Article

Wilfrid Gagnon

Published Online June 2, 2008

Last Edited December 16, 2013

Wilfrid Gagnon, businessman (b at Montréal 15 Sept 1898; d there 10 June 1963). A graduate of Montréal's Collège Sainte-Marie, Gagnon joined his family's shoe-manufacturing firm, Aird and Son Ltd, becoming president in 1926.

Wilfrid Gagnon

Wilfrid Gagnon, businessman (b at Montréal 15 Sept 1898; d there 10 June 1963). A graduate of Montréal's Collège Sainte-Marie, Gagnon joined his family's shoe-manufacturing firm, Aird and Son Ltd, becoming president in 1926. In 1936 he was minister of commerce and industry in Premier GODBOUT's Liberal government.

During WWII he became a DOLLAR-A-YEAR-MAN in Ottawa's Department of Munitions and Supply, playing an important role in industrial mobilization. He was created a Companion of the Order of the British Empire in 1948. Building on his business experience and wartime acquaintance with E.P. TAYLOR, Gagnon assumed senior positions in over 25 financial, manufacturing, retail and natural-resource enterprises. He was chairman of Banque canadienne nationale, Dow Brewery Ltd and Canadian Aviation Electronics; president of Narwil Shoes Ltd and Wilmont Shoes Ltd; director of, among others, the CNR, Trans-Canada Airlines and Argus Corp; and governor of the U de Montréal.