In Memoriam: James Duggan

Dear Members, 

It is with immense sadness that I inform you that Maitre James Duggan has died in an airplane crash on Friday July 12th. James Duggan did a great service for MUNACA when in January 2017 he successfully negotiated the unconditional return of our former VPLR, David Roseman, who had been suspended by the PSAC for five years, for reasons we felt lacked merit. This service will never be forgotten by many of us, and it was a transformative moment in our relationship with the PSAC. On a personal note, I found James Duggan to be a brilliant lawyer who was very active in supporting the labour movement, and a genuinely nice person. He received many professional accolades including being named Lawyer Emeritus by the Quebec Bar Association in 2016. He became famous for winning the right of RCMP officers to bargain collectively at the Supreme Court, a decision with broad implications for the labour movement. Their association was just certified this week, and so he didn’t have the chance to see the final result of that struggle. He loved to be outdoors, to fish, and to fly his Beaver bush plane. I was fortunate to have flown with him last summer, and was planning on another flight later this summer. He will be greatly missed by many in the legal field, in the labour movement, and by those of us who worked closely with him, especially David and myself. Our condolences have been extended to his family, especially Alex his son, a McGill Law graduate who has chosen to follow in his father’s footsteps. 

Yours as always in solidarity,

Thomas Chalmers
MUNACA President