- Aimé Bénard
Aimé Bénard (
November 21 ,1873 –January 8 ,1938 ) was a politician inManitoba ,Canada . He served as interim leader of the provincial Conservatives in 1915, and was later appointed to theCanadian Senate .Bénard was born in Henryville,
Quebec , and was educated at the normal school in that community. He later moved to Manitoba, and worked as a financial agent. He was first elected to theLegislative Assembly of Manitoba in the 1907 provincial election, defeating Liberal incumbentJoseph H. Prefontaine by 339 votes. The Conservatives won this election, and Bénard served in the legislature as a government backbencher. He was re-elected for Assiniboia in the 1910 election, and for Iberville in the 1914 campaign.Conservative premier
Rodmond P. Roblin was forced to resign in 1915, amid a serious corruption scandal. Another election was called, which the Liberals won with a landslide majority. Bénard was one of only five Tories returned to the legislature. His re-election was primarily due to the Conservative Party's continued popularity infrancophone areas of the province. The Conservatives were more supportive of francophone education rights than the Liberals, and received support from this community; four of the party's five legislators were francophone.Bénard was chosen as the Conservative Party's interim leader shortly after the election. The party chose another francophone,
Albert Prefontaine , as its house leader in 1916.Bénard was appointed to the Canadian Senate on
September 3 ,1917 , on the recommendation of Prime MinisterRobert Borden . He served in the Senate until his death.Former Major League Baseball player
Marvin Benard claims to be a distant nephew of Aimé Bénard, although no DNA testing currently available has confirmed this.External links
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