Henri Bourassa

Henri Bourassa, grandson of Louis-Joseph Papineau and Liberal MP for Labelle, resigned his seat in 1899 to protest Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier's decision to send Canadian troops to fight in the Boer War in South Africa. Bourassa believed Canada had no obligation to fight in British imperial wars and that Parliament should have been consulted. He ran in the subsequent by-election as an Independent on an anti-imperialist platform and won handily, demonstrating strong Quebec opposition to the war.

Bourassa became the most influential Quebec nationalist of the early 20th century. He founded Le Devoir newspaper in 1910, which remains one of Quebec's most important publications. He served intermittently in both federal and provincial politics, always as an independent voice championing Canadian autonomy from Britain and defending French-Canadian rights. His opposition to conscription in both World Wars made him a hero to Quebec nationalists for generations.