James Clark (Ontario politician)
James Howard Clark was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was speaker of the Legislature of Ontario from 1939 to 1943 and served as Liberal MPP for Windsor—Sandwich from 1934 to 1943.
He was born in Ingersoll, Ontario. Despite his father's death while he was still young, Clark was able to complete his education at the local high school and went on to attend Victoria College. In 1914, he began the study of law at Osgoode Hall. During World War I, he served with the 96th Lake Superior Battalion and saw action at the Somme, Vimy, Passchendaele, Canal du Nord and Valenciennes. He resumed his legal studies in 1919, articled in Port Arthur, was called to the Ontario bar in 1920 and entered practice in Windsor. In 1930, Clark travelled to England to successfully argue a case before the British Privy Council.
He ran unsuccessfully for the Windsor West seat in the provincial assembly in 1929 and then was elected in 1934 for Windsor—Sandwich. After Norman Hipel resigned as speaker to join the provincial cabinet, Clark was named speaker.
In June 1943, Clark gave a speech in Detroit in which he stated that 40 to 45 per cent of the Canadian population would "vote for annexation to the United States because there are better living conditions there". This enraged the Canadian public, the Canadian press and Canadian politicians. He was defeated in the general election which followed later that year. He subsequently returned to the practice of law.
Clark died in Windsor at the age of 64.
