Peter McAra, Jr.

Who was 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.

He was born in Fort William, Kolkata, India, the son of Peter McAra and Barbara Fisken, both natives of Scotland, and was educated in Edinburgh. In 1883, he came to Long Lake, Saskatchewan, where he worked for the Dominion Express Company and the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1890, he married Amanda Jane Wallace. McAra opened a fire insurance office in Regina in 1896. In 1910, his brother James and W. L. Wallace became partners in the business. He led recovery work and restoration following the Regina Cyclone of 1912. McAra was also president of the British Western Trust Corporation, head of Capital Ice Company and Income Tax Commissioner of Saskatchewan. He served as president of the Regina Board of Trade and of the Associated Boards of Trade of Saskatchewan and Alberta and served twelve years as chairman of the board for the Regina Collegiate Institute. McAra helped establish the Regina Anti-Tuberculosis League and the Union of Saskatchewan Municipalities and served as its first president for both organizations.