{{Short description|Canadian politician}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = René Chaloult | honorific_suffix = | image = René Chaloult.png | image_size = | office = Member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for Kamouraska | predecessor = Pierre Gagnon | successor = Louis Philippe Lizotte | term_start = 1936 | term_end = 1939 | office2 = Member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for Lotbinière | predecessor2 = Maurice Pelletier | successor2 = Guy Roberge | term_start2 = 1939 | term_end2 = 1944 | office3 = Member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for Québec-Comté | predecessor3 = François-Xavier Bouchard | successor3 = Jean-Jacques Bédard | term_start3 = 1944 | term_end3 = 1952 | birth_date = {{birth date|1901|01|26}} | birth_place = Quebec City, Quebec | death_date = {{death date and age|1978|12|20|1901|01|26}} | death_place = Quebec City, Quebec | spouse = | party = | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = }} '''René Chaloult''' (January 26, 1901 &ndash; December 20, 1978)<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cqx-SEL9g9YC&dq=rene+chaloult+1978&pg=PA149 | title=Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec, 1792-1992 | date=1993 | publisher=Presses Université Laval | isbn=978-2-7637-7304-9 }}</ref> was a nationalist politician in Quebec, Canada. He is best known for submitting a motion for the Flag of Quebec.<ref>{{Quebec MNA biography|chaloult-rene-2491}}</ref>

==Background==

He was born on January 26, 1901, in Quebec City.

==Political career==

Chaloult first won a seat to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec as a Union Nationale candidate in the 1936 election in the district of Kamouraska. In 1937, he and colleagues Oscar Drouin, Joseph-Ernest Grégoire, Philippe Hamel and Adolphe Marcoux left the Union Nationale.<ref>[http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/patrimoine/chronologie/chrono64.html#1937 Chronologie parlementaire depuis 1791 (1937-1939)]</ref> Chaloult joined the Liberals and won re-election in the 1939 election as the Member for the district of Lotbinière.

During World War II, Chaloult opposed conscription.

He won re-election as an Independent in Québec-Comté electoral district in the 1944 and 1948 elections, but was defeated in the 1952 election and in the district of Jonquière-Kénogami in the 1956 election.

Chaloult retired to live at his summer home in Kamouraska. Each year on July 1, he would fly the Quebec flag outside his summer home at half-staff to show his nationalist inclinations.

==Death==

He died on December 20, 1978.

==Legacy== For many years, Chaloult urged Quebec to adopt a distinctive design for its flag. On November 19, 1946, Chaloult entered a motion to provide Quebec with a unique flag. Two years later, the motion was to be voted on January 21, 1948. However, the opportunistic government of Maurice Duplessis instead issued a decree creating the current Quebec flag.<ref name="Radio-Canada">{{cite news|url=http://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1078162/drapeau-fleurdelise-quebec-signification-histoire-archives|title=70 ans pour le drapeau national du Québec|date=January 19, 2018|publisher=Société Radio-Canada|accessdate=21 January 2018}}</ref>

==Footnotes== {{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaloult, Rene}} Category:1901 births Category:1978 deaths Category:Politicians from Quebec City Category:Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Category:Union Nationale (Quebec) MNAs Category:Université Laval alumni Category:Flag designers Category:20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec