Premiers Gallery
HOME / PICTURES AND VIDEOS / PREMIERS GALLERY /
Aubin-Edmond Arsenault
Premier from 1917 to 1919
 Click to enlarge |
AUBIN-EDMOND ARSENAULT WAS born in Abram-Village on July 28, 1870 and became the first
Acadian to head the government of a Canadian province. His family first settled on the Island in 1728 during the French
régime when the colony was known as Isle-Saint-Jean.
In 1885, he left home to study at Saint Dunstan's (School) College in
Charlottetown. In 1888, he left Saint Dunstan's and taught school for two years in a country school, and one year in
St. Joseph's College, New Brunswick, continuing his classical studies at the same time, before
returning for one final year of schooling at St. Dunstan's. By this time, Arsenault had decided
on a legal career and he articled in Charlottetown with prominent local lawyer, W.A.O.
Morson, before being called to the Bar on November 1, 1898. After spending a year in
England where he practised in the law office of Sir Charles Russell, Arsenault returned to
Prince Edward Island in 1899, settling soon after in Summerside, where he practiced law
from 1900 to 1921.
The Arsenault family had long been associated with the Conservative party. His father,
Joseph-Octave had been elected to the provincial House of Assembly eleven times and went
on to become the first Acadian Senator in Prince Edward Island. His older brother,
Joseph-Félix also represented the District. Aubin Arsenault was first elected in 1908 and held
his seat continuously until 1921. He served in the government of Premier Mathieson as
Attorney General beginning in 1912. Arsenault's term as Premier began in 1917 when he
succeeded J.A. Mathieson, who was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Prince
Edward Island. In the 1919 general election his government was defeated and Arsenault
remained as leader of the Opposition until 1921 when he was appointed to the Supreme Court
of Prince Edward Island. He retired from the High Court in 1946.
During Premier Arsenault's administration, one of the most significant acts to be passed by
the legislature was the repeal of the regulations which restricted automobile travel on the
Island roads to certain days and routes.
Premier Arsenault also had the foresight to recognize that tourism would be a valuable
industry to the economy of Prince Edward Island and was one of the founders of the Prince
Edward Travel Bureau. Fully conscious of his Acadian heritage, he was an active supporter of
a number of Acadian organizations which have helped to maintain the Acadian culture of this
province. Aubin Arsenault and his wife, the former Bertha Gallant of Tignish, raised a family
of eleven children. In recognition of his many and varied accomplishments, he was awarded
honorary degrees by Saint Dunstan's University, Université Laval and Université Saint-Joseph.
Judge Arsenault died on April 29, 1968. He is buried in the People’s Roman Catholic Cemetery in Charlottetown.
