Leo Landreville

Who was Leo Landreville?

Leo Landreville was a Canadian politician and lawyer, who served as mayor of Sudbury, Ontario in 1955 and 1956 before being appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario as a judge. He later became the first Ontario Supreme Court justice ever to be removed from the bench, after being implicated in the Northern Ontario Natural Gas scandal.

Landreville, a native of Ottawa, practiced law in Sudbury in the 1940s and 1950s before becoming the city's mayor. During his mayoral term, he was offered an option on 10,000 shares of stock in Northern Ontario Natural Gas, a company run by Ralph K. Farris that was seeking a municipal agreement on the construction of a natural gas pipeline through Northern Ontario. When the NONG contract was approved by city council, Farris purchased the shares at the original price offered to Landreville, sold 2,500 shares to reimburse the company, and delivered the 7,500 remaining shares to Landreville at no cost.

Following his appointment to the Supreme Court, Landreville sold the shares for a profit of $117,000.