James McAra was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

-born businessman and political figure in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, Canada. He served as mayor of Regina

Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...

 from 1927 to 1930 and from 1932 to 1933.

He was born in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, the son of Peter McAra, and came to Regina in 1883 with his parents. He first found work delivering newspapers and later worked in the offices of the government of the Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...

. McAra then entered the real estate and insurance business established by his brother, Peter McAra, Jr.

Peter McAra, Jr.

Peter McAra, Jr. was a businessman and political figure in Saskatchewan, Canada. He was mayor of Regina in 1906 and from 1911 to 1912....

 In 1900, he married M.G. Beattie. He served as a colonel during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, leading a company that served overseas. After the war, he commanded the Military Hospital Commission of Saskatchewan and was responsible for the demobilization of all troops from Saskatchewan. McAra was chosen as president of the provincial Great War Veterans Association.