Maurice Duplesis A Corrupt Man

A Corrupt Man:The Story of Maurice Duplessis
The period in which Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis ruled is known as “le Grande Noirceur”, or the Great Darkness, because the public was left unaware of the situation. The Great Darkness was, “an era of corruption where Quebec made no social, political or economical advancements” (“Duplessis Era (1956)”). Duplessis’ ignominious actions that included rigging the elections, instilling the Padlock Law, and deeming orphans mentally ill will expose him for the dishonourable man he is.
Maurice took political matters into his own hands by manipulating elections to ensure his victory. Garfield Newman claims he used, “faulty electoral lists, stuffed ballot boxes, and [engaged] in a variety of other illegal

practices” (170). This is unacceptable as it removes democracy and the right to vote that Canadians have; there is no point in voting if the winner of the election will win through illegal practices. When Duplessis was asked by Camillien Houde, a Quebec Politician, “‘What do you think Maurice? We have proof that the polls were rigged, too many ballots. Eight thousand dead voted in Montreal; five thousand in Quebec. If you and the ten others refuse to sit…’” Taschereau, a prior Quebec Premier... “‘will have to call another election’” (Marguerite Pauline 42), Maurice firmly responded with “‘no’” (42). Duplessis did not want to risk losing his majority government, which was more important to him than the votes of the people. Furthermore, Martin Patriquin suggests that Duplessis typically kept around $60000 in his basement to pay voters for their vote. Through these actions, Duplessis completely removed democracy from Quebec. Even though steering the elections was dishonourable, passing the Padlock Law was all the more disgraceful.
Instilling the Padlock Law in 1937 was yet another of Duplessis’ great scandals.

The Padlock Act was a 1937 Quebec statute empowering the attorney general to close down any building for a whole year if it was suspected of having communist ties. This is a complete violation of human rights because Canada is a free country with freedom of speech and the Padlock Law encroaches upon that freedom. Furthermore, there was no evidence needed to close down a building as the government would, “close down the meeting places of those who were suspected of endorsing ‘communism’”(“1937 Padlock Act”), so an organization could have been wrongly accused. Individuals would lose their jobs and be unable to care for their families because of the unfair accusations. In general, it was wrong for Duplessis or anyone to fear a certain type of government so much, that they would close it down. In 1957, the Padlock Act was finally challenged in the supreme court of Canada, 20 years after it had been implemented. The Supreme Court declared the Act, “...unconstitutional, an invasion of the federal field of criminal Law” (Eugene, Forsey). History of Rights suggests that their decision removed one of the most draconic laws ever passed in Canada. While the Padlock Law of 1937 was maleficent, similarly was the Duplessis’ orphan

scandal.
The Duplessis orphans are a major example of why Duplessis was immoral. The Duplessis orphans are a group of individuals who refer to themselves as such because they were apart of the, “20,000 orphans during the 1940s, '50s and early '60s… who were handed over to various religious institutions” (Marsden, William). Marsden William says that they were diagnosed by Duplessis and the Catholic church as mentally deficient and suggests they were then sent to asylums and other church-run institutions because the nuns running the establishments received larger subsidies for the mentally ill. The fact that Duplessis and the Catholic Church deemed a large group as mentally ill without reason or proof is inexcusable. As if that was not wicked enough, many living today have claims to being, “abused, sexually and physically, and subjected to lobotomies, electroshock, and straitjackets,” (“Duplessis Orphans”) for medical experiments. There is no human being, no matter if they are thought to be mentally ill, that deserves to be torchered at the hand of another. To make matters worse, the Duplessis orphans were not given any financial compensation until 2001 and were never formally apologized to by the Catholic church. In summary, the actions by Duplessis against the 20,000 orphans are deplorable and comparable to other evil leaders such as Adolf Hitler.
Some individuals view Duplessis as a great Premier, but when examining electoral fraud, the Padlock Act, and the Duplessis orphans, one is able to fully see Maurice Duplessis’ true character. With the exception of the years from 1939 to 1944 during the war, Duplessis remained in power from 1936, until his death in 1959. After his death, Quebec transitioned into the Quiet Revolution as they wanted socio-political and socio-cultural change. It was only after his death did Canadians find out about Duplessis’ scandalous actions.