Simon-Napoléon
Parent

Simon-Napoléon Parent first distinguished himself as Mayor of the City of Québec from 1892 to 1906. He was concerned with regional development, particularly with the construction of the Québec city bridge, which began in October 1900.

Parent proved to be a rigorous and effective administrator of the Public Treasury. In 1902, taking up an idea dear to Honoré Mercier, he convened a second interprovincial province on federal subsidies granted to the provinces. The Parent government focused on the industrialization of city centres rather than on the colonization of Quebec, yet removed cultivated lands from speculation in 1904. Committed to Liberal principles, he adopted a series of measures intended to stimulate the natural resource-based economy.

Born in Beauport in 1855, Simon-Napoléon pursued his studies at Laval University, from which he graduated with a Law degree in 1881.

He received an honorary doctorate in Law from Bishop’s College in 1902.

He died in Montréal on September 7, 1920, at the age of 64.