Desmond Houston

Des is known to be curmudgeonly and cheap, both I suppose being a tolerable corollary to old age (though frankly I suspect he was that way all his life). Like so many others who have an abrupt or hardened exterior, Des is a marshmallow inside.

He certainly was good to me when I practiced law. Since Des was the Clerk of the Town of Almonte (following the retirement of Bob France if my memory serves me), he was someone with whom I dealt on a regular basis. Additionally Des supported me when I needed him in matters relating to the stewardship of my heritage office building, specifically careering the sometimes tortuous waters of municipal and provincial government funding.

Des reached the pinnacle of sublimity and pontification when he became the first President of the Mississippi River Power Corporation in 2000. As Town Clerk he had been familiar with the machinations of the Public Utilities Commission of the Corporation of the Town of Almonte (which was governed like a private fiefdom under the auspices of Brian J. Gallagher, a close associate of Des). When the PUC was required by law to divest itself of control and ownership of the “wires and generation” capacity - to be replaced by the Ottawa River Power Corporation and the Mississippi River Power Corporation respectively - it was an ideal opportunity for Des to assume management and control of what for years had been the gem of the Town - the power house.

The power house (or hydro plant) had originally been championed by Dr. Metcalfe who was also a notoriously independent member of Almonte society. It was therefore fitting that Des should follow in Doc Metcalfe’s footsteps. Des’ involvement in many respects far outshone Metcalfe’s in the long run because Des was the captain of the ship which pioneered the twenty million dollar upgrade to the plant, then the single most expensive development ever undertaken in the name of the Town (which of course was the sole shareholder of MRPC).