Masson was born in
Terrebonne,
Lower Canada, in 1833, the son of
Joseph Masson and his wife
Sophie Masson. He studied at
Georgetown College in
Washington, D.C., and the
College of the Holy Cross in
Worcester, Massachusetts. He went on to study law with
George-Étienne Cartier and was called to the bar in 1859 but decided not to practice law. A
Conservative, from 1878 to 1880 he served under Sir
John A. Macdonald as
Minister of Militia and Defence, and in 1880 he was the
President of the Privy Council. From March to October 1884, he was a member of the
Legislative Council of Quebec. From 1884 to 1887, he was the Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec. He published
Les bourgeois de la compagnie du Nord-Ouest (1889).
New International Encyclopedia He had been named to the Senate for Mille Isles division in 1882; he resigned his seat when he was named Lieutenant-Governor. He was reappointed to the Senate in 1890 and served until June 1903. He died later that year in
Montreal, Quebec. He was the father-in-law of
Liberal MP,
Emmanuel Berchmans Devlin. == Electoral record ==