Jim McGuigan

James Fitzgerald McGuigan (born November 9, 1923 in Cedar Springs, Ontario, died 1998) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1977 to 1990.

McGuigan was educated at Ontario Agricultural College, and worked as a farmer. He served as the president of several farming organizations, including the Kent County Vegetable Growers Association, the Kent County Federation of Agriculture and the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Association. He also served as chair of the Raleigh-Harwich Public School Board, and was an executive member of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture from 1973 to 1977.

He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1977 provincial election, defeating Progressive Conservative Don Luckham by 641 votes in the southwestern Ontario riding of Kent—Elgin. In the 1981 election, he defeated PC challenger Wes Thompson by 337 votes.

The Liberal Party made an electoral breakthrough in the 1985 provincial election, and McGuigan was re-elected by a significant margin. Following the election, the Liberals were able to form a minority government with support from the Ontario New Democratic Party. Despite his parliamentary experience, McGuigan was not appointed to the cabinet of David Peterson.

Ontario's electoral map was redistributed before the 1987 election, and McGuigan was forced to face NDP incumbent Pat Hayes in the new riding of Essex—Kent. McGuigan won by 1,113 votes, as the Liberal Party won a landslide majority across the province.

The NDP unexpectedly defeated the Liberals in the 1990 provincial election, and Hayes defeated McGuigan by almost 6,000 votes. He retired from politics after his defeat.