Colonel Sir Joseph David Rodolphe Forget (December 10, 1861 – February 19, 1919) 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 ...

business investor,

stockbroker A stockbroker is an individual or company that buys and sells stocks and other investments for a financial market participant in return for a commission, markup, or fee. In most countries they are regulated as a broker or broker-dealer and ...

, and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He held national directorships and had major investments in

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

companies, as well as industrial concerns and

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

companies in the

Provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

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

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 ...

. He was one of the few

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

business magnate A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

s of his time.

Life and career

Born in Terrebonne in what was then known as

Canada East Canada East () was the northeastern portion of the Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new colony, known as the Province of ...

, he was the only son of David Rodolphe Forget, a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

at Terrebonne who was the brother of the Hon.

Louis-Joseph Forget Louis-Joseph Forget (March 11, 1853 – April 7, 1911) was a Canadian businessman and politician. Life and career Born in Terrebonne, Canada East, he was a stockbroker and then founded his own brokerage firm, ''L. J. Forget et Compagnie'', i ...

. His mother, Angele Limoges, was the half-sister of Sir Louis-Olivier Taillon, 8th

Prime Minister of Quebec The premier of Quebec ( (masculine) or eminine is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of the Coalition Avenir Québec, sworn in on October 18, 2018, following that ...

. The Forgets were long settled in Quebec, having moved there from

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

in 1650. Forget became one of the most influential and controversial businessmen of his era in Quebec. With wide-ranging business interests, one of his companies built the Manoir Richelieu hotel in 1899 at

La Malbaie, Quebec La Malbaie () is a municipality in the Charlevoix-Est Regional County Municipality in the Province of Quebec, Canada, situated on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River at the mouth of the Malbaie River. It was formerly known as Murray Bay. ...

. During the early 1900s, Rodolphe Forget with his uncle Louis-Joseph Forget and Forget family investments controlled the very important Montreal Light, Heat & Power Company. Rodolphe Forget also served as chairman of the

Board of Directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of the

Montreal Stock Exchange The Montreal Exchange (MX; ), formerly the Montreal Stock Exchange (MSE), is a derivatives exchange, located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that trades futures contracts and options on equities, indices, currencies, ETFs, energy and interest rates. ...

from 1907 to 1909. In 1904, Forget was elected as a

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 ...

to the

10th Canadian Parliament The 10th Canadian Parliament was in session from January 11, 1905, until September 17, 1908 (3 years and 251 days). The membership was set by the 1904 federal election on November 3, 1904. It was dissolved prior to the 1908 election. It was ...

for the Charlevoix riding, and he served for more than thirteen years. He was the father of

Thérèse Casgrain Marie Thérèse Casgrain (; 10 July 1896 – 3 November 1981) was a French-Canadian feminist, reformer, politician and senator. She was a leader in the fight for women's right to vote in the province of Quebec, as well as the first woman t ...

and father-in-law of

Pierre-François Casgrain Pierre-François Casgrain, (August 4, 1886 – August 2, 1950) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons from 1936 to 1940. Born in Montreal, Quebec, his father was a physician. Following the d ...

, who was elected as a Liberal MP in Charlevoix in 1917. Forget died in 1919 at the age of fifty-seven and was buried in the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges in Montreal. His home in Montreal's

Golden Square Mile The Golden Square Mile (, ), also known as the Square Mile, is the nostalgic name given to an urban neighbourhood developed principally between 1850 and 1930 at the foot of Mount Royal, in the west-central section of downtown Montreal in Quebec, Ca ...

still stands today and is one of the buildings that are used by the Russian Consulate. His estate in Charlevoix is now part of

Domaine Forget Le Domaine Forget de Charlevoix is an international music festival and a music and dance academy in Saint-Irénée, Quebec, Saint-Irénée, Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada. The domain is a operated by a non-profit organization occupying a large set ...

References

*
Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

External links

1861 births 1919 deaths Businesspeople from Quebec Canadian Knights Bachelor Canadian philanthropists Canadian stockbrokers Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec People from Lanaudière People from Terrebonne, Quebec Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Beaubien–Casgrain family 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada {{Canada-business-bio-stub