McCann, James Joseph

Person

McCann, James Joseph

29 March 1886-11 April 1961

James Joseph McCann was a physician and politician from Renfrew, Ontario. He was born at Perth, Ontario on March 29, 1886. He attended Perth public and high schools and studied medicine at Queen's University, graduating in 1909. After working for two years as a medicial practitioner with the Canadian Pacific Railway in Sudbury, Ontario, he did post-graduate work at the University of Chicago, where he was connected with the Cook County Hospital. He married Ceclia Devine in 1913 (deceased 1941). He married Blanche Hélène Desjardins of Luskville, Quebec in 1943.

For more than 30 years, Dr. McCann was Coroner for Renfrew County, and Medical Health Officer for the town of Renfrew. He was president of the Ontario Health Officers' Association in 1934, and president of the Canadian Public Health Association in 1935. He represented Canada at the International Medical Conference in Atlantic City in 1942, was Chairman of the Canadian delegation to the World Health Organization in 1950, and Vice-Chairman of the Canadian delegation to the United Nations in 1955.

He was first elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal member for Renfrew in the general election of 1935, and was re-elected for five consecutive terms until his defeat in 1957. Throughout his political career, he served as Minister of National War Service (1945-1948), Minister of National Revenue (1945-1957) and Minister of Mines and Technical Surveys (1950). He was responsible for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), National Film Board (NFB) and the Division of Government Office Economies Control.

Dr. McCann passed away 11 April 1961.

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