Joseph-Elzéar Bernier

He was born in L'Islet, Canada East, the son of Captain Thomas Bernier and Célinas Paradis.

During World War I, Bernier commanded a ship which transported mail along the eastern coast and carried goods in convoys across the Atlantic.

Historian and expert on Northern Sovereignty Michael Byers noted that Bernier placed a plaque on Melville Island, in 1909, claiming Canadian Sovereignty over not only the entire Arctic Archipelago, but a wedge of the Arctic Ocean "from longitude 60°W to 141°W up to latitude 90°N," ie, all the way to the North Pole.

Québécois actor Rémy Girard portrays Bernier in "The Big Chill" (January 18, 2016), episode 10 of season 9 of the Canadian television period drama Murdoch Mysteries.

This Memorial is erected today to commemorate the taking possession for the DOMINION OF CANADA of the whole ARCTIC ARCHIPELAGO lying to the north of America from long.