Joseph Alfred (Fred) Laberge (February 16, 1893 - March 27, 1964) was a
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
politician, who served as mayor of
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to:
Places Australia
* Sudbury Reef, Queensland
Canada
* Greater Sudbury, Ontario
** Sudbury (federal electoral district)
** Sudbury (provincial electoral district)
** Sudbury Airport
** Sudbury Basin, a meteorite impact cra ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
in 1920 and 1921.
Laberge was the son of Jean-Baptiste Laberge, who founded the Laberge Lumber Company and constructed many of the earliest buildings in Sudbury.
["Laberge Lumber Company Founded 38 Years Ago, Has 52 on Payroll". '']Sudbury Star
''The Sudbury Star'' is a Canadian daily regional newspaper published in Sudbury, Ontario. It is owned by the media company, Postmedia. It is the largest daily paper in Northeastern Ontario by circulation.
History
The ''Sudbury Star'' began ...
'', May 8, 1936. p. 6. He later took over management of the company from his father.
Elected mayor in 1920,
[Wallace, C. M.; & Thomson, Ashley (Eds.) (1993). ''Sudbury: Rail Town to Regional Capital'' (3rd ed.). ]Dundurn Press
Dundurn Press is one of the largest Canadian-owned book publishing companies of adult fiction and non-fiction. The company publishes Canadian literature, history
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Hum ...
. . Laberge was at 27 years old the youngest mayor ever elected in Sudbury at that point. He was also the first mayor to have been born in Sudbury, and the first francophone to hold the mayoralty since Francis Lemieux in 1903.
His election marked at least a temporary end to linguistic tensions between the city's anglophone and francophone communities initiated by the
Conscription Crisis of 1917
The Conscription Crisis of 1917 () was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. It was mainly caused by disagreement on whether men should be conscripted to fight in the war, but also brought out many issues regarding relatio ...
,
and ironically occurred just one year after the first municipal election in the city's history in which francophone candidates had failed to win a single seat on council.
Following his term as mayor, Laberge ran for the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
nomination in
Nipissing in the
1925 federal election, but was subjected to a
blackmail
Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat.
As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...
attempt by Elzéar Cousineau, who wrote him an anonymous letter demanding a $2,000 payout.
["Threatening letter has court sequel: Alleged blackmail plot against J. A. Laberge stirs Sudbury". '']The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'', September 2, 1925. Laberge turned the letter over to the police, and on their advice left a dummy package in Cousineau's requested location, and Cousineau was arrested when he arrived to retrieve the package.
Despite Cousineau's arrest, however, Laberge withdrew from the nomination race in favour of John Ferguson.
Ferguson failed on election day to defeat incumbent MP
Edmond Lapierre
Edmond Anthony Lapierre (25 January 1866 – 20 June 1960) was a Liberal party member of the House of Commons of Canada. He was born in Montreal and became a sales representative.
Lapierre attended St. Mary's Academy in Montreal. He worked ...
; Laberge was selected as the party's candidate in the subsequent
1926 election, but also lost to Lapierre.
After his retirement from the lumber business, Laberge moved to
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
,
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, and died at his home in
Westmount
Westmount () is a city on the Island of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is an enclave of the city of Montreal, with a population of 19,658 as of the 2021 Canadian census.
Westmount is home to schools, an arena, a pool, a public li ...
on March 27, 1964.
["Former Mayor Dies in Montreal". '']Sudbury Star
''The Sudbury Star'' is a Canadian daily regional newspaper published in Sudbury, Ontario. It is owned by the media company, Postmedia. It is the largest daily paper in Northeastern Ontario by circulation.
History
The ''Sudbury Star'' began ...
'', March 28, 1964, p. 3.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laberge, Alfred
1893 births
1964 deaths
Franco-Ontarian people
Mayors of Sudbury, Ontario
Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) candidates for the Canadian House of Commons
20th-century mayors of places in Ontario