James McGrath (Canadian politician)

James Aloysius McGrath, PC (born January 11, 1932) is a former politician and the eighth Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland, Canada.

Life

As a young man, McGrath was a member of the Responsible Government League which opposed Newfoundland joining Canadian Confederation. Nevertheless, upon the province's joining confederation in 1949, McGrath left to enlist with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He returned to Newfoundland in 1953 and became sales manager with radio station CJON. In 1955, he became secretary of the provincial Progressive Conservative Party association. In 1956, he ran unsuccessfully for the party in the provincial election.

Federal politics

He entered federal politics the next year, and won a seat in the Canadian House of Commons in the 1957 election as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for St. John's East. In 1962, McGrath became parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Mines and Technical Surveys, and served in that position until he was defeated along with the Diefenbaker government in the 1963 election.

McGrath regained his seat in the 1968 election, and remained in parliament through five subsequent elections.

When the Progressive...
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