Jean Roy

Who was Jean Roy?

Jean Robert Roy was a Liberal party member of the Canadian House of Commons. He was born in Timmins, Ontario and became a businessman, contractor and quantity surveyor by career.

Roy, a Franco-Ontarian, studied at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario before working in accounting, then in the construction industry.

He was first elected at the Timmins riding in the 1968 general election. Roy was re-elected there in the 1972 and 1974 federal elections, and after completing his term in the 30th Parliament he left federal politics due to reported health concerns.

During a House of Commons session during the 1970 October Crisis, Roy excoriated NDP members who opposed the proclamation of the War Measures Act in response to terrorist actions in Quebec. NDP member Harold Winch demanded that Roy retract an accusation that Winch's party's vote against the Act was tantamount to "support for the murderers".

Roy also opposed increases in Canadian content on television as his riding's only available television broadcasts at that time were from CBC Television and felt a reduction in the minimal American programming provided would be a "disservice".