James Elisha Brown

James Elisha Brown (12 May 1913 – 26 January 1974) was a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada. Brown was born in St. Marys, Ontario and became a lawyer after graduating from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1941.

He was first elected at the Brantford riding in the 1953 general election and served a term in the 22nd Canadian Parliament.

Brown did not participate in the 1957 election, but returned to Parliament for the Brantford riding in the 1962 election. He was re-elected there for successive terms in the 1963 and 1965 federal elections, then was re-elected at the newly configured Brant riding in the 1968 election. Brown left Parliament before the end of his term in the 28th Canadian Parliament.

In 1963, Brown chaired a Canadian delegation to the United Nations. He also served as Chairman of the World Federalist Movement-Canada in Ottawa. In his community, Brown served as Alderman of the City of Brantford and Chairman of the Brantford and Suburban Planning Board.^[1]

In 1955, he placed a motion on the Order Paper in 1955,^[2] urging that government consider extending the right to vote to all First Nations Canadians over the age of 21, who were ordinarily resident on a reservation.

In 1967, Brown introduced a private member's bill in the House of Commons, launching a successful campaign to lower the voting age to 18, from 21.^[3]

Another private member's bill he sponsored in 1969 advocated changing the name of “Dominion Day” (July 1) to Canada Day.^[4]

His widow, Helen Elizabeth (née Eedy), was the sister of writer Alice Boissonneau, and remarried to Northrop Frye after Brown's death.^[5]