James Ralston
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
- 1881 births
- 1948 deaths
- Canadian Ministers of Finance
- Members of the 14th Ministry in Canada
- Members of the 16th Ministry in Canada
- Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Nova Scotia
- Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Prince Edward Island
- Liberal Party of Canada MPs
- Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
- People from Cumberland County, Nova Scotia