Highway renamed to honour Don Jamieson
A section of roadway on the Burin Peninsula Highway has been renamed to the Don Jamieson Highway.
Jamieson was a broadcaster, politician and well-known radio and television personality.
A section of Route 210 between the Trans-Canada Highway and Red Harbour is the renamed section.
The St. John's native, in partnership with Geoff Stirling in 1951, obtained a licence for a new radio station in St. John's. He eventually established a private radio network in Newfoundland, and the island's first television station CJON-TV. While Stirling was heavily interested in the business aspect.
Jamieson was also the first Newfoundlander to sit in the press gallery of the Parliament of Canada, reporting on the negotiations that led to Canada inviting Newfoundland to join Canadian Confederation.
He later entered politics by successfully contesting a 1966 by-election as a candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada. He was re-elected in the 1968 election, and joined the Cabinet of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau as Minister of Defence Production. Then, in 1969, he became Minister of Transport, retaining that portfolio until 1972 when he became Minister of Regional Economic Expansion. In 1976, he became Secretary of State for External Affairs.
Jamieson moved to provincial politics as the leader of the Liberal Party in the June 1979 provincial election. In 1982, he was appointed Canada’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and remained in that position until 1985.
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