Gaston Hardy

Gaston Hardy (April 22, 1917 – July 15, 1977) was a municipal and provincial politician in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec. He was the 13th Mayor of the City of Shawinigan Falls, from 1954 to 1957.[1]

Gaston Hardy in 1945

Biography

Gaston Hardy was born in 1917 in Portneuf, Quebec. He completed commercial scientific studies in 1934 in Trois-Rivières.[2] In 1942, he settled in Shawinigan Falls, where he worked for the Aluminium Company of Canada (Alcan).[2] He later worked as insurance agent.[3] He once lived at 1512, rue Saint-Joseph, in the Saint-Marc neighborhood.

In the July 5, 1954 general municipal election, Hardy ran for mayor of Shawinigan Falls and won the election over the other candidate, Paul-Émile Bélanger, a businessman.[3][4] He was sworn into office on July 12, 1954.[5] During Hardy's term, the City created a city planning department and appointed a full-time city planner.[6] On January 7, 1957 mayor Hardy's proposal to annex to the City the three neighbouring municipalities of Shawinigan-Sud, Shawinigan-Est and Baie-Shawinigan was defeated by a majority of the City council members.[7] On January 14, 1957 Hardy announced his resignation as mayor for reasons of health problems, on the advice of his doctors.[8] A by-election was called for February 11, 1957 to elect a new mayor for the remaining 10 months of the term. The two candidates were businessman J.-Armand Foucher and alderman Fernand Bilodeau. Foucher won.[9]

Hardy was the Union Nationale candidate in the district of Saint-Maurice in the 1956 and the 1960 Quebec general elections. Each time he lost against incumbent MLA René Hamel.[10]

He died in 1977 in Shawinigan.

Rue Hardy in the Shawinigan-Nord neighbourhood was named to honour him.

Notes and references

1. Fabien LaRochelle, Shawinigan depuis 75 ans, 1976 (in French)
2. Stéphanie Lavoie, "Shawinigan modelée par ses magistrats 1937 à 1957 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine", in L'Écho de Shawinigan, 15 janvier 2014, p. 4 (in French)
3. "Gaston Hardy elected mayor of Shawinigan Falls", in The Shawinigan Standard, July 7th, 1954, p. 1
4. "M. Gaston Hardy est élu maire de Shawinigan par 880 voix de majorité", in Les Chutes de Shawinigan, 7 juillet 1954, p. 26 (in French)
5. "Mayor Gaston Hardy Sworn Into Office by City Secretary", in The Shawinigan Standard, July 14th, 1954, p. 1
6. "City Engages Gilles Dufresne Full Time Municipal Planner", in The Shawinigan Standard, September 14, 1955, p. 20
7. "Council Rejects Annexation of Adjoining Municipalities 6 to 4", in The Shawinigan Standard, January 9th, 1957, p.1
8. "Lettre de démission du maire Gaston Hardy adressée au greffier de la cité", in Les Chutes de Shawinigan, 16 janvier 1957, p. 11 (in French)
9. "J.A. Foucher Elected Mayor of City With 1,353 Majority", in The Shawinigan Standard, February 13th, 1957, p. 1
10. Jacques Lacoursière, Shawinigan Cent ans d'histoire, Les éditions des Glanures, 2001 (in French)