Minister of Railways and Canals (Canada)

The portfolio of Minister of Railways and Canals was created by Statute 42 Victoria, c. 7, assented to May 15, 1879 and proclaimed in force May 20, 1879. The Minister was the member of the Canadian Cabinet responsible for the administration of the Department of Railways and Canals. It was one of the most important cabinet posts because of the importance of railways to the economic development of Canada.

The offices of Minister of Marine and Minister of Railways and Canals were abolished and the office of Minister of Transport was created by Statute 1 Edward VIII, c. 34, assented to June 23, 1936, and proclaimed in force November 2, 1936.

Ministers of Railways and Canals

1.	Sir Charles Tupper	May 20, 1879 – May 28, 1884	under Prime Minister John A. Macdonald
*	John Henry Pope (acting)	May 29, 1884 – September 24, 1885
2.	John Henry Pope	September 25, 1885 – April 1, 1889
	vacant	April 2, 1889 – April 9, 1889
*	John A. Macdonald (acting)	April 10, 1889 – November 27, 1889	as Prime Minister
3.	John A. Macdonald	November 28, 1889 – June 6, 1891
	vacant	June 7, 1891 – June 16, 1891	under Prime Minister John Joseph Caldwell Abbott
*	Mackenzie Bowell (acting)	June 17, 1891 – January 10, 1892
4.	John Graham Haggart	January 11, 1892 – November 24, 1892
	vacant	November 25, 1892 – December 4, 1892	under Prime Minister John Sparrow David Thompson
	John Graham Haggart (2nd time)	December 5, 1892 – December 12, 1894
	vacant	December 13, 1894 – December 20, 1894	under Prime Minister Mackenzie Bowell
	John Graham Haggart (3rd time)	December 21, 1894 – January 5, 1896
*	Joseph-Aldéric Ouimet (acting)	January 6, 1896 – January 14, 1896
	John Graham Haggart (4th time)	January 15, 1896 – April 27, 1896
	vacant	April 28, 1896 – April 30, 1896	under Prime Minister Charles Tupper
	John Graham Haggart (5th time)	May 1, 1896 – July 8, 1896
	vacant	July 9, 1896 – July 19, 1896	under Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier
5.	Andrew George Blair	July 20, 1896 – July 20, 1903
*	William Stevens Fielding (acting)	July 21, 1903 – January 14, 1904
6.	Henry Robert Emmerson	January 15, 1904 – April 2, 1907
	vacant	April 3, 1907 – April 8, 1907
*	William Stevens Fielding (acting)	April 9, 1907 – August 29, 1907
7.	George Perry Graham	August 30, 1907 – October 6, 1911
	vacant	October 7, 1911 – October 9, 1911	under Prime Minister Robert Laird Borden
8.	Francis Cochrane	October 10, 1911 – October 11, 1917
9.	John Dowsley Reid	October 12, 1917 – July 9, 1920
		July 9, 1920 – September 20, 1921	under Prime Minister Arthur Meighen
10.	John Alexander Stewart	September 21, 1921 – December 28, 1921
11.	William Costello Kennedy	December 29, 1921 – January 18, 1923	under Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King
	vacant	January 19, 1923 – April 27, 1923
	George Perry Graham (2nd time)	April 28, 1923 – February 19, 1926
	vacant	February 20, 1926 – February 28, 1926
12.	Charles Avery Dunning	March 1, 1926 – June 28, 1926
*	Sir Henry Lumley Drayton (acting)	June 29, 1926 – July 12, 1926	under Prime Minister Arthur Meighen
13.	William Anderson Black	July 13, 1926 – September 24, 1926
	Charles Avery Dunning (2nd time)	September 25, 1926 – November 25, 1929	under Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King
*	Charles Avery Dunning (acting)	November 25, 1929 – December 29, 1929
14.	Thomas Alexander Crerar	December 30, 1929 – August 6, 1930
15.	Robert James Manion	August 7, 1930 – October 22, 1935	under Prime Minister Richard Bedford Bennett
16.	Clarence Decatur Howe	October 23, 1935 – November 1, 1936	under Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King
(position abolished, see Minister of Transport)

External links

• Ministers of Railways and Canals