his greatest aspiration was 'to help construct a Canada broad enough to embrace French and English viewpoints,' the situation in 1941 has to cast doubts about his 'successes.'

Betcherman's research draws heavily on English-language sources, giving the impression at times that this book is a study of Lapointe as English Canadians saw him. Among the secondary sources, only nine were French, while the personal papers of only four francophones are listed. The absence of the Montreal Star, Quebec City's Le Soleil, and a Conservative Toronto newspaper are also deficiencies.

Ernest Lapointe gives us new insights into this important national and Quebec political figure and deserves to be read. Lapointe could 'deliver' Quebec, and we find out in great detail how that was done. We learn much, too, about his failure consistently to influence national events, admittedly a Sisyphean task for any Quebec politician before Trudeau. In the end, however, despite a determined effort...