Joseph Alfred (Fred) Laberge (February 16, 1893 - March 27, 1964) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

politician, who served as mayor of Sudbury,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

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 as ...

'', 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 and children's fiction and non-fiction. The company publishes Canadian literature, history, biography, politics and arts. Dundurn has about 2500 books in print, ...

. . 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 (french: Crise de la conscription de 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 b ...

, 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 that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

nomination in Nipissing in the 1925 federal election, but was subjected to a

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

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 Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', 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 of Canada, 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 Acade ...

; 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 ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, and died at his home in Westmount on March 27, 1964."Former Mayor Dies in Montreal". ''

'', 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