Alexandre-Antonin Taché

Born at Rivière du Loup, Taché entered the Oblate order and was sent west as a missionary in 1845. Ordained soon after, he became Bishop of St. Boniface in 1853 and was created Archbishop and Metropolitan in 1871. He was influential in restoring order after the Red River uprising of 1869-1870 but his best efforts were unable to prevent violence during the North West Rebellion of 1885. An architect of the Constitution of Manitoba, he was prominently involved in the separate schools controversy and fought in vain through his last years to overturn the provisions of the Manitoba Schools Act. He died in Winnipeg.

Taché est né à Rivière-du-Loup-en-bas (Bas Canada). Missionnaire oblat à l’Île-à-la-Crosse et dans le grand Nord en 1845, il relata ses observations dans Vingt Années de Missions. Évêque de Saint-Boniface en 1853, il contribua à pacifier l’insurrection de 1869-1870. L’un des artisans de la constitution du Manitoba, premier archevêque de Saint-Boniface en 1871, il ne réussit pas à empêcher le nouveau soulèvement des Métis de 1885 et vit abolir, en 1890, les écoles confessionnelles à la restauration desquelles il consacra vainement ses dernières années. Il mourut à Saint-Boniface.