Adam Oliver
Encyclopedia
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
businessman and political figure. He represented Oxford South
Oxford South
Oxford South was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1935. It was located in the province of Ontario...
in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
as a Liberal
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
member from 1867 to 1876.
He was born in Queens County, New Brunswick
Queens County, New Brunswick
Queens County is located in central New Brunswick, Canada.-Geography:The county's geography is dominated by the Saint John River and Grand Lake. Coal mining is a major industry in the Minto area. Forestry and mixed farming dominate the rest of the county...
in 1823, grew up there and went to London
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
in Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
in 1836, where he became a carpenter. He moved to Ingersoll
Ingersoll, Ontario
Ingersoll is a town in Oxford County on the Thames River in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The nearest cities are Woodstock to the east and London to the west....
in 1850 and established a construction business there and later a lumber yard. He served on the village council and was reeve from 1859 to 1862. Although he was opposed to Ingersoll becoming a town, he served as its first mayor in 1865 and 1866. He was also a captain in the local militia and a magistrate. He was elected to represent Oxford South in the Ontario legislature in 1867 and 1871.
After fire destroyed his lumber yard in Orillia in 1871, he set up a sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
and planing mill
Planing mill
A planing mill is a facility that takes cut and seasoned boards from a sawmill and turns them into finished dimensional lumber. Machines used in the mill include the planer and matcher, the molding machines, and varieties of saws...
near Fort William
Fort William, Ontario
Fort William was a city in Northern Ontario, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. It amalgamated with Port Arthur and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Ever since then it has been the largest city in Northwestern...
in partnership with a Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
lumberman and two lawyers from Ingersoll. After Fort William was selected as a major station on the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
, this company profited from land sales to the government and contracts. The residents of nearby Port Arthur protested that this site had been chosen as a result of Oliver's political connections; a federal Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
government was in power at the time. The Conservative
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
-controlled Senate which conducted an investigation found that there was some substance to these allegations. He had already resigned in 1874 because his company had sold timber to a buyer for the provincial government; members of parliament were not allowed to conduct business with the government. He was reelected in a by-election held later in the same year. He was elected again in 1875 but was unseated after evidence of bribery was found. He died in Ingersoll in 1882.