Jean-Noël Lavoie

Who is Jean-Noël Lavoie?

Jean-Noël Lavoie was a notary and former political figure in Quebec. He represented Laval in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec and then the National Assembly of Quebec from 1960 to 1981 as a Liberal.

He was born in Montreal, the son of Zéphirin Lavoie and Laura Gaudreault, and was educated at the Saint-Arsène Orphanage there, at the Collège Laval in Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, at the Collège de Saint-Laurent and the Université de Montréal. He also received officer training at CFB Borden. Lavoie qualified as a notary in 1951 and entered practice in L'Abord-à-Plouffe. He served as alderman for L'Abord-à-Plouffe and was mayor from 1959 to 1961. Lavoie was mayor of the newly formed city of Chomedey from 1961 to 1965. In 1962, he founded Opinions de l'Île-Jésus/Citizen of Île-Jésus. He was a driving force behind the formation of the city of Laval and was its first mayor in 1965; he was defeated when he ran for reelection later that year.

Lavoie ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Quebec assembly in 1956 and then was elected in 1960 and re-elected in 1962 and 1966.