JOHN J. SMITH.
Over twenty years of experience in the government administration of
Saskatchewan have well qualified John J., Smith for his present position
as Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs for the province. Mr. Smith
entered the government service as a clerk in the local improvement
branch of the Department of Public Works and has spent all of his time
in that department and the Department of Municipal Affairs, thus gain-
ing a thorough knowledge of this branch of the executive work of Sas-
katchewan. Born in Edgar, Simcoe county, Ontario, on the 22d of
March, 1873, John J. Smith is the son of James and Mary (Boucher)
Smith, both of whom were natives of Ontario. The father, who died in
1910, engaged in agricultural pursuits for years. He was interested in
the affairs of his community, serving on the school board of Edgar for
twenty years, a Liberal in politics and a Roman Catholic in religious
faith. The paternal grandfather, John Smith, was born in County Clare,
Ireland, came to Ontario in 1833 and took up a homestead, where he
spent the rest of his life. Mr. Smith's mother was the daughter of Thomas
Boucher, who claimed Ontario as his native province. He was a con-
ductor on the Northern Railway and was killed while on duty. Mary
Boucher Smith's grandfather was a British army man. She is now living
in Toronto.
John J. Smith is the eldest of five children, of whom four are living.
He was educated in the public schools of Edgar, the Orillia high school
and the University of Toronto, graduating from the latter with the
Bachelor of Arts degree in 1895. The following year he came to western
Canada, where he taught school until 1902, with the exception of the
winter of 1897, when he took a course in the Manitoba Normal School.
At the close of the year 1902 he abandoned the educational field to be-
come a clerk in the Department of Public Works of Saskatchewan. Seven
years later he was appointed chief clerk in the Department of Municipal
Affairs, upon the creation of that department, and in February, 1919,
was made Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs, the office he now fills
with ability and great credit to himself. In June, 1904, Mr. Smith was
married to Miss Catherine Murphy, a native of Mount Forest, Ontario,
who was reared and educated in her birthplace. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
have become the parents of five children, two of whom are living: Marie,
who is attending the Sacred Heart Academy; and Marguerite, a student
in the Holy Rosary school.
A Roman Catholic in his religious faith, Mr. Smith has been very
active in church affairs. He is a Knight of Columbus and has held all
the offices in that order, having been grand knight, state deputy for
Manitoba and Saskatchewan for two terms, from 1913 to 1915, and now
occupying the office of master of the fourth degree for Saskatchewan.
Aside from his fraternal work Mr. Smith devotes his entire time to dis-
charging the duties of his office, which become more important and in-
volved each year, with the rapid growth of the population and cities of
the province. He is recognized in government circles of Saskatchewan
as one of the most efficient of the provincial officers and his recommenda-
tions for the betterment and improvement of his department are always
carefully considered and much appreciated by those who are responsible
for the conduct of the government.
Bibliography follows:
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