Date Published:
March 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Louis Michel Viger

Viger, Louis Michel (1785-1855), receiver-general of Canada (1848-9), was born at Montreal on September 28, 1785, the son of Louis Viger, a blacksmith, and Marie Agnes Papineau. He was called to the bar of Lower Canada; from 1830 to 1838 he represented Chambly in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada; and in 1837 he was implicated in the rebellion, though not actually under arms. In the Legislative Assembly of united Canada he represented Nicolet from 1842 to 1844, Terrebonne from 1848 to 1851, and Leinster from 1851 to 1854. He was one of the founders of the Parti rouge, and in 1848 he became receiver-general in the second Baldwin-Lafontaine administration; but in 1849 he resigned over the question of the removal of the seat of government to Toronto. He died in 1855. He was known as "le beau Viger", and for many years he was president of the Banque du Peuple. See P. J. Audet, L'hon.Louis-Michel Viger (Bull. rech. hist., 1927).

Source  : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. VI, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 398p., p. 243.