
Skip was born in Truro, Nova Scotia in 1932, and was raised in Saint John, New Brunswick. Skip completed his education at the Saint John Vocational School, which resulted in a certificate of proficiency in radio, second class, in 1953. His professional career was in the field of Telecommunications and Electronics and was employed for many years with Transport Canada in Quebec, Labrador and New Brunswick. He advanced from electronics technician in 1960 to maintenance supervisor in 1973, serving in a bilingual capacity. While working in the Atlantic Regional Office in Moncton, Skip moved from the Maintenance Branch to the Telecommunications Branch where he worked as a Regional Data Transfer Technologist until his
retirement in 1989. Dedicated to advancing equality and cross-cultural understanding, he has served in an executive role with the Multicultural Association of Greater Moncton, the New Brunswick Multicultural Council and PRUDE Inc. and has been active in briefing government and the Canadian Bar Association on immigration, anti-racism initiatives and other social justice causes. Skip resides in Riverview, New Brunswick with his wife Patricia.
The NBBHS would like to acknowledge that during our research we required information stating that James (Skip) Talbot was the first member of the Black Community of Canada to hold the position of Radio Operator/Flight Service Specialist for Transport Canada and the first to hold a bilingual position as a Maintenance Supervisor in Communications while stationed in Sept-Iles, QC.
(Photos courtesy of James (Skip) Talbot)
Looks a lot like someone I know.