James Fisher (November 6, 1840 – March 8, 1927) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He may have served as leader of the parliamentary opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for a brief period in the mid-1890s.
Born at Glenquaich in Perthshire, Scotland, Fisher moved to Canada West (now Ontario) in his youth. He was educated at the University of Toronto, and was a member of that body's Senate.
In July 1875, Fisher contested a federal by-election in Perth North for the Liberals, losing to Conservative Andrew Monteith by 20 votes. He was defeated in the same riding in the general election of 1878.
Fisher subsequently moved to Winnipeg, where he practised law and was a member of the University of Manitoba Council. In 1886, he ran for the provincial riding of Russell as a Liberal, losing to Conservative Edward Leacock by eight votes. He was easily elected in his second attempt for the seat, in the Liberal landslide victory of 1888.
Fisher soon lost confidence in the government of Thomas Greenway, and crossed the floor to the opposition. He was re-elected without opposition in 1892, and appears to have served as the de facto leader of the opposition from 1894 to 1896. He did not identify himself as a Conservative, but sat among their ranks in parliament.
Fisher was re-elected in 1896, but did not contest the election of 1899. In 1897, while still serving as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), he served in a Hudson's Bay Expedition unit.
Famous quotes containing the words james and/or fisher:
“When we of the so-called better classes are scared as men were never scared in history at material ugliness and hardship; when we put off marriage until our house can be artistic, and quake at the thought of having a child without a bank-account and doomed to manual labor, it is time for thinking men to protest against so unmanly and irreligious a state of opinion.”
—William James (1842–1910)
“... word-sniffing ... is an addiction, like glue—or snow—sniffing in a somewhat less destructive way, physically if not economically.... As an addict ... I am almost guiltily interested in converts to my own illness, and in a pinch I can recommend nearly any reasonable solace, whether or not it qualifies as a true descendant of Noah Webster.”
—M.F.K. Fisher (1908–1992)