Hon. Colonel Sir Rodolphe Forget, M. P.

“One of the most powerful men in financial circles in Canada; he can make and unmake and has seldom been beaten in a financial battle.” Thus wrote the Canadian Courier concerning one of the foremost French-Canadian citizens of Montreal—Colonel Joseph David Rodolphe Forget, better known as Sir Rodolphe Forget, banker, broker and legislator. He was born at Terrebonne, Province of Quebec, December 10, 1861, and while spending his youthful days in the home of his parents, David and Angele (Limoges) Forget, he attended Masson College. In early manhood he established a home of his own through his marriage in October, 1885, to Mlle. Alexandra Tourville. Subsequent to her death he was married, in April, 1894, to Miss Blanche, youngest daughter of the late A. R. McDonold, a stock broker of Quebec. Lady Forget is prominent in charitable and benevolent circles, being a director of the Montreal Day Nursery and the Notre Dame Hospital, while in 1909 she was elected vice president of the Women’s Canadian Club.

Sir Rodolphe Forget’s active connection with financial affairs began in 1890, when he joined the Montreal Stock Exchange, of which he was chosen chairman in 1908, continuing in that position until 1911, when he resigned. He was for a time connected with the business of L. J. Forget & Company, the senior partner being the late Hon. L. J. Forget. In 1909 a branch house was established in Paris and as banker and broker Sir Rodolphe Forget has attained prominence equal to that which has come to him in connection with public affairs. Many of the extensive and important corporation interests of Canada have been quickened and stimulated through his cooperation, while his sound judgment has constituted a controlling force in their management. He is president of the Quebec and Saguenay Railway, the Quebec Railway Light, Heat & Power Company; vice president of the Montreal Light, Heat & Power Company; and director of the Toronto Railway Company, the Quebec Gas Company, the Sterling Coal Company, Limited, the Canadian General Electric Company, and the St. Lawrence Flour Mills Company. He was formerly president of the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Company, the Eastern Canada Steel & Iron Works, Limited, the Royal Electric Company, and the Mount Royal Assurance Company; and vice president of the Canadian Securities Corporation and La Société d’Administration Générale; and director of the Duluth Street Railway Company, the Montreal-London Securities Corporation, the Black Lake Consolidated Asbestos Company, the Union Brewery Company, the Murray-Bay Lumber & Pulp Company, the City Central Real Estate Company, the Montreal Smelting & Reduction Company, the Prudential Trust Company, the Wayagamack Pulp & Paper Company, the Crown Life Insurance Company, the Canada Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company, the Payne Consolidated Mining Company, La Banque Provinciale and Le Journal. In 1911 he founded La Banque Internationale du Canada. He was rated as a millionaire by the Montreal Star in 1907, which in itself is a testimonial of his power as a financier. In 1911 he headed the navigation merger. He has also been connected with the Canada Car Foundry Company, the Industrial Development Company, the Butte Central Copper Company, and the Montmorency Cotton Mills Company. All these indicate something of the wonderful scope of his business interests and activity and yet by no means give a complete record of his interest and his efforts, which have been equally strong forces in the control, development and upbuilding of organizations having to do with the public welfare. In 1911 he made a gift of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the Notre Dame Hospital, of which he is a director. He is also president of the Province of Quebec Rifle Association, and he was appointed honorary lieutenant colonel of the Sixty-fifth Carabiniers, “Mount Royal” of Montreal in 1907, and was promoted to honorary colonel in March, 1914. He is a director of the Canadian National Bureau of Breeding and is a life governor of the Antiquarian and Numismatic Society. He was vice president of Credit Foncier Franco-Canadien. He has been a member of the executive committee of the Canadian Handicrafts Guild of Montreal, holding the office in 1908.

In politics an independent-conservative, Sir Rodolphe Forget has sat for Charlevoix in the house of commons since 1904. In 1911 he was elected for Charlevoix and Montmorency—said to be the first occasion in the history of the Dominion in which a member in opposition was elected for two constituencies. He was offered a portfolio when Premier Borden formed his cabinet, but declined. He believes in a direct contribution from Canada for the imperial navy and opposed the Taft-Fielding reciprocity pact. His religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church. In club circles he is well known as a member of the Mount Royal, the St. James, Club Lafontaine, Club Canadien, Club St. Denis, Canada, Montreal, Montreal Jockey, Montreal Hunt, Canadian, Forest and Stream, Montreal Curling, Montreal Military Institute, Royal Montreal Golf, Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Clubs, of Montreal, and the Garrison Club of Quebec, in many of which he has held official positions. He has been termed “the young Napoleon of St. François Xavier Street.” He has manifested Napoleonic powers in other connections and his strength, power and resource have given him the position of honor and distinction which he now occupies. His residence is at No. 71 Ontario Avenue, and his summer home is “Gil Mont,” St. Irenee les Bains, Quebec.