James Armstrong Richardson
The Honourable James Armstrong Richardson (born March 28 1922 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, died May 17 2004) was a Canadian Cabinet minister under Pierre Trudeau and a Winnipeg businessman.
After attending Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Richardson enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force serving as an anti-submarine pilot out of Iceland and Labrador during World War II.
Following the war, Richardson joined the family owned grain company James Richardson and Sons working his way up to the position of CEO and chairman in 1966.
He left the company to enter politics, winning a seat in the Canadian House of Commons in the 1968 Canadian election as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South. Richardson easily defeated future provincial cabinet minister Bud Sherman, his Progressive Conservative opponent, and entered the cabinet of Pierre Trudeau as a minister without portfolio on June 6, 1968. He also served as acting Minister of Transport for five days in early 1969, and was promoted to Minister of Supply and Services on June 5 of the same year. From November 27, 1972 until October 12, 1976 he was Minister of National Defence.
Richardson was re-elected without difficulty in the 1972 Canadian election. In the 1974 election, he defeated future Premier of Manitoba Sterling Lyon by only 1,266 votes.
Richardson was known as a "business Liberal", on the right wing of the party. He resigned from Cabinet in 1976 to protest the government's implementation of official bilingualism and, in 1978 left the Liberal caucus entirely and crossed the floor to sit as an Independent MP for the remainder of his term. He was not a candidate in the 1979 Canadian election.
After leaving elected politics, Richardson helped found the Canada West Council and served on a number of corporate boards. He also founded James Richardson International, a grain and oilseeds distributing company.
In 1987, Richardson announced his support for the newly created Reform Party of Canada. He is the brother of Agnes Benidickson, former Chancellor of Queen's University.
External links
- Former cabinet minister James Richardson dies CBC News report