James Sinclair, (May 26, 1908 – February 7, 1984) was a Canadian politician and businessman. He was the maternal grandfather of current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Early life

Sinclair was born in Crossroads, Grange,

Banffshire Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray ...

, Scotland, the son of James George Sinclair (March 9, 1879;

Wick, Scotland Wick ( gd, Inbhir Ùige (IPA: �inivɪɾʲˈuːkʲə, sco, Week) is a town and royal burgh in Caithness, in the far north of Scotland. The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay. "Wick Locality" had a population o ...

– March 18, 1962; Vancouver) and Betsy Sinclair née Ross (December 12, 1878; Evanton, Scotland – September 18, 1959; Vancouver). He moved to Vancouver with his family in 1911 where his father, who had already immigrated a year earlier, was among the founders of Vancouver Technical Secondary School, the area's first vocational school, and served as the school's second principal from 1930 until 1944. Sinclair studied engineering at the University of British Columbia and was awarded a

Rhodes scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

in 1928 to study mathematics at St John's College, in the University of Oxford. He also studied mathematical physics at Princeton University. During World War II, he served with the Royal Canadian Air Force in North Africa, Malta, and Sicily as a squadron leader.

Career

He was first elected to 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 ...

representing the riding of Vancouver North in the 1940 federal election. A Liberal, he was re-elected in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

in the riding of Vancouver North, and in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

, and

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

in the riding of Coast-Capilano. He was defeated in the 1958 federal election. From 1949 to 1952, he was the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance. From 1952 to 1957, he was the Minister of Fisheries. From 1958 to 1960, he was the

President of Fisheries Association of British Columbia President most commonly refers to: * President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

. From 1960 to 1970, he was president and Chairman of

Lafarge Cement Tarmac is a British building materials company headquartered in Solihull, England. The company was formed as Lafarge Tarmac in March 2013, by the merger of Anglo American's Tarmac UK and Lafarge's operations in the United Kingdom. In July 201 ...

of North America. He was also a director of the Bank of Montreal and of Canadian Industries limited. He took part in the economic mission headed by Charles Drury with people such as Paul Desmarais,

Yves Dubé Yves may refer to: * Yves, Charente-Maritime, a commune of the Charente-Maritime department in France * Yves (given name), including a list of people with the name * ''Yves'' (single album), a single album by Loona * ''Yves'' (film), a 2019 Fr ...

, Marcel Faribeault to France in June 1966. From 1970 to 1973 he was Deputy Chairman of Canada Cement Lafarge Limited. In 1978, according to testimony in the trial of four murdered teenagers, their killings were part of a failed attempted scheme to kidnap four prominent Vancouver-area families including James Sinclair's.

Personal life

Sinclair was married in Saint Stephen's Anglican Church, West Vancouver on November 2, 1940 to Doris Kathleen Bernard (February 11, 1920; Penticton, British Columbia – March 29, 2012; Saanich, British Columbia). They had of five daughters. His fourth daughter was Margaret Joan Trudeau née Sinclair, one-time wife of the 15th Canadian Prime Minister

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

and mother of 23rd and current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Alexandre Trudeau and Michel Trudeau. Many, including

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...

and Justin Trudeau himself, have noted the family resemblance in physical appearance between Sinclair and Justin Trudeau. Sinclair is also the namesake of both Justin Trudeau (whose middle name is James) and Xavier James Trudeau, son of Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau. He died in 1984 of a myocardial infarction at his home in West Vancouver. The

Sinclair Centre Sinclair Centre is an upscale shopping mall in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. It is located at 757 West Hastings Street between Granville and Howe streets. The centre comprises four buildings that were restored and connected by a new atri ...

, a shopping complex in downtown Vancouver, is named after him.

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, James 1908 births 1984 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Businesspeople from Vancouver 20th-century Canadian businesspeople Canadian Rhodes Scholars Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada People from Banff, Aberdeenshire Politicians from Vancouver Princeton University alumni British emigrants to Canada University of British Columbia Faculty of Applied Science alumni Trudeau political family Royal Canadian Air Force officers Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II