 In 1844, he ran unsuccessfully against Thomas Boutillier to represent Saint-Hyacinthe in the legislative assembly.In 1847, Dessaulles began writing articles for the newspaper "L'Avenir"; he supported Papineau, opposed the political power of the Roman Catholic Church in Canada East, opposed the union of Upper and Lower Canada and supported annexation with the United States.He was mayor of Saint-Hyacinthe from 1849 to 1857.