James Ralston
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James_Layton_Ralston.jpg
James Layton Ralston, PC (September 27, 1881 – May 21, 1948) was the Canadian Minister of National Defence from 1940 to 1944.
Born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Ralston commanded a battalion in World War I was decorated for bravery. He was Minister of National Defence from 1926 to 1930, and was reappointed in that position in 1940 after serving as Minister of Finance from 1939 to 1940.
He supported conscription for overseas service during World War II, and in 1942 offered to resign when Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's government would not introduce it. The resignation issue was dropped, but after visiting Canadian troops in Europe in 1944, he argued again that conscription was necessary, and a schism developed in King's cabinet (see Conscription Crisis of 1944). King forced him to resign, replacing him with Andrew McNaughton.
Ralston died in Montreal in 1948.
External links
- Biographical details from the Library of Parliament (http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/bio.asp?lang=E&query=16466&s=M)
| Preceded by: Charles Dunning | Minister of Finance 6 September 1939 – 4 July 1940 | Succeeded by: James Ilsley |