As a farmer and businessman, Joseph-Omer Gour contributed to the economic development of French Ontario’s rural population. Born in Alfred, he was a farmer, general merchant and farm machinery salesman. He also was the mayor of Casselman from 1934 to 1935, the president and managing director of the Casselman Breweries warehouse, and the president-founder of the Coopérative de lin de North-Lancaster (a flax growers cooperative). As a matter of fact, the revenue from this new crop introduced in Eastern Ontario by Gour and the agronomist Ferdinand Larose during the economic crisis saved many growers from bankruptcy. He also sold the machinery designed for this particular crop, which he imported from Belgium. A liberal Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1959, he worked tirelessly to improve the financial situation of and protect the interest of Franco-Ontarian farmers.