Mgr Michel-Thomas Labrecque (1849-1932)
- 1849: Birth of Michel-Thomas Labrecque on December 30, 1849 in Saint-Anselme, he is the son of François-Xavier Labrecque, farmer, and Émilie Lemelin.
- 1863-1872: He studied classics at the Petit Séminaire and then at the Grand Séminaire de Québec.
- 1876: Ordained priest in 1876, he became professor of rhetoric at the Séminaire de Québec.
- 1880: He also obtained a master's degree in Arts from Université Laval.
- 1880-1883: He left to continue his studies in Rome and returned to Québec, in 1883, after obtaining doctorates in canon law (1882) and in theology (1883).
- 1883-1891: He teaches at the Petit Séminaire as a professor of moral theology and rhetoric.
- 1889-1892: Director of the Major Seminary of Quebec. Bishop Labrecque climbed the echelons of the Catholic hierarchy.
- 1892: He was elected bishop of Chicoutimi and, at the same time, became administrator of the Apostolic Prefecture of Golfe-Saint-Laurent.
- 1927: The disease forces him to stop and must resign. In the same year he became titular bishop of Helenopolis in Bithynia, a largely honorary title.
- 1892-1927: The bishop founded 27 new parishes. In addition, it establishes eight religious communities in the region, favoring the development of institutions in the education and health sectors. He is the founder of the Soeurs Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil and their institute in Chicoutimi (Saguenay). Very active during his term, he also set up numerous works and associations such as the Société de tempérance in 1907 and the Fédération Ouvrière Mutuelle du Nord in 1912, a forerunner of Catholic trade unionism in Quebec.
- 1932: He died on 3 June 1932 in Chicoutimi. He is buried in the crypt of the Cathédrale Saint-François-Xavier, Chicoutimi.
The "Canton de Labrecque", proclaimed in 1920, and the municipality of the same name, erected in 1925, in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, honored Mgr Labrecque. He received the title of Bishop Emeritus of Chicoutimi after his death.
