James Bernard Fay was a farmer and political figure on Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...

. He represented 1st Kings

1st Kings

1st Kings was an electoral district in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, which elected two members to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1873 to 1993.The district comprised the easternmost portion of Kings County....

 in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island

Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island

The Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island, along with the Lieutenant-Governor, forms the parliament of the province. The General Assembly meets at Province House, which is located at the intersection of Richmond and Great George Streets in Charlottetown....

 from 1976 to 1979 as a Liberal

Prince Edward Island Liberal Party

The Prince Edward Island Liberal Party is a major political party in the province of Prince Edward Island, Canada. The PEI Liberals are aligned with the federal Liberal Party of Canada. The party is led by Robert Ghiz, a former member of the staff of the Prime Minister's Office under Prime Minister...

.

He was born in Charlottetown

Charlottetown

Charlottetown is a Canadian city. It is both the largest city on and the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, Charlottetown was first incorporated as a town in 1855 and designated as a city in 1885...

, the son of John Brady Fay and Margaret Theresa Ellsworth. Fay worked as a federal potato inspector for Kings County

Kings County, Prince Edward Island

Kings County is located in eastern Prince Edward Island, Canada.It is the province's smallest, most rural and least-populated county. Kings County is also least dependent upon the agriculture industry compared with the other two counties, while being more heavily dependent on the fishery and...

. He was first elected to the legislative assembly in an 1976 by-election held after Melvin J. McQuaid was named a judge. Fay was reelected in the 1978 general election

Prince Edward Island general election, 1978

The Prince Edward Island general election, 1978 was one of the closest on record on PEI. The Liberal Party won its fourth consecutive election by a narrow majority....

 but defeated in 1979. He served in the provincial cabinet as minister without portfolio

Minister without Portfolio

A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...

 and as Minister of Justice. After he retired from politics, he was a political assistant for Eugene Whelan

Eugene Whelan

Eugene "Gene" Francis Whelan, PC OC is a retired Canadian politician. Whelan, a farmer, first won a seat in the Canadian House of Commons in the 1962 election representing the southwestern Ontario riding of Essex. He sat continuously in the House of Commons until his retirement in 1984 and was...

. Fay later moved to Fort McMurray, Alberta

Fort McMurray, Alberta

Fort McMurray is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It was previously incorporated as a city on September 1, 1980. It became an urban service area when it amalgamated with Improvement District No. 143 on April 1, 1995 to create the Municipality...

, where he worked for an oil company and then operated a taxi company.