Freemasonry in Canada

General information

Two of the oldest cabins of the News-France which exist still today, Antiquity Lodge no.1 and the Cabin Albion no.2, were created respectively with Montreal and Quebec in 1752. It will be necessary to await 1788 so that in Quebec St John' S Lodge No 3 is born, 1792 so that appears Dorchester Lodge no.4 with Châteauguay, and 1803 so that is formed the Golden delicious Rule Lodge No 5 with Stanstead. Previously the French-speaking freemasons would have met in News-France in the Cabin of the regenerated Francs-maçons . Its date of foundation is unknown for us but it must be posterior with 1743 because this cabin was sponsored by the Loge Friendship and founded Fraternity this same year with Dunkirk. It is thus the year 1752 which marks the true beginning of freemasonry with Canada, and 1759 the birth of the obedience from which the Big room from Quebec is resulting.

In Canada, they are the traditional freemasons of the regular current who historically prevailed. In Quebec regular obedience is represented by the Big room of Quebec, which counts more than one hundred of cabins, of which oldest in Canada. Ten cabins work only in French, others became bilingual; but the majority work in English.

The liberal current was represented at the beginning of the 20th century by two cabins founded by the Grand the East of France: the cabin Emancipation and places it Force and Courage . They had to close their work in 1928 under religious and civil persecutions. It was necessary to wait the years 1970 to see the creation of other cabins like the Mixed Big room of Quebec, of the cabins of the Great East of France, the Canadian jurisdiction of the Human right, the Egyptian Rite of Memphis-Misraïm, then, towards the end of the year 1980, of the female Big room of France and the Big room of France. Liberal masonry as a whole account today several hundreds of members.

International mixed the Maçonnique Order the Human right has a Canadian jurisdiction which currently gathers 6 mixed cabins working in English, Spanish and French. The first cabin of the Human right, “Freedom”, was founded in Montreal in 1976.

The Big room Symbolic system of Canada. Rite Ancien and Primitive of Memphis-Misraïm is of French language. Although there are female and male cabins, these last do not work in co-education.

History

In News-France

Freemasonry exists in Canada since the arrival of the first colonists. In Quebec, cabins were made up since 1721. The cabin " Régénérés" freemasons; , placed under the jurisdiction of the Big room " Friendship and Fraternité" from Dunkirk, France, existed already in 1721 in the town of Quebec. In 1767, this cabin became the cabin " Brothers of Canada" , under the jurisdiction of one of the four Big rooms existing at that time in the United Kingdom. Thus a letter dated January 31st, 1851 and sent by the Secretary of the Cabin lenient Friendship of Paris, Hyacinthe Leblanc de Marconay, who remained in Canada of 1834 to 1840, with Worthy and the members of the Albion Cabin of Quebec:

Worthy Master and Brothers, you have the advantage of having one of the oldest temples of Freemasonry, since its erection goes back to 1721.

Two of the oldest cabins of the News-France which exist still today, Antiquity Lodge no.1 and the Cabin Albion no.2, had been created respectively with Montreal and Quebec in 1752; but it will be necessary to await 1788 so that in Quebec St John' S Lodge No 3 is born, 1792 so that appears Dorchester Lodge no.4 with Châteauguay, and 1803 so that is formed the Golden delicious Rule Lodge No 5 with Stanstead. Previously the French-speaking freemasons would have met in News-France in the Cabin of the regenerated Francs-maçons , of which the date of foundation is unknown for us but which must be posterior with 1743, this cabin having been sponsored by the Loge Friendship and founded Fraternity this same year with Dunkirk. The year 1752 mark thus for us the beginning of freemasonry with Canada and 1759, birth of the obedience from which the Big room from Quebec is resulting.

The English mode

After the conquest, one finds masons within the military cabins among the British soldiers, but the first formed maconnic cabin of civilians is that of Annapolis Royal, in Nova Scotia, which receives its licenses of the cabin of the modern Masons of Boston in June 1738. One delivers thereafter licenses for the establishment of cabins in St John' S (1746 and 1766), in Halifax (1750 and 1751) and in Quebec (1764). When Quebec is divided into 1791 to form the Top and the Low-Canada, only four maconnic cabins are in activity in the High-Canada (Cornwall, Brockville and two in the Niagara).

In 1794, the lieutenant-governor of High-Canada, John Serious SIMCOE, fears an insurrection of the freemasons of Montreal because of the close relationships of those with masons of the State of the Vermont.

The Big room of Canada

Also the superior of the Sulpiciens and lord of Montreal, Etienne Montgolfier, protests against the Order in 1771. There existed in Montreal, at that time an important group of French-speaking Masons, of which several had been initiated in France about 1760-1763 and which many men of various conditions were attracted by the Order. It appears that maconnic ceremonies took place even publicly, that French-speaking Masons met already in News-France and, that after the Conquest, of the civil and French-speaking cabins were created.

In 1788, the cabin " Brothers of Canada" was transferred has Montreal, and in 1792 it was placed under the jurisdiction of the Provincial Big room of Low Canada. Honourable the Claude Dénéchau, which signed the Charter constituting the regular cabin " Brothers of Canada" , was the first Canadian with being named Grand Master of a Big room in Canada.

Local maconnic cabins are formed later in other future provinces: in Colombia-British (1859), with the Manitoba (1864 and 1870), in Alberta (1882) and in Saskatchewan (1883). In 1855,30 cabins of the Canadian West and Quebec gather to form the Big room of Canada, and the old maconnic cabins form their own big room afterwards two years.

After grinds tergiversations, Quebec forms its own Big room in 1869. In fact the Big room of Canada located in Ontario did not want to recognize the autonomy of Quebec immediately, supported in that by the Big room of England. The Masons of Quebec accepted however the support of the most important Big rooms of the United States and they are the Large Masters of the Big rooms of the Vermont and the Maine which had already recognized the Big room of Quebec which proceeded to the installation of the Large Master of the Cabin of Quebec. A little later, with its general assembly of Freemasons of the July 8th and 9th 1874, the Big room of Canada recognized the autonomy of the Big room of Quebec.

In 1887, the Big room of Canada changes name to take account of the provincial nature of Canadian freemasonry; it will be called henceforth “The Grand Lodge off Ancient and Accepted Masons off Canada in the Province off Ontario”.

Freemasonry in Quebec

Historically, traditional cabins, deists of the current known as " régulier" always prevailed. However, the cabins founded Emancipation on July 18th, 1896 and Forces and Courage which were anticlericals and of liberal tendencies functioned during a few years.

Two “dangers” according to the expression of Henri Bernard threaten the intellectual life montréalaise at the beginning of the century: one anglo-Protestant and the other maçonnique one. They tighten the backdrop with two carried out debates at the same time which touches the relations Church-State and which contributes to camp the positions. It is about that of the public libraries and of that of the obligatory education which remade surface.

In February 1910, the Committee of the citizens, which receives the support of the movement nationalist, carries the reformists to the capacity to Montreal . It is the moment chosen by the catholic Association of youth Canadian-Frenchwoman to purge the life montréalaise maconnic infiltration. Its members, Albert J. Lemieux and V.E. Bowsprit, president of a section of the movement, joined soon by Charles Albert Millette, Jean-Baptiste Prince and J. Bourgoinbo, are devoted to listening, after having rented the apartment located above the room of the cabin in the building the Fatherland located at the angle street Holy-Catherine and Hotel-of-city. In the tread of these events, the mayor J.J. Guerin, an Irishman close friend catholic of Monseigneur Bruchési and member of the medical college, opens an investigation on July 28th. Louis Laberge and Adelstan de Martigny are questioned, the members of the maconnic cabin being suspected of having wanted to intervene at the time of Congress eucharistic of 1910. But the investigation is considered to be ultra transfer by superior court.

In addition, at the end of a lawsuit, Lemieux, shown flight of documents and aggression armed on Ludger Larose, is discharged. But Lemieux publishes the list of the members of the cabin the Emancipation and this denunciation involve the setting with the round of applause with for direct consequence for many freemasons the loss of their employment. The Émancipation cabin had to cease any activities.

With regard to the cabin Forces and Courage founded on March 16th, 1910, it had to work in a difficult context. Indeed at that time, in Quebec, the catholic clergy enjoyed a considerable influence near a population mainly illiterate and weakened by its cultural and linguistic insulation. Despite everything it after a fashion continued its work until the middle of the years 1940.

The catholic clergy a long time used of its influence in order to discourage the adhesion of the French-speaking people in freemasonry. In hillock with the attacks of Mgr Ignace Le Bourget of 1858 to 1870. Since 1858, Mgr Le Bourget had denounced the Freemasonry whose initiates fomented, according to him, of “blacks plots” against the religion and the State. At this time, the cabins were attended by the anglophone citizens most sizeable. Judge William Badgley, former public prosecutor of Quebec, was Grand Master. He had succeeded Peter McGill and John Molson, two former presidents of the Banque of Montreal and eminent tradesmen. In the district of Quebec, the Large Master was Claude Dénéchau, legislative adviser, first Canadian-French to reach this maconnic high position. There were indeed two Large Masters in Quebec since the beginning of the XIX E century: one had jurisdiction on the area of Quebec and Three-Rivers, the other on that of Montreal and William-Henry.

Francs Canadian masons

If there is no unquestionable evidence of the membership of the freemasonry of certain historical characters such as Louis-Joseph Papineau, it is known that French-speaking people adhered various ways to cabins. It is the case for example of Honore Beaugrand which was mayor of Montreal of 1885 with 1887, of Joseph-François Perrault 1753-1844 that several recognize like the father of education in Canada and several others.

Also, several Prime Ministers and politicking Canadian were freemason:

Current location

Canadian Freemasonry would count 200.000 members in Canada.

Regular big rooms recognized by the Plain Big room of England

In Canada, each province has its obedience (Big room) regular. There is thus no regular obedience which can be called the obedience of Canada or the Big room of Canada .

  • Big room of Alberta

  • Big room of British Columbia and Yukon
  • Big room of Canada in the Large Province of Ontario
  • Lodge off Manitoba
  • Big room of New Brunswick
  • Big room of Newfoundland and of Labrador
  • Big room of the News Scotland
  • Big room of the Island of the Prince Edward
  • Big room of Quebec
  • Large Big room of Saskatchewan
  • Prince Hall Lodge off Ontario
  • District of the Big room from Scotland to Newfoundland and Labrador

Cabins of the Human right

  • Canadian Jurisdiction of the Human right

Various obediences

  • Mixed Big room of Quebec
  • National Big room of Canada
  • Gran Logia de Lengua Española of Canada

Cabins of the Egyptian Rite of Memphis-Misraïm

Big room of Canada de Memphis-Misraim

Cabins of the Great East of France

'' Force and Courage '' (Montreal)

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