James Christie

Who was James Christie?

James Lyall Christie was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as a Liberal-Progressive representative from 1932 until his death.

Christie was born and educated in Glenboro, Manitoba where he worked as a farmer. His father, also named James Christie, was an unsuccessful Liberal candidate in the 1914 provincial election. His mother was Annie Ferguson.

The younger James Christie served as the provincial director of Manitoba Livestock Producers Ltd. and was an official or member in several local farm associations as well as being an activefreemason. He served as a soldier in France with the Motor Machine Gun Corps from 1916 to 1918 during World War I, and was wounded during the Arras-Cambrai drive.

He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1932 provincial election, defeating incumbent Conservative William H. Spinks by 256 votes in the Cypress constituency. In the 1936 election, he was re-elected over Conservative candidate R.G. Hurton by 129 votes. Christie again defeated Hurton, who was by this time an independent candidate, in the 1941 provincial election.