James Murdock (politician)

Canadian politician

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Born(1871-08-15)August 15, 1871

Brighton, England

The Honourable James Murdock PC
Murdock, c. 1925

Member of Parliament for Kent
In office 1922–1925
Preceded by	Archibald McCoig
Succeeded by	Alexander Dew Chaplin
Canadian Senator from Ontario
In office 1930–1949
Appointed by	William Lyon Mackenzie King

Personal details
Born	(1871-08-15)August 15, 1871 Brighton, England
Died	May 15, 1949(1949-05-15) (aged 77)
Party	Liberal
Cabinet	Minister of Labour (1921–1925)
Committees	Chair, Standing Committee on Immigration and Labour (1945–1947)

James Murdock, PC (August 15, 1871 – May 15, 1949) was a Canadian politician.

Born in Brighton, England, Murdock first ran for the House of Commons of Canada as the Liberal candidate in the 1921 federal election in the Ontario riding of Toronto South. Although defeated, he was appointed Minister of Labour in the cabinet of Mackenzie King shortly after the election. The incumbent MP in the riding of Kent, Archibald McCoig, gave up his seat and was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1922. Murdock was acclaimed to this seat in the resulting 1922 by-election.

While Minister of Labour in 1923, Murdock was embroiled in controversy after he withdrew funds from the Home Bank of Canada a day or two before its collapse based on information he obtained as a member of the Cabinet.

He was defeated in the 1925 election in the riding of Toronto—High Park and again in 1926.

In 1930, he was summoned to the Senate representing the senatorial division of Parkdale, Ontario on the advice of Prime Minister Mackenzie King. He served until his death in 1949.

References

James Murdock – Parliament of Canada biography

v t e Ministers of labour of Canada
Labour (1900–96)	Mulock Aylesworth Lemieux¹ W. L. M. King Crothers Robertson Murdock J. H. King (acting) Elliott Manion (acting) Jones Heenan Robertson Gordon Rogers McLarty Mitchell Martin (acting) Gregg Starr MacEachen Nicholson Pépin Mackasey O'Connell Munro Ouellet (acting) O'Connell Alexander Regan Caccia Ouellet McKnight Cadieux Corbeil Danis Valcourt Axworthy Robillard
Human resources development (1996–2005)²	Young Pettigrew Stewart Frulla Dryden
Human resources and skills development (2005–13)	Stronach Finley Solberg Finley
Employment and social development (2013–15)	Kenney Poilievre
Families, children and social development (2015–present)	Duclos
Labour (1996–2015)	Robillard Gagliano MacAulay Bradshaw Fontana³ Blackburn Ambrose Raitt Leitch
Employment, workforce and labour (2015–2019)	Mihychuk Hajdu
Labour (2019–present)	Tassi O'Regan MacKinnon
¹Until 1909, the office of the minister of labour was a secondary function of the postmaster-general of Canada. W. L. M. King was the first to hold the office independently. ²The office of Minister of Employment and Immigration, and Minister of Labour were abolished and the office of Minister of Human Resources Development went in force on July 12, 1996. Under the new provisions, a minister of labour may be appointed. However, when no minister of labour is appointed, the minister of human resources development shall exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the minister of labour. ³Styled "Minister of Labour and Housing".

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