Paul-Émile Mercier (1877 – 1926)
	
Paul-Émile Mercier was born in Quebec to parents Virginie Saint-Denis and Honoré Mercier, a former premier of Quebec. Paul-Émile was a land engineer and instrumental in developing the territory’s transportation system.  In 1901, Paul-Émile and Marie-Louise Taché were married in Whitehorse. In 1903, Mercier became director of the Department of Public Works. Among other projects, he directed the work done at Five Finger Rapids to make the passage less dangerous for the riverboats. He and his wife returned to the east and Mercier was chief engineer for the City of Montreal from 1914 to 1919. He was a major in the army, a professor at the École Polytechnique de Montreal, and a member of numerous societies and associations. The French First Language secondary school and community centre in Whitehorse is named for Paul-Émile Mercier with the hope that his legacy will inspire generations of Yukon students.((“Name is announced for French language secondary school.” //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 20 May 2020.))