Le Canadien

Le Canadien (newspaper)

Le Canadien was a famous newspaper published in Lower Canada (Quebec) from November, 1806 to March, 1810. This newspaper, published in French, was founded in Quebec City by a group of famous French Canadians and members of Parliament of Lower Canada, Pierre-Stanislas Bédard, François Blanchet, Jean-Antoine Panet, Jean-Thomas Taschereau and Joseph LeVasseur Borgia. Its editor was Jean-Antoine Bouthillier.

Le Canadien which appeared every Saturday became the voice of the French Canadians in their battle against the government of Governor James Craig. The newspaper motto was: "Nos institutions, notre langue et nos droits", that's "Our institutions, our language, our rights".

We can't judge today if all of its articles were indeed fair and just, but no doubt, it fought for the rights of the French speaking people, attacked and denounced every action perpetrated by the rich merchants against the poor. On March 17, 1810, the editorial office of the Le Canadien, located on the Saint-Francois Street in Quebec City were seized by the military acting by the order of the governor under the accusation that the editors were plotting with the Americans against the United Kingdom. The presses were also seized.

All the owners of the newspaper and the printer Charles Lefrançois were imprisoned.

The prisoners were refused habeas corpus and spent year in prison. The newspaper was definitively closed. While imprisoned, Pierre-Stanislas Bedard was elected Member of Parliament in the Surrey riding at the general election of March 27, 1810, but Governor Craig refused to clear him of the charges.

The prisoners were finally released without a trial. During the 19th century, the newspaper appeared again a few times, with intermissions and it was finally closed in 1893.