James Aiken was a politician in Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...

 from 1936 to 1941, as a member of the Manitoba Cooperative Commonwealth Federation.

Aiken was born in Aberdeen, Scotland

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...

, and was educated at Gordon's College in the city. He came to Canada in 1912, and worked as a printer. He was a trustee on the St. James School Board from 1930 to 1935.

He was elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1936 provincial election

Manitoba general election, 1936

Manitoba's general election of July 27, 1936 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The was the second election in Manitoba after the formation of a Liberal-Progressive alliance in 1932...

, defeating three opponents in the Winnipeg-area constituency of Assinboia. He served with his party on the opposition benches until 1940, when the CCF entered the province's wartime coalition government

Coalition government

A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...

.

He ran for re-election in the 1941 election

Manitoba general election, 1941

Manitoba's general election of April 22, 1941 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.This election was held shortly after the formation of a coalition government in December 1940...

, but lost to David Best

David Best (Manitoba politician)

David Alexander Best was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1941 to 1945 as an anti-coalition Conservative....

, a Conservative

Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba

The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...

who opposed the coalition, by 74 votes.