Jules Crepeau, Director of Municipal Departments. (That's how is title is generally written in the newspapers, but not always.
Well, I'm 3/4's of the way through the first draft of my play, Milk and Water, about Montreal in 1927, and I'm still figuring things out. Important things. Like exactly why did my grandfather get pushed out in 1930.
As my play takes place in 1927, it's not essential that I know, but it helps because these forces are looming over him at that time.
I went back and read the speech Camillien Houde gave in the National Assembly in March 1927, with respect to the Montreal Water and Power Purchase.
He ran off at the mouth a bit, I think, being a new politician, so that speech contains some clues, I think.
Houde says that Alderman Brodeur, Chairman of the Executive Committee from 1921-27 has absolute power in the Civic Government, but that he is under the control of a well-known politician.
Hmm.
Houde also says he wants all those who benefited from the Montreal Water and Power Purchase, "pursued like criminals."
I suspect the man he is naming is J.L. Perron, (who is at this time either Minister of Transportation or Minister of Agriculture.) It was naive of Houde, as you don't pursue your own.. even if they are political adversaries.
J.L. Perron was a prominent lawyer and had worked with McConnell and Lorne Webster.
Looking Perron up on the Net I see he died in early 1930!
So Brodeur died in November 1927, Perron in 1930 and then my grandfather is forced to resign over the Montreal Water and Power Purchase in late 1930 -although he clearly had nothing to do with it and although the voters didn't know him from a hole in the head
Houde lost his Provincial seat in the May 1927 election - and he contested and eventually won it back. (Electoral fraud). While he was waiting for the judgement he also ran for Mayor and the rest is History.
Houde was a most interesting politician, as everyone knows. He used 'modern' technique sticking to simple buzzwords to engage the populace. Joking a lot. He invoked Montreal Water and Power over and over in his speeches, for years, keeping a cloud over the former Martin Administration (despite the fact it was a worthy, necessary and even a landmark purchase with respect to the evolution of City Services) and he did the same with the Laurier Palace Fire.
These were two of the era's Hot button issues, which he kept hot by keeping the memory of them in the minds of voters. Sound familiar??? He kept doing this despite the fact that a Juge had ruled that the Laurier Palace fire was no one's fault.
He kept doing this despite the fact that the MWand P purchase was a boon to the poorer citizen.
Mederic Martin was so incensed over the MWandP innuendo, he eventually called for an inquiry of his own to 'clear his name.'
I also dug up another interesting article in a Financial newspaper. In early 1926, the shares of Montreal Water and Power were worth 78 dollars, a healthy amount, said the article, and this was because the company was likely to be purchased by the City. (The company also made healthy profits the year before.) Lorne Webster offered 85 dollars a share for the company in November 1926.
So in early 1926, it was common knowledge that the City was about to finally get around to buying/expropriating the MWP.
Why? It is because the National Assembly amended the 1921 bill (permitting expropriation) allowing the City to Purchase to purchase shares of said company. I can't easily find the exact date of this bill because the 1926 session isn't online.
Gee, years ago I attended a Books and Breakfast affair where a writer, William Fong, was promoting his new book, J.W. McConnell, Financier, Philanthropist and Patriot.
I bought it, thinking it might be useful for the project I was then working on about the Nicholsons of Richmond.
It's much more useful for this project, Milk and Water....My grandfather, Jules Crepeau, was a big fish in the small pond of City Politics and a small fish in the Big Pond of the Power Brokers and Industrialists.
Not surprising, since he is related to the Forgets of Montreal Tramlines.
"Mon Oncle Rodolphe" as my mom called Senator Rodolphe Forget.
