Background
Joseph-Napoléon-Henri Bourassa Canadian political leader, was born in Montreal, Sept. 1, 1868. A grandson of Louis Joseph Papineau, insurgent leader of French Canada, he showed an early interest in politics and in 1896 was elected to the Dominion parliament as a Liberal member. Although he was a close friend of the Liberal Party leader, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Bourassa broke with the party in 1899 over the issue of Canadian participation in the Boer War. He then joined the new nationalist movement which was gathering strength in Quebec, and was one of the founders of La Ligue Nationaliste (Nationalist League). He also organized and edited the newspaper Le Devoir. As leader of the Nationalist League after 1900 Bourassa opposed what he regarded as the "imperial" policies of the Laurier administration, and was largely responsible for its lack of success in the Quebec provincial elections of 1911. Although he supported Canada's participation in World War I, he strongly opposed conscription. In 1925 he was elected as an independent parliamentary candidate, but was defeated when he ran in 1935. In World War II he again criticized Canada's policy of conscription. Bourassa's nationalism, although sometimes misunderstood, was genuine. He died in Outremont, Quebec, on Aug. 31, 1952.