Author Description

<p>Patrician Liberal examines the life and career of a neglected figure in Canadian history, Sir Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbini&egrave;re. This book provides a detailed account of Joly&rsquo;s political career as Quebec premier, Cabinet minister in the Laurier government, and lieutenant-governor of British Columbia, as well as his public role as a French-speaking Protestant promoter of national unity, a leading spokesperson for the Canadian forest conservation movement, a Quebec seigneur, and father to a large and devoted family.</p><p>Joly&rsquo;s life serves as a prism through which author J.I. Little elucidates important themes in Quebec and Canadian society, economy, politics, and culture during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. As Little reveals, Joly&rsquo;s story is particularly fascinating for how closely the conflicting forces in his life &ndash; religious, cultural, and social &ndash; mirrored those of a Canadian society straining to forge a cohesive and distinctive national identity.</p>