OBITUARY — James Goad

A fire claimed the life of James Goad recently at his home in Collingwood, Ont. He was 72.

Chairman, past president and co-founder of mining company Fortune Minerals, Goad had a long career in the securities industry and merchant banking. A native of Toronto, he attended Upper Canada College, Queen’s University, Kings Naval College and the University of Toronto. He served overseas during the Second World War, retiring from the navy with the rank of lieutenant commander.

After the war, he joined the family brokerage firm J.L. Goad and Co., a predecessor to McDermid St. Lawrence Chisholm. He helped found and served as president of the Toronto Society of Financial Analysts.

He was involved in a number of underwritings, notably Northgate Exploration, and was associated with the discovery and development of that company’s Tynagh lead-silver-zinc deposit in Ireland. Other underwritings in which the company was involved were Pure Silver Mines and Lacana Mining. Leaving the brokerage business in 1971, Goad concentrated on raising venture capital through Chesapeake Ltd. Clients included industrial companies. He chaired Natural Resources People Canada, an organization whose 1978 report to the Ontario government recommended an automated securities trading system to raise risk capital for junior mining companies. This ultimately led to the creation of the Canadian Dealing Network on which Fortune now trades.