Editing Charles Fitzpatrick (section)

== Biography ==
Fitzpatrick was born in [[Quebec City]], [[Canada East]], to John Fitzpatrick and Mary Connolly.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Canada|first1=Supreme Court of|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s8QhYNvBBxYC&q=charles+fitzpatrick+Fitzpatrick+&pg=PA116|title=The Supreme Court of Canada and its Justices 1875–2000: La Cour suprême du Canada et ses juges 1875–2000|last2=Canada|first2=Public Works and Government Services|date=2000-11-01|publisher=Dundurn|isbn=978-1-77070-095-6|pages=48|language=en}}</ref> He studied at [[Laval University]], where he earned a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree (1873) and a [[Bachelor of Laws]] degree (1876), receiving the [[Dufferin Medal|Dufferin Silver Medal]].<ref name="History of Dufferin in CA 1878">''[http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=yale.39002005155768;view=1up;seq=11 History of the Administration of the Earl of Dufferin in Canada],'' by [[William Leggo]], Toronto: Lovell Printing and Publishing Company (1878), pg. 877</ref> Called to the [[Barreau du Québec|bar of Quebec]] in 1876, he established his practice in Quebec City and later founded the law firm of Fitzpatrick & Taschereau.<ref name=":0" />

[[Image:Charles Fitzpatrick 2.jpg|thumb|left|Fitzpatrick as an MP]]
In 1885, he acted as chief counsel to [[Louis Riel]], who was on trial for leading the [[North-West Rebellion]]. Riel was found guilty and sentenced to death.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Supreme Court of Canada – Biography – Charles Fitzpatrick|url=https://www.scc-csc.ca/judges-juges/bio-eng.aspx?id=charles-fitzpatrick|last=Canada|first=Supreme Court of|date=2001-01-01|website=www.scc-csc.ca|access-date=2020-05-29}}</ref>

Fitzpatrick entered politics in [[1890 Quebec general election|1890]], winning election to the [[Quebec Legislative Assembly]] in the [[Québec-Comté (provincial electoral district)|Québec-Comté]] electoral district. He was re-elected in [[1892 Quebec general election|1892]], but he resigned in June 1896 to enter federal politics.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

He was first elected to the [[House of Commons of Canada]] in the [[Quebec County (federal electoral district)|Quebec County]] electoral district in the [[1896 Canadian federal election|1896 federal election]] as a [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] (MP). He served as [[Solicitor General of Canada]] from 1896 to 1902, and as [[Minister of Justice (Canada)|Minister of Justice]] from 1902 until 1906.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} In 1905, he took part, as the federal government representative, in the negotiations that led to the creation of the provinces of [[Alberta]] and [[Saskatchewan]].

He was appointed to the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] in 1906 as [[Chief Justice of Canada|Chief Justice]]. He served in that position until 1918, when he was appointed as [[Lieutenant Governor of Quebec]], the [[List of lieutenant governors of Quebec#Lieutenant governors of Quebec, 1867–present|12th]] since Confederation. Partway through his term as Lieutenant Governor, his wife's nephew ([[Louis-Alexandre Taschereau]]) became the [[Premier of Quebec]].

He is the only Chief Justice other than Sir [[William Buell Richards]] to have served in that position without having first been a [[Puisne Justice]] on the court (Richards was Chief Justice at the court's creation in 1875), and the only Chief Justice to have been appointed without any prior judicial experience.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}