Civil servant.
Born at Brandon on 29 February 1888, son of James Allan Smart and Elizabeth F. “Eliza” Jones (1859-1924), he graduated in 1917 with a degree in Forestry from the University of New Brunswick.
He was responsible for the development of several national parks in Canada, including Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, for which he was the first Superintendent (1933-1936). He was the Controller of the Department of Mines and Resources until it was abolished in 1950 and Controller of the National Parks Branch (1941 to 1950). He was also executive commissioner of the St. Lawrence Development Commission. He served as Director of the National Parks Branch from 1950 until his retirement in February 1953. He then became a consultant to the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario.
In February 1919, he married Katherine Amelia Stewart (1894-1958) with whom he had three children: Gwendolyn “Gwen” Smart (1920-2012, wife of William Baird), James Augustus “Gus” Smart (1921-1943), and Janet Smart (1924-2011, wife of Peter Ensor). In recognition of his community service, in 1946 he was made an Additional Officer of the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
He died at Winchester, Ontario on 21 July 1957. There is a collection of his papers and photographs in Library and Archives Canada.
See also:
Birth Pangs of a National Park by Charles Tracey Thomas
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 15, Number 1, Winter 1970The Great Adventure by Grey Owl (Archie Belaney)
Manitoba History, Number 29, Spring 1995
Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Former parks official James A. Smart dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 July 1957, page 8.
Library and Archives Canada, James Smart fonds.
We thank Nancy Gates for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 28 March 2024
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