Claude Wagner

The Hon. Claude Wagner
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Montréal-Verdun
In office 1964–1966
Preceded by	George O'Reilly
Succeeded by	District was abolished
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Verdun
In office 1966–1970
Preceded by	District was created
Succeeded by	Lucien Caron
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Saint-Hyacinthe
In office 1972–1978
Preceded by	Théogène Ricard
Succeeded by	Marcel Ostiguy
Senator for Kennebec, Quebec
In office April 21, 1978 – July 11, 1979
Appointed by	Pierre Trudeau
Preceded by	Jean-Pierre Côté
Succeeded by	Guy Charbonneau
Personal details
Born	(1925-04-04)April 4, 1925 Shawinigan, Quebec
Died	July 11, 1979(1979-07-11) (aged 54)
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Other political affiliations	Quebec Liberal Party
Spouse	Gisèle Normandeau
Cabinet	Provincial: Solicitor General Attorney General Minister of Justice

Claude Wagner, PC QC (April 4, 1925 – July 11, 1979) was a judge and politician in the Province of Quebec, Canada. In his career, Wagner was a Crown prosecutor, professor of criminal law and judge.

Life and career

Wagner was born in Shawinigan, Quebec, the son of Corona (née Saint-Arnaud) and Benjamin Wagner. His father, a violinist, was a German Jewish immigrant from Bavaria. His mother was French-Canadian and Catholic, and Wagner practiced Roman Catholicism.

In 1963, Wagner was appointed as a Sessions Court judge. Subsequently, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec in a by-election in Montréal-Verdun on October 5, 1964, and was re-elected in the 1966 general election in Verdun. He earned a "law and order" reputation when he served successively as Solicitor General, Attorney General, and Minister of Justice from its creation in 1965 to 1966 in the government of Quebec Premier Jean Lesage.

After losing the 1970 Quebec Liberal Party leadership election to Robert Bourassa, Wagner left politics to return to the bench, receiving appointment once more as a Sessions Court judge. He then entered federal politics, and was elected as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Saint-Hyacinthe in the 1972 federal election. He was re-elected in the 1974 election, and stood as a candidate at the Progressive Conservative leadership convention of 1976.

Wagner attracted support amongst Tories who believed that having a leader from Quebec would enable the party to break the federal Liberal Party's stranglehold on the province, and from right-wing Tories attracted by his law and order reputation. He was hurt by revelations of a slush fund that was funded by supporters so that he would be financially solvent if he lost in 1972. Wagner led on the first three ballots of the Convention, but lost to Joe Clark by 65 votes out of 2,309 on the fourth ballot.

In 1978, he was elevated to the Senate of Canada by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and sat as a Progressive Conservative. One reason for his departure from the House of Commons was that he could not get along well with Joe Clark. He died of cancer the next year at the age of 54.

His son, Richard, also pursued a career in the judiciary, eventually being nominated to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada in 2012.

See also

• Quebec federalism
• List of Mauriciens

External links

• "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
• Claude Wagner – Parliament of Canada biography