Born: October 21, 1925
Died: January 6, 2005 Place of Birth: St. Antoine, New Brunswick
Major Notes:
Louis Robichaud was the first Acadian to be elected premier of New Brunswick.
Coming from a large family, at 18, Robichaud contemplated entering politics as a career.
He graduated in 1947 from Sacré-Coeur University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and then went on to study
economics and political science at Laval University.
Robichaud began a law practise in Richibucto and at that time strived to become Premier of the province.
He offered and won a seat for the Liberals in the elections of 1952 and 1956.
Robichaud was a dynamic and effective speaker in the Legislature Assembly.
In 1958, Robichaud was elected as Leader of the Liberal party.
Two years later, he achieved his goal of becoming a provincial premier.
Robichaud was determined to put the French and English on more equal footing in the province.
He brought in what was called an "Equal Opportunity Program" which made numerous changes including abolishing
county councils and centralizing education and hospitalization under provincial control.
In helping to promote an environment for Acadians to improve their education opportunities, his government set up a new French
institution called the University of Moncton.
Robichaud was instrumental in making New Brunswick the only bilingual province in Canada.
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