James Joseph McCann, PC (March 29, 1886 – April 11, 1961) was a Canadian politician, born in Perth, Ontario, son of John A. McCann, a mason and licence-inspector, and Mary Hourigan, who were both of Irish descent.
[1] Although he consistently reported his own birth-date as March 29, 1887, he was in fact born exactly one year earlier, and was originally named as James Parnell McCann.
His birth registration gives this name in full, with the 1886 date,[2] the entry for his parents' household in the 1901 census gives his name as James P. McCann and likewise supports the 1886 date,[3] and the record of his first marriage in 1913 calls him James Parnell McCann.
[4] There is no possible doubt that the politician was the James Parnell McCann born in 1886, as his parents and wives are named in two different biographical dictionaries published during his own lifetime.
His death notice in the Daily Star states, "As finance minister in the immediate post-war years, he was charged with the responsibility of re-settling Canada's economy and was one of the first officials to warn of the danger of too-close economic ties with the U.S." His death notice in the Globe and Mail states, "As Revenue Minister he watched Government income soar to record peacetime levels and took a personal interest in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which he had helped reorganize in 1941.... During his political career Dr. McCann was an early advocate in the Liberal Party for government health programs, many of which later became realities."