James Archibald Dunn (March 24, 1898 – January 7, 1979) was a Canadian sports executive involved in ice hockey, baseball, fastpitch softball, athletics, football and curling.

[23] During his time with the Winnipeg Junior and Juvenile Hockey League, Dunn oversaw applications for the on-ice officials, and implemented a two-man refereeing system.

[24] He was credited by journalist Ralph Allen in The Winnipeg Tribune for employing more on-ice officials so they were not overworked, and that spectators had not developed any hatred towards any single referee.

[33] The teams felt that the south division was given preferential treatment, and sought to equally share games at the larger Winnipeg Amphitheatre and the profits from gate receipts.

[33] The Winnipeg Tribune reported that the concerns had developed over years of mismanagement and that Dunn committed the MAHA to discussing issues openly instead of closed-door meetings without the local press invited.

[39] The Winnipeg Tribune felt that these teams had pursued their own selfish interests with disregard for the general welfare of the league, and that creating the division would perpetuate the previous issues unless Dunn could negotiate a "minor miracle".

[52] The Winnipeg Free Press wrote that Dunn's presidency coincided with the MAHA's biggest growth and best financial situation that was driven by profits from the junior hockey playoffs.

[56] He advocated for small towns to develop their own talent in local leagues rather than importing players, and noted that hockey in rural Manitoba had continued to grow and compensated for poor attendance in Winnipeg.

[62] He also voiced opposition to raising the age limit in junior hockey to 21 years old, since he did not want to give professional teams more control over junior-aged players without signing them to a contract.

[69] In January 1954, a new financial agreement gave the junior teams sponsored by the NHL a greater proportionate share of playoffs profits, but Dunn and the CAHA continued to resist the movement of players to Eastern Canada and sought further discussion.

[72] The CAHA settled on sending the senior B-level East York Lyndhursts as Canada's representative at the 1954 World Championships when it had become too expensive to fund a higher-level team for an international tour.

[73] The Lyndhursts lost by a 7–2 score to the Soviet Union men's national ice hockey team and placed second at the World Championships, which led to public dissatisfaction and widespread media criticism of the CAHA in Canada.

On the seven-week tour, Dunn handled the business affairs for the Kenora Thistles and travelled with the team aboard the Japanese ocean liner Hikawa Maru from Vancouver.

[82] Dunn became the first Manitoban elected to the position since E. A. Gilroy in 1936, and assumed control of the CAHA at a time when it had lost the confidence of Canadians to produce a winning national team.

[80] The Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen were chosen to represent Canada, and Dunn travelled with the team on their two-week European exhibition tour through Scotland and England on route to the Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

He suggested that the reigning Allan Cup champion could be used as the nucleus to add the best players from across Canada, and that simply sending an intact senior hockey team was no longer good enough to win.

A committee was established to choose the best coaches, and CAHA teams all age groups from senior to junior were asked to nominate their best players for a one-month training camp prior to a North American exhibition tour.

[94] Dunn announced that the CAHA deemed the all-star team no longer feasible since it lacked organization and public support, and recommended that the Vernon Canadians and the Ottawa Junior Canadiens meet in a special series to decide Canada's representative.

[95] Later in November, Dunn and the CAHA abandoned plans to attend the 1957 World Championships when several Western Bloc countries agreed to boycott event in response to the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary.

When the request was approved by a vote of CAHA branch presidents, the Flin Flon Bombers and the SJHL objected despite a ruling by Dunn that the decision was made according to the constitution.

[101] Dunn continued to make plans for a Japanese team to visit Canada and named a CAHA committee to explore how to finance a proposed exhibition tour.

[104] He oversaw arrangements for the Japan men's national ice hockey team tour of Canada in January 1960, which included entertainment and luncheons during a four-day stopover in Winnipeg.

[119] He later stated that the biggest disappointment of his hockey career was Winnipeg's loss of hosting the World Championships when the Canadian national team withdrew from international play in 1970.

[124] Dunn assisted in co-ordinating annual fundraising dinners for the foundation, and helped arrange exhibition games for Manitoba's professional all-stars versus the Canadian national team.

[132][133] During World War II, Dunn represented baseball in Winnipeg on the Athletic Patriotic Association which sought to donate sporting equipment to servicemen in the Canadian Armed Forces.

[139] The league drafted a new constitution, decided that its teams would wear a patch including both the flags of Canada and the United States, and planned a parade with a marching band through downtown Winnipeg on its opening day.

[141] Opening day was postponed due to the 1950 Red River flood inundating Osborne Stadium, and the schedule was changed for the Winnipeg teams begin on the road.

[154] Dunn led efforts to establish a provincial governing body for men's and women's fastpitch softball,[155] and became the founding president of the Manitoba Fastball Association in April 1946.

[168] The Winnipeg Tribune journalist Vince Leah wrote that, "if [Dunn] had a dime for every football and hockey game he has timed in the past 40 years he could buy the Arena".

[169] The Winnipeg Tribune reported that during a Blue Bombers home game on October 20, 1956, Dunn fired his timekeeper's pistol for the end of a quarter and killed two birds with one shot when a spectator threw a dead duck onto the field at the same time.