James Armstrong Richardson, Jr. (March 28, 1922 – May 17, 2004) was a

Canadian Cabinet The Canadian Ministry ( French: ''Conseil des ministres''), colloquially referred to as the Cabinet of Canada (), is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms ...

minister under

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

and a

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

businessman.

Early life

Richardson was born on March 28, 1922, in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

James Armstrong Richardson Sr. James Armstrong Richardson Sr. (August 21, 1885 – June 26, 1939) was an influential business person in Canada in both business and aviation during the early part of the 20th century. He lived most of his life in Winnipeg. Early life James ...

and Muriel (née) Sprague. He attended

St. John's-Ravenscourt School St. John's-Ravenscourt School (commonly referred to as SJR) is an independent, co-educational, university-preparatory school founded in 1820. Located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the school delivers an enriched curriculum from Kindergarten through Grade ...

. He attended Queen's University in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, and earned a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in political science and economics.

World War II

After university, he enlisted in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

. He served as an anti-

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

pilot based in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He finished his war service with the rank of

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...

. For his service, he was awarded the following: War Medal 1939–1945, the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with Overseas Clasp, the 1939–1945 Star, and the Atlantic Star.

Business pursuits

Following the war, Richardson joined the family owned grain company, James Richardson and Sons, and became

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

and chairman in 1966.

Politics

He left the company to enter politics, winning a

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

in the 1968 election as the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

Member of Parliament for

Winnipeg South Winnipeg South () is a electoral district (Canada), Canadian federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1979, and since 1988. It covers the southernmost part of the ...

. Richardson defeated future provincial

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

Bud Sherman Louis Ralph "Bud" Sherman (December 24, 1926 – January 9, 2015) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the House of Commons of Canada during the 1960s and was a Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, Progressive Conservative m ...

, his Progressive Conservative opponent. Richardson was appointed to the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

as a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

on July 6, 1968. He also served as acting

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

for five days in early 1969, and was promoted to

Minister of Supply and Services Minister of Supply and Services was an office in the Cabinet of Canada from 1969 to 1996. On July 12, 1996, office of the Minister of Supply and Services and the office of the Minister of Public Works were abolished and replaced with the office of M ...

on May 5 of the same year. From November 27, 1972, until October 12, 1976, he was Minister of National Defence. Richardson was re-elected in the 1972 election. In the 1974 election, he defeated future

Premier of Manitoba The premier of Manitoba () is the first minister (i.e., head of government or chief executive) for the Canadian province of Manitoba—as well as the ''de facto'' President of the province's Executive Council. In formal terms, the premier rec ...

Sterling Lyon Sterling Rufus Lyon (January 30, 1927 – December 16, 2010) was a Canadian lawyer, cabinet minister, and the 17th premier of Manitoba from 1977 to 1981. His government introduced several fiscally-conservative measures, and was sometimes seen a ...

by only 1,266 votes.

Resignation from Trudeau cabinet

He resigned from Cabinet in 1976 to protest the government's implementation of

official bilingualism An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of the ...

and its proposed entrenchment in the constitution. In 1978, he left the Liberal

caucus A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...

entirely and

crossed the floor In some parliamentary systems (e.g., in Canada and the United Kingdom), politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a political party different from the one they were initially elected under. I ...

to sit as an Independent MP for the remainder of his term. He unsuccessfully attempted to form a new political party, the One Canada Party,"Rival trying to steal his men, Socred says", by Mary Trueman, ''Globe and Mail'', January 24, 1979 but that floundered and he was not a candidate in the 1979 election. Richardson endorsed

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian businessman, writer, and retired politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. He also served as Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada), leader of the ...

's Progressive Conservative Party in the 1980 federal election."James Richardson dead at 82" by Aldo Santin, ''CanWest News Service'', May 18, 2004

Post-political life

After leaving elected politics, Richardson helped found the Canada West Council and served on a number of corporate boards. He also created James Richardson International, the successor company to

James Richardson & Sons James Richardson & Sons Limited (JRSL) is a privately-held corporation in Canada that is involved in several industries including agriculture (international grain trade, agribusiness, agri-food), energy, real estate, financial services, inves ...

. In 1987, Richardson announced his support for the newly created

Reform Party of Canada The Reform Party of Canada () was a right-wing populism, right-wing populist and conservative List of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada that existed from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada- ...

. He was the brother of

Agnes Benidickson Agnes McCausland Benidickson (''née'' Richardson; August 19, 1920 – March 23, 2007) was the first female chancellor of Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada, from 1980 to 1996. Queen's highest honour for student service to the Univ ...

, former Chancellor of Queen's University and brother-in-law of former Liberal MP and Cabinet minister

William Moore Benidickson William Moore Benidickson (8 April 1911 – 4 January 1985) was a Canadian politician. He was the Liberal-Labour Member of Parliament for Kenora—Rainy River for over twenty years. Born in Manitoba of Icelandic stock, Benidickson served i ...

References

External links

*
Former cabinet minister James Richardson dies
CBC News report
Richardson speaks out against Trudeau policy, 1981
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, James Armstrong 1922 births 2004 deaths Richardson Jr., James Armstrong Ministers of transport of Canada Ministers of national defence of Canada Independent MPs in the Canadian House of Commons Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Manitoba Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Members of the United Church of Canada Politicians from Winnipeg Queen's University at Kingston alumni Royal Canadian Air Force officers Richardson Jr., James Armstrong Richardson Jr., James Armstrong St. John's-Ravenscourt School alumni 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada