Canadian politician Fernand-Joseph Lafontaine, a member of the Union Nationale party, inaugurated the Laviolette bridge in 1967 after 3 years of construction and 12 deaths.
Fernand-Joseph Lafontaine (November 14, 1922  June 21, 2010) was a Canadian politician and a member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec. Lafontaine ran as a Union Nationale candidate in a by-election held on September 16, 1959 in the provincial district of Labelle and won. Union Nationale The bridge was inaugurated on December 20, 1967 by Fernand Lafontaine, the ministre de la voirie (minister of highways) of the government of Daniel Johnson, Sr. The construction of Laviolette Bridge did not start until 1964. On September 8, 1965, an explosion led to the bursting of a caisson because of water pressure, causing the death of twelve workers. 
