Léo Alphonse Joseph Cadieux PC (/kəˈdjuː/ kə-DEW, French: [kadjø]; May 28, 1908 – May 11, 2005) was a Canadian politician.
Léo Cadieux | |
|---|---|
 Cadieux, c. 1968 | |
| Canadian Ambassador to France | |
| In office 16 October 1970 – 8 September 1975 | |
| Prime Minister | Pierre Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Paul André Beaulieu |
| Succeeded by | Gérard Pelletier |
| Minister of National Defence | |
| In office 19 September 1967 – 16 September 1970 | |
| Prime Minister | Lester B. Pearson Pierre Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Paul Hellyer |
| Succeeded by | Charles Drury (acting) |
| Associate Minister of National Defence | |
| In office 15 February 1965 – 18 September 1967 | |
| Prime Minister | Lester B. Pearson |
| Preceded by | Lucien Cardin |
| Succeeded by | Vacant |
| Member of Parliament for Labelle | |
| In office 25 June 1968 – 5 October 1970 | |
| Preceded by | Gaston Clermont |
| Succeeded by | Maurice Dupras |
| Member of Parliament for Terrebonne | |
| In office 18 June 1962 – 24 June 1968 | |
| Preceded by | Marcel Deschambault |
| Succeeded by | Joseph-Roland Comtois |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Joseph Alphonse Léo Cadieux 28 May 1908 Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | 11 May 2005 (aged 96) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse |
Monique Plante (m. 1961) |
| Children | 1 |
A newspaper journalist and publisher who was born in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, Cadieux was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Terrebonne, Quebec in the 1962 election.
In 1965, he was appointed to the Cabinet by Prime Minister Lester Pearson as Associate Minister of National Defence. In 1967, he was promoted to Minister of National Defence (and the first Francophone to hold the post), and remained in that position under Pearson and then Pierre Trudeau until he retired from politics in 1970.
On his retirement from Parliament, he was appointed Canada's Ambassador to France. He remained Canada's envoy until 1975.
During Cadieux's tenure as Defence Minister, Canada cut its troop commitment to Europe from 10,000 to 5,000 troops and ended Canada's commitment to send re-enforcements to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Central Front following a review of Canadian defence priorities. In Cabinet debates on Canada's attitude towards nuclear deterrence, Cadieux argued in support of the doctrine. He also oversaw the reorganization of the Canadian Emergency Measures Organization, Canada's civil defence agency.
In 1974, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Electoral record
edit| 1965 Canadian federal election: Terrebonne | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Léo Cadieux | 16,806 | 44.2 | -1.8 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | André Fauteux | 10,417 | 27.4 | +15.8 | ||||
| Ralliement créditiste | Jean-Marc Fontaine | 5,412 | 14.2 | -18.7 | ||||
| New Democratic | Jean-Maurice Sénécal | 5,384 | 14.2 | +4.7 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 38,019 | 100.0 | ||||||
Note: Ralliement créditiste vote is compared to Social Credit vote in the 1963 election.
| 1963 Canadian federal election: Terrebonne | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Léo Cadieux | 19,015 | 46.0 | +6.8 | ||||
| Social Credit | Hubert Murray | 13,618 | 33.0 | +9.6 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Bert Walker | 4,798 | 11.6 | -16.5 | ||||
| New Democratic | Gérard Gagnon | 3,895 | 9.4 | +0.1 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 41,326 | 100.0 | ||||||
| 1962 Canadian federal election: Terrebonne | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Léo Cadieux | 15,547 | 39.2 | -9.4 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Marcel Deschambault | 11,155 | 28.1 | -23.3 | ||||
| Social Credit | Lucien Bachand | 9,269 | 23.4 | |||||
| New Democratic | Jean Philip | 3,680 | 9.3 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 39,651 | 100.0 | ||||||