CA-K262History

Curé Labelle, the “King of the North”

The cathedral and statue of Curé Labelle in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, photographed in 2007. Cathedrale st jerome et statut curé Labelle · Yvan leduc · Photo source · Photo licence: CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized for display; item previews may be cropped. The image remains under the licence shown.

Factual accuracy review: No recorded challenge

No recorded challenge is not proof of accuracy. A challenge under review is not a finding that the item is false.

To curb French-Canadian emigration to the United States, Curé Antoine Labelle (1833–1891), parish priest of Saint-Jérôme, encouraged settlement in northwestern Quebec, northern Ontario and Manitoba. He played a key role in settling the Laurentians and developing their railways, served as Quebec’s deputy minister of agriculture and colonization, and is remembered as the “roi du Nord.”

Scope & context

His colonization work, not its effects on Indigenous lands, which the designation does not address.

Sources behind this record

Curé Antoine Labelle (1833-1891) National Historic Person ↗

Parks Canada

Historical importance; plaque text