James Lewis Duncan (1892 – 8 April 1960) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician and lawyer.

Early life

Duncan was the son of a physician and grandson of a Presbyterian minister. He studied at the University of Toronto and in Paris and won a silver medal as a student at

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the ''Osgoode Hall La ...

. He fought in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

at the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...

Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

and Passchendaele. He was appointed military administrator of occupied

Bonn, Germany The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

and ended the war with the rank of

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Career

Returning to Canada he was appointed chair of a Fair Price Commission on milk, wrote a book on bankruptcy law and sat on a royal commission investigating farm fraud in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and helped write Canada's

Combines Investigation Act The ''Combines Investigation Act'' was a Canadian Act of Parliament, implemented in 1910, passed in 1923 by MacKenzie King, which regulated certain corporate business practices that were anti-competitive. It prohibited monopolies, misleading adve ...

. In the 1930s,

Ontario Hydro Ontario Hydro, established in 1906 as the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, was a publicly owned electricity utility in the Province of Ontario. It was formed to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity ge ...

retained Duncan for a two-year investigation, leading him to be criticized by the Ontario Premier

Mitchell Hepburn Mitchell Frederick Hepburn (August 12, 1896 – January 5, 1953) was the 11th premier of Ontario, from 1934 to 1942. He was the youngest premier in Ontario history, appointed at age 37. He was the only Ontario Liberal Party leader in the 20th cent ...

for charging $17,000 in legal fees. Duncan was expelled from the ruling Ontario Liberal Party and responded by comparing Hepburn to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and Hepburn called Duncan "a rat." He was elected to

Toronto City Council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022. Structure The cur ...

in the 1930s and ran for

Mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...

in 1939 but was defeated by Ralph C. Day by a margin of 39,000 votes and again in 1940 by only 4,000 votes. He returned to city council as a member of the Board of Control in 1941 topping the polls in the election for the four-person executive body (the Mayor sat ''ex officio'' as the Chairman) and sat on the body until 1944. As Vice-Chairman of the Board of Control, Duncan charged the city with being run as a

family compact The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in L ...

and accused the

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and largest ...

of not disclosing its books. Duncan also started a major investigation in 1942 when he charged that a child receiving

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

had died of malnutrition. Duncan ran as a federal Liberal candidate for 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 ...

in the 1940 election in the Danforth

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

. He was defeated in a two-way race against

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

John Henry Harris. Duncan then joined the

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario Section) The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario Section) – The Farmer-Labor Party of Ontario, or more commonly known as the Ontario CCF, was a democratic socialist provincial political party in Ontario that existed from 1932 to 1961. It was the ...

, and ran again for Mayor of Toronto in 1944 but was defeated by

Frederick J. Conboy Frederick Joseph Conboy (January 1, 1883 – March 29, 1949) was a Canadians, Canadian politician, who served as List of mayors of Toronto, mayor of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario from 1941 to 1944. He was also a member of the Orange Order in C ...

by 20,000 votes. He also ran in the 1945 Ontario election as the CCF's candidate in the riding of High Park against George Drew, accusing him of being financed by "beer barons", but was defeated. He then challenged

Ontario CCF The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario Section) – The Farmer-Labor Party of Ontario, or more commonly known as the Ontario CCF, was a democratic socialist provincial political party in Ontario that existed from 1932 to 1961. It was the ...

Ted Jolliffe Edward Bigelow JolliffeSmith, p. 195 (March 2, 1909 – March 18, 1998) was a Canadian social democratic politician and lawyer from Ontario. He was the first leader of the Ontario section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario ...

for the party's leadership, but was defeated by Jolliffe at the 1946

leadership convention {{Politics of Canada In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader. Overview In Canada, leaders of a party generally rem ...

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

. Duncan had a colourful reputation as a lawyer. He once challenged a Supreme Court justice to step out of his courtroom and repeat his statements in the hallway and was fined $2,000 in 1957 for "scandalizing the court" when he asked a Supreme Court justice to withdraw himself from a hearing without giving a reason. He never paid the fine but was barred thereafter from arguing cases before the Supreme Court.

Death

Duncan died aged 68, on 8 April 1960, when he shot himself to death in the washroom of a downtown Toronto department store. According to ''The Globe and Mail'' newspaper, Duncan was "long disturbed over the death of his only son, John, in the Second World War."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Lewis Toronto city councillors Lawyers in Ontario 1960 deaths 1892 births Canadian Expeditionary Force officers Suicides by firearm in Ontario 1960 suicides Canadian politicians who died by suicide