Dr. Philippe Roy Lucien Maynard The Piquette Affair

Born 13 February 1868 in Montmorency, Quebec, Philippe Roy came to Western Canada with the intention of heading to the Klondike in 1898, but decided to stay in Edmonton and set up a practice. He married Helen Young, a local girl, the daughter of one of the most influential men of the city, Harrison Young, Chief factor of the Hudson Bay Company in Edmonton.

Roy was very active in French-language organizations such at la Société Saint-jean-Baptiste, and he was also a shareholder in the Courrier de l’Ouest, a weekly newspaper established in 1905. He campaigned vigourously for the Liberal party and in 1905, upon Laurier’s visit to Edmonton for the establishment of the province, Roy was named to the Senate as representative for Northern Alberta.

In 1909, he visited France and Belgium to promote immigration to Western Canada. At this time, a supplementary edition of the Courrier de l’Ouest was printed and distributed free of charge; 1,500 extra papers were printed for this edition. He resigned from the Senate when he was named commissioner general to France, and was posted in Paris. He represented Canada at the fifth annual conferment on work in Geneva in 1925, and in 1926, he was named to the Privy Council.