Joseph-Octave Villeneuve

Joseph- Octave Villeneuve ( born March 4, 1836 in Sainte -Anne -des- Plaines, Lower Canada, † June 27, 1901 in Montreal ) was a Canadian politician and businessman. From 1894 to 1896 he was mayor of the city of Montreal, then Canadian Senator ( Conservative Party ).

Biography

In 1840 Villeneuve's family moved to Montreal. After leaving school he received a business education at the Brothers of the Christian Schools. He worked for a textile wholesaler and founded in 1860 a horse-drawn omnibus operation, a year later, a grocery store with a butcher shop in the then independent suburb of Saint -Jean -Baptiste. Until 1867, it developed into a trading company for wines and spirits. In 1875 he founded a soap and candle factory and a trading company for wood, grain and construction materials. In 1885 he was one of the founders of the tramway company Montreal Park and Iceland Railway. 1889 Villeneuve founded a textile factory, a cigar factory in 1893. In addition, he served as director of the Banque Jacques- Cartier and Board of Directors of Banque Nationale, a total of six years he was a member of the Montreal Harbour Commission.

From 1866 to 1886 ( annexation to Montreal) Villeneuve served as mayor of Saint -Jean -Baptiste, then he was a member of the Montreal City Council. In 1886 he succeeded in the election to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, but the election result was annulled a year later. After he lost the 1888 rescheduled election, in 1890, he moved back to parliament. In 1894 he was elected mayor of Montreal. The city then had a high debt burden caused by extensive construction projects in previous years. 1895 laid the provincial government set a debt ceiling. A few days before the expiry of his term Prime Minister Mackenzie Bowell appointed him on January 2, 1896 Senator, five years later he died in office.