Sir Hormisdas Laporte, (7 November 1850 – 20 February 1934) was a Canadian businessman and financier. He served as

Mayor of Montreal The mayor of Montreal is head of the executive branch of the Montreal City Council. The current mayor is Valérie Plante, who was elected into office on November 5, 2017, and sworn in on November 16. The office of the mayor administers all ci ...

from 1904 to 1906. His first name is given as Hormidas in some sources.

Biography

Laporte began working at the age of 17 in a nail factory and studied at night with a tutor. By the age of 20, he was working in a grocery and set up his own business within six months. He established Laporte, Martin and Co., a wholesale grocery, in 1881. The enterprise was successful despite instances of flooding and fire and he developed it into a chain. In 1892 he became the first president of the ''Alliance Nationale'', a mutual aid society which evolved into a major Quebec insurance company. He was elected to city council as an alderman in 1896 and became mayor eight years later. He was a reformer on council and wanted to curtail the growth of public expenditures and eliminate patronage and corruption. As mayor, he campaigned to abolish the public utility trusts in favour of public ownership of municipal services. As mayor with a strong majority, he brought the gas utility under municipal control but was unable to defeat the private trusts that controlled transit and electricity. Laporte left the mayor's office in 1906 and, in 1907, became president of the

Provincial Bank of Canada The Provincial Bank of Canada (French: ''Banque provinciale du Canada'') was a Quebec-based bank in Canada that was the product of mergers between the Banque Jacques-Cartier (1861), the Banque d'économie de Québec (1848), the Banque populaire d ...

and remained so until his death.Sir Hormidas Laporte
Le Centre de généalogie francophone d'Amérique, Retrieved on 2007-02-08. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he headed a government commission in charge of provisions and was appointed to the

Queen's Privy Council for Canada The 's Privy Council for Canada (french: Conseil privé du Roi pour le Canada),) during the reign of a queen. sometimes called Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal consultants to the ...

. Following the war he was created a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

for his service. After his death in 1934, he was entombed at the

Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (french: Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run a ...

in Montreal.

Biography

References

Further reading