John Roxburgh

John Maxwell Roxburgh (February 14, 1901February 27, 1975) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator and politician. He organized minor ice hockey in his hometown of Simcoe, Ontario, co-founded the Ontario Juvenile Hockey Association in 1934, and the Ontario Minor Hockey Association in 1940. He served as president of the Ontario Hockey Association from 1950 to 1952, improved its finances to become profitable, and appointed Bill Hanley as a full-time manager to operate the association as a business. Roxburgh served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association from 1960 to 1962, arranged exhibition games between Canada and the Soviet Union amid an increased rivalry between the respective national teams, and pushed for the separation of politics and sport when the Cold War threatened to cancel the 1962 Ice Hockey World Championships. He was opposed to changes in the Olympic Oath and the international definition of amateurism, and later recommended the formation of a student-athlete team coached by Father David Bauer to become the Canada men's national ice hockey team. Roxburgh graduated from Ontario Agricultural College and farmed before he venturing into municipal and federal politics. He served as a Liberal Party of Canada member of the House of Commons of Canada for the Norfolk electoral district from 1962 to 1968. He was elected three times, defended the Canadian tobacco industry, pushed for university students registering as voters, and lobbied for increased grants to promote physical fitness in Canada. During the Great Canadian Flag Debate of 1964, Roxburgh introduced legislation to declare ice hockey as the national game of Canada after he disproved the myth that lacrosse held the distinction. He was a life member of multiple hockey organizations and received the Order of Merit from the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. He died from injuries sustained in a boating accident, and was posthumously inducted into the Norfolk County Sports Hall of Recognition. Early life John Maxwell Roxburgh was born on February 14, 1901, in Phoenix. His family was temporarily living in the Arizona Territory, until his parents relocated the family to Cache Bay, Ontario while Roxburgh was a youth. He attended secondary school in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario.