Background
He was born in Rimouski, Canada East, the son of Nicolas Pineau and Christine Lepage, and was educated at the Séminaire de Rimouski.
He was born in Rimouski, Canada East, the son of Nicolas Pineau and Christine Lepage, and was educated at the Séminaire de Rimouski.
He represented Matane in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1890 to 1892 and from 1892 to 1898 as a Liberal. Pinault was called to the Quebec bar in 1879 and practised law in Quebec City for 20 years. He was also vice-president of the Matane Railway Company.
He was a major in Les Voltigeurs de Québec, served during the North-West Rebellion and then was promoted to colonel.
He was defeated by Edmund James Flynn in the 1892 election, but Flynn had been elected in both Gaspé and Matane and, after Flynn chose to sit for Gaspé, Pinault was reelected in an 1892 by-election held in Matane. Pinault resigned his seat in 1898 after being named deputy minister in the federal Department of Militia.
Pinault died in Ottawa at the age of 54 and was buried in the Notre-Dame Cemetery.