Impressions of a future Belgian Prime Minister of Canada
Hubert Pierlot (1883–1963) was Prime Minister of Belgium between 1939 and 1945. In 1910, at the occasion of the International Eucharistic Congress, held in Montreal, he took the opportunity to cross the Atlantic. Already interested in public affairs at that time, and hence observing the French Canadian people, he discovered on this trip the possibility of having an allegiance to both a country and a religion. For him, French Canada represented a veritable “moral” model, if not a hope, as it allowed to envision a Belgium on the path of industrialization without relinquishing its past and its traditions, and to combine technical progress with respect for a belief system, be it religious or aristocratic. However, it was during a hunting trip to Lac Saint Jean that he felt that he came closest in touch with the authentic life of the Quebec people. At the time of his entry into politics, in 1925, Pierlot had not forgotten the lessons drawn from his transatlantic journey.