The Beauharnois Scandal: A Story of Canadian Entrepreneurship and Politics

In 1929 the Beauharnois Power Corporation began construction on a new power canal and hydroelectric powerhouse some twenty-two miles upstream from Montreal. In this way it sought to divert the flow of the St Lawrence River and enter into vigorous competition with the well-established Montreal Light, Heat and Power Consolidated. In an effort to speed the granting of federal and provincial leases and authorizations, the Beauharnois promoters made large political campaign contributions in 1929 and 1930. When this was revealed in 1931 the company and its promoters were discredited in one of Canada’s most serious political scandals.

T.D. Regehr has drawn extensively from archival material to tell the story of Beauharnois in all its facets: entrepreneurial, financial, administrative, technological, and political. He gives an intriguing account of one of the less glorious episodes in Canadian corporate history.