James Duggan

Who was James Duggan?

James Duggan was a union leader and politician who was described by Joey Smallwood as one of the earliest and staunchest supporters of Newfoundland's entry into Canada.

Duggan was born in Riverhead, Newfoundland. At the age of 17 he obtained a job with the Reid Newfoundland Company as a railway telegrapher and also worked as a station agent and dispatcher. He became active as a trade unionist at the age of 20 and, in 1939, became general chairman of the Order of Railroad Telegraphers. In the 1940s he was a prominent member of the Newfoundland Confederate Association which promoted union with Canada. After Newfoundland joined confederation in 1949, the Confederate Association reorganized itself as the Newfoundland Liberal Party.

He was named to the Canadian Senate in 1966 by Prime Minister Lester Pearson and retired from the body in 1978.