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

Canadian Cabinet The Cabinet of Canada (french: Cabinet du Canada) is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the prime minister, the ...

minister under Pierre Trudeau and a

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

businessman.

Early life

Richardson was born on March 28, 1922, in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

to James Armstrong Richardson Sr. and Muriel (née) Sprague. He attended St. John's-Ravenscourt School. He attended Queen's University in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between To ...

, and earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in political science and economics.

World War II

After university, he enlisted in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) 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 environm ...

. He served as an anti- submarine pilot based in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He finished his war service with the rank of pilot officer. 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 central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

and chairman in 1966.

Politics

He left the company to enter politics, winning a seat in the House of Commons of Canada in the 1968 election as the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Winnipeg South Winnipeg South (french: Winnipeg-Sud) is a 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 city of Wi ...

. Richardson defeated future provincial cabinet minister

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 member of the Legislative Assembly of Manit ...

, 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 * Filing ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Pierre Trudeau as a minister without portfolio 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 ...

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 (french: premier ministre du 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 ...

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 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 their ...

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

crossed the floor Crossed may refer to: * ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis * ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie * "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead'' S ...

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 statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...

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

Reform Party of Canada The Reform Party of Canada (french: Parti réformiste du Canada) was a right-wing populist and conservative federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada-based protest ...

. He was the brother of Agnes Benidickson, former Chancellor of Queen's University and brother-in-law of former Liberal MP and Cabinet minister

William Moore Benidickson William Moore Benidickson, (April 8, 1911 – April 1, 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 in ...

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 Canadian Ministers of Transport Defence ministers 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