Article

John Babbitt McNair

Published Online February 14, 2008

Last Edited December 15, 2013

John Babbitt McNair, lawyer, politician, judge, premier of NB 1940-52 (b at Andover, NB 20 Nov 1889; d at Fredericton 14 June 1968). First elected MLA for York in 1935, he was attorney general in the DYSART government and president of the provincial Liberal Party.

McNair, John Babbitt

John Babbitt McNair, lawyer, politician, judge, premier of NB 1940-52 (b at Andover, NB 20 Nov 1889; d at Fredericton 14 June 1968). First elected MLA for York in 1935, he was attorney general in the DYSART government and president of the provincial Liberal Party. Defeated in 1939, he was re-elected in 1940 for Victoria and in 1944 for York. In 1940 he succeeded Dysart as party leader and premier, and in 1943 passed the Civil Service Act providing security of tenure for public servants. Following the defeat of his government in 1952, McNair left politics and returned to legal practice. In 1955 he was named chief justice of New Brunswick and in 1957 he headed the royal commission examining the fiscal status of Newfoundland. He was appointed lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick in 1965.