Donald James Cowan (January 3, 1883 – January 14, 1964) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He represented Port Arthur—Thunder Bay in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

. Born in Drumbo, Blenheim Township,

Oxford County, Ontario Oxford County is a regional municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario. Highway 401 runs east–west through the centre of the county, creating an urban industrial corridor with more than half the county's population, spanning 25 km ...

, Cowan was the son of James D. Cowan and Elizabeth Taylor.Normandin, AL ''Canadian Parliamentary Guide, 1934'' Educated in Galt, at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Law School, he established a law practice in

Port Arthur, Ontario Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario, Canada, located on Lake Superior. In January 1970, it amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay. Port Arthur had been the district seat of ...

, in 1908. In 1912, Cowan married Edith Ruby Anderson. He served three years 1913–1915 as an alderman and two years as mayor 1916–1917.F. Brent Scollie, ''Thunder Bay Mayors & Councillors, 1873-1945'' (Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, 2000), 71. Subsequently, he was city solicitor from January 1919 to November 1934. Cowan was appointed

Crown attorney Crown attorneys or crown counsel (or, in Alberta and New Brunswick, crown prosecutors) are the prosecutors in the legal system of Canada. Crown attorneys represent the Crown and act as prosecutor in proceedings under the Criminal Code and vario ...

for

Thunder Bay District, Ontario Thunder Bay District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The district seat is Thunder Bay. In 2016, the population was 146,048. The land area is ; the population density was . Most of ...

, in November 1925. In 1928, he was named

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

. He was elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative in September 1926 and again in 1930. During his two terms in Parliament, he was a member of a select committee appointed to study possible amendments and changes to the

British North America Act The British North America Acts 1867–1975 are a series of Acts of Parliament that were at the core of the constitution of Canada. Most were enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom and some by the Parliament of Canada. In Canada, some ...

and promoted a Seaway treaty with the United States. In July 1935 he was rewarded by Prime Minister R. B. Bennett with the judgeship of

Brant County, Ontario The County of Brant (2021 population 39,474) is a single-tier municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario. Although it retains the word "county" in its name, the municipality is a single-tier municipal government and has no upper tier. The ...

, only the third judge of that county since 1853. Cowan died in

Brantford, Ontario Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County, but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully independ ...

, in 1964.

References

1883 births 1964 deaths Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Mayors of Port Arthur, Ontario Canadian King's Counsel {{Ontario-mayor-stub