Tags: Mayor.
Joseph-Balsora Turgeon (1810 – July 17 1897) was the first French-Canadian mayor of Bytown Canada. He was born in Terrebonne Quebec in 1810 and came to Bytown in around 1836. He was elected to the town council in 1848 1849 1851 and 1852. In 1852 he became a school trustee and also founded L’Institut canadien-français d’Ottawa. He became mayor of Bytown in 1853. Turgeon proposed the establishment of a Separate School system in Bytown and also lobbied for more French-speaking teachers.