Background
He was born in Saint-Placide, Quebec, to Charles Routhier and Angélique Lafleur.
He was born in Saint-Placide, Quebec, to Charles Routhier and Angélique Lafleur.
Routhier studied law at Université Laval. He graduated and was called to the Quebec bar in 1861.
He wrote the lyrics of the original French version of the Canadian national anthem O Canada. He was appointed to the Quebec Superior Court in 1873 (as Chief Justice from 1904 to 1906) and Admiralty of the Exchequer Court of Canada (from 1897 to 1906). Routhier was involved in several federal elections as a Conservative candidate, but he was never elected.
In June 1914, Routhier was one of the three judges appointed to conduct the Commission of Inquiry into the sinking of the Canadian Pacific steamship the Empress of Ireland, which had resulted in the loss of 1,012 lives.
Routhier married Clorinde Mondelet on November 12, 1862, in Quebec and had one son.
