Joseph-Octave Mousseau was a lawyer and political figure in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. He represented Soulanges

Soulanges (provincial electoral district)

Soulanges is a provincial electoral district in Quebec, Canada that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. The riding was created in 2001 from parts of Salaberry-Soulanges and Vaudreuil. It includes the municipalities of Rigaud, Pointe-Fortune, Saint-Lazare, Saint-Polycarpe,...

 in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec

Legislative Assembly of Quebec

The Legislative Assembly of Quebec was the name of the lower house of Quebec's legislature until 1968, when it was renamed the National Assembly of Quebec. At the same time, the upper house of the legislature, the Legislative Council, was abolished...

 from 1904 to 1914 as a Liberal member.

He was born in Saint-Polycarpe, Quebec

Saint-Polycarpe, Quebec

Saint-Polycarpe is a Quebec municipality located in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality in the Montérégie region west of Montreal and just east of the Quebec-Ontario border...

, the son of Joseph-Octave Mousseau

Joseph Octave Mousseau

Joseph Octave Mousseau was a physician and political figure in Quebec. He represented Soulanges in the Canadian House of Commons from 1891 to 1892 as an Independent member....

 and Rose-Avelina Cadieux. Mousseau studied at Collège Bourget

Collège Bourget

Collège Bourget is a Roman Catholic French-language private school and former classical college in Rigaud, Quebec, Canada operated by the Clerics of Saint Viator. It was founded in 1850, and is named after Ignace Bourget, bishop of Montreal from 1840 until 1876...

 at Rigaud

Rigaud, Quebec

Rigaud is a municipality in southwestern Quebec, Canada in the county of Vaudreuil-Soulanges at the junction of the Ottawa River and the Rigaud River. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 6,780...

 and the Université Laval

Université Laval

Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...

; he was called to the Quebec bar in 1897 and set up practice in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

. In 1899, he married Clara Gagné. Mousseau was an unsuccessful candidate for a seat in the provincial assembly in a 1902 by-election. He was named King's Counsel in 1909. He served as party whip

Whip (politics)

A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

 from 1913 to 1914. He resigned his seat in 1914 after being accused of corruption in the Montreal Daily Mail; these accusations were found to be justified by a committee of the assembly. In 1917, he married his cousin Annette, the daughter of Joseph-Alfred Mousseau

Joseph-Alfred Mousseau

Joseph-Alfred Mousseau, PC , was a French Canadian politician.He was born in Sainte-Geneviève-de-Berthier, Lower Canada, the son of Louis Mousseau, the son of Alexis Mousseau, and Sophie Duteau, dit Grandpré...

. He was married a third time, to Cécile Langlois, in 1955. Mousseau died in Montreal at the age of 90 and was buried in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery.

His sister Hortense married Joseph-Rodolphe Ouimet

Joseph-Rodolphe Ouimet

Joseph-Rodolphe Ouimet was a Liberal party member of the Canadian House of Commons. He was born in L'Île-Bizard, Quebec and became a notary....

.