PETER MCARA, JR.
 


	Peter McAra, Jr., Income Tax Commissioner of Saskatchewan, has
been actively engaged in the insurance business in Regina for the past
thirty-eight years and since 1910 has conducted his agency under the
name of McAra Brothers & Wallace. He was born in 1862, at Fort Wil-
liam, Calcutta, India, where his parents, Peter and Barbara (Fisken)
McAra, were then residing. Both were natives of Scotland, the father
born in the town of Auchterarder and the mother in Scone. Peter McAra,
Jr., was reared and educated in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he remained
until a youth of seventeen.  The year 1883 witnessed his emigration to
Canada and his settlement in Long Lake, Saskatchewan, where he spent
three years as a homesteader.  During this period he worked for the
Dominion Express Company and the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1896
he opened a fire insurance office in Regina, which he continued under his
own name until 1910, when he became associated with his brother and
W. L. Wallace, since which time the agency has been known as McAra
Brothers & Wallace.  In addition to controlling capably this extensive
and successful concern Mr. McAra likewise acts as president of the
British Western Trust Corporation and as head of the Capital Ice Com-
pany and is a large stockholder in the Regina Foundry.  He has large
investments in real estate and enjoys an enviable reputation as one of the
most prosperous, enterprising and progressive business men of Regina,
while in his present capacity as Income Tax Commissioner of Saskatche-
wan he is also making a most creditable and commendable record.
	In 1890, in Moosomin, Saskatchewan, Mr. McAra was united in mar-
riage to Miss Amanda Jane Wallace of Nova Scotia, a daughter of Wil-
liam Neil and Maria (Ellis) Wallace, who were natives of that province.
To them have been born four children: Barbara, Edna, Graham, and
Bessie.  In civic affairs Mr. McAra has been an active and prominent
factor, serving as a member of the city council from 1904 until 1906 and
as chairman of finance in 1904 and 1905. In 1906 he was chosen mayor
of Regina and in the following year became president of the Associated
Boards of Trade of Saskatchewan and Alberta, while in 1909 he was
made president of the Regina Board of Trade.  In 1911 he was again
honored with the mayoralty.  Important changes and improvements in
municipal affairs marked each of his administrations.  During his first
term the city took over the lighting plant, and in 1911 the city took
charge of the street railway system. During the memorable storm of
1912 Mr. McAra was active commander of rescue work in both an official
and private capacity. He has served for twelve years as chairman of
the board of trustees of the Regina Collegiate Institute. He was one of
the founders and the first president of the Saskatchewan Anti-Tubercu-
losis League, and is still a member of the board of governors and honorary
secretary of the league. He is at present vice president of the Regina
Exhibition Association, and has been a director for many years. He was
for some years the representative of the Dominion government on the
board of directors of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company. He
was also the first president and organized the Union of Saskatchewan 
Municipalities, and is known as the father of that movement, and is also
largely responsible for the present Empire Day ceremonies conducted
among school children of the public schools of Regina, and at all times
has lent the weight of his influence on the side of progress, reform and
improvement. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the
Presbyterian church, while fraternally he is identified with the Masons,
the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Independent Order of For-
esters and the Sons of Scotland, and is a fellow of the Royal Colonial
Institute. The period of his residence in South Saskatchewan now covers
four decades and with the exception of two or three years he has remained
in Regina, which city numbers him among its most valued, esteemed and
respected business men and public officials.




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