Pierre-Étienne Fortin

Who was Pierre-Étienne Fortin?

Pierre-Étienne Fortin was a Quebec physician and political figure. He represented Gaspé in the Canadian House of Commons as a Conservative member from 1867 to 1874 and from 1878 to 1887 and also represented Gaspé in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1867 to 1878. In 1887, he was appointed to the Senate of Canada for Kennebec division.

He was born in Verchères, Lower Canada in 1823, grew up in Laprairie and studied at the Petit Séminaire de Montréal. His uncle was Ludger Duvernay, Patriote and publisher of La Minerve. Fortin graduated from McGill College in medicine in 1845 and practiced at Laprairie. He helped treat patients during the typhus epidemic of 1847-48 at Grosse-Île. In 1849, he led a group of mounted constables that controlled riots after the passing of the Rebellion Losses Bill. From 1852 to 1867, he served as magistrate protecting fisheries in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Fortin also served as customs agent in the Gulf and, with his ship, La Canadienne, was the sole guardian of law and order in this region. During this period, Fortin also published a list of fish found in the Gulf region and prepared descriptions of marine mammals found there.