James Armstrong Richardson (Jr)

James Armstrong Richardson Jr., PC, grain merchant, politician (born 28 March 1922 in Winnipeg, MB; died 17 May 2004 in Winnipeg). The son of James A. Richardson Sr., James Jr. studied at Queen’s University and served in the RCAF as a Liberator bomber pilot patrolling the North Atlantic. He joined the family firm of James Richardson and Sons Ltd. in 1946 and was chairman and executive officer from 1966 to 1968. Richardson was elected Liberal member of Parliament for Winnipeg South in June 1968 and appointed minister without portfolio in July. From 1969 to 1972, he was minister of Supply and Services. He was re-elected in the 1972 general election and was appointed minister of National Defence. Following his resignation from Cabinet in 1978 over the government’s language policy, he sat as an Independent (1978–79), after which he returned to the family firm and became a director.