James Edgar Walker

James Edgar Walker (July 21, 1911 – April 19, 1989) was a Canadian politician.

Biography

Born in Vegreville, Alberta, he attended the University of Alberta. After working as an insurance agent, he was transferred to Ontario in 1939 by the farm equipment company he was working for at the time. During World War II, he was a corporal with the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. After the war, he worked in Toronto eventually starting his own insurance firm, James Walker Insurance Co. Limited, which he sold in 1959.

In 1953, he was elected to the City of North York Council. In 1958, he ran unsuccessfully for reeve.

He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the riding of York Centre in the 1962 federal election. A Liberal, he was re-elected in 1963, 1965, 1968, and 1972. From 1963 to 1965, he was the Chief Government Whip. From 1966 to 1968, he was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue. In 1968, he was the Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board. From 1968 to 1970, he was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

James Edgar

James Edgar may refer to:

James Edgar (entrepreneur)

James Edgar (1843 – 1909) was a businessman who has been credited with being the one who first came up with the idea of dressing up as Santa Claus for Christmas. He started the tradition in 1890 in his Brockton, Massachusetts, department store.

Biography

Edgar was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1843. In 1878 he arrived in Brockton, and he eventually set up a dry goods store on Main Street. In 1890, he got the idea to dress up as Santa Claus. Within days, children from as far as Boston and Providence came by train to see Edgar. He initially hung around his department store, but over the years, he was known to walk around the streets of Brockton. In addition to dressing up as Santa, he also dressed up as a variety of other figures including, George Washington, a sportsman in a cricket uniform, a sea captain, a clown, and as an Indian “Big Chief”. He was also known in town for his progressive ideas. He also instituted the Edgar Layaway Plan. In 1906, he built the James Edgar Building.