Thomas Vien

Born on July 19, 1881, in Lauzon. He studied law at Laval University and also attended the Royal Military College. He was admitted to the Bar in 1905. He ran in the 1917 federal elections and was elected to represent Lotbinière. A lawyer associated with J. N. Francoeur, the defence counsel for Marie-Anne Houde and Télesphore Gagnon. He dealt with the case file of Marie-Anne Houde concerning the commutation of her death sentence to life imprisonment. Re-elected in 1921, he was appointed successively president of the Committee of Public Accounts in the House of Commons, and President of the Committee of Banks and Commerce. He retired from politics for ten years. When he returned to Parliament, he was President of the Standing Committee on Railways, Canals and Telegraph lines, and then was appointed deputy speaker of the House. Following the death of the speaker of the Senate, he held this position from 1943 until 1945. He was a senator until 1968, when he retired. Thomas Vien died in Montreal in 1972, at the age of 91.