Sir Jean Lomer Gouin, KCMGPC (March 19, 1861 – March 28, 1929) was a Canadian politician. He served as 13th premier of Quebec, as a Cabinet minister in the federal government of Canada, and as the 15th lieutenant governor of Quebec.
He began his long political career by losing as a Liberal candidate in the riding of Richelieu in the 1891 federal election. His first electoral success came in 1897 when he was elected MNA for Montréal No. 2. He was re-elected in 1900 and 1904. He held the positions of Commissioner of Public Works (1900-1901), then Minister of Colonization and Public Works (1901-1905) in the cabinet of Simon-Napoléon Parent. Along with his colleagues Alexander Weir and Adélard Turgeon, he resigned with a view to overthrowing Parent, who had to leave in the face of this rebellion in his own party. He was appointed Premier of Quebec on 23 March 1905, a position he held until his resignation in 1920, while also holding the position of Attorney General (1905-1919) and, briefly, Minister of Colonization, Mines and Fisheries in 1907. In the 1908 election, faced with a surge of nationalists led by Henri Bourassa and Armand Lavergne, he ran in both Portneuf and Saint-Hyacinthe, as the law of the day allowed. He was elected in the first constituency and defeated by Bourassa in the second. Re-elected in both Portneuf and Saint-Jean in 1912, he chose Portneuf and was re-elected there in 1916 and 1919. He was responsible for the Workmen's Compensation Act, passed in 1909, the incorporation of Ungava into Quebec in 1912 and the Good Roads Act. He created the Ministère de la Voirie in 1912. He reorganised municipal administration in Montreal and developed education by creating normal schools for girls and technical schools in Montreal and Quebec City. He was also responsible for the École des hautes études commerciales in Montreal, the École centrale de préparation et d'arpentage and the École forestières opened in 1907 at Université Laval.[2]
In 1920, he was appointed to the Legislative Council as the representative for the Salaberry division. He resigned the following year to run successfully as a Liberal candidate in the federal riding of Laurier—Outremont in the general election. William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberals then took power and Gouin was appointed Minister of Justice (1921-1924). He did not stand for re-election in 1925 and returned to the practice of law while sitting on the boards of directors of numerous companies.[3]
He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor on 10 January 1929. On the following 18 March, while in Parliament to prorogue a session that was running late, he suffered a heart attack and died in his office. His death caused a stir.[4]
