John Richardson (politician)

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BGen John Alexander Richardson (born 1 December 1932 in Peterborough, Ontario) was a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 2002. His career was in education and defence. During his term with the Canadian Forces, he would attain the rank of Brigadier General.

Richardson was elected in the 1993 federal election at the Perth—Wellington—Waterloo electoral district for the Liberal party. After riding restructuring, he would be re-elected at the Perth—Middlesex electoral district in the 1997 and 2000 federal elections. In all, Richardson served in the 35th and 36th Canadian Parliaments but resigned 11 October 2002 before completing his term in the 37th Canadian Parliament.

Reasons for the resignation were initially declared as "personal",^[1] but later reports indicated Richardson had been ill for some time. A subsequent by-election loss of Richardson's riding to Progressive Conservative candidate Gary Schellenberger was blamed by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien on Richardson's reluctance to leave Canadian politics when his health began deteriorating.^[2]

[edit] Reference

^ House of Commons Debates (Hansard): 11 October 2002, resignation of Richardson and tributes, accessed 29 July 2006
^ Lawton, Valerie. "MP's tardy resignation led to by-election loss: PM ; Says ill Liberal should have quit sooner Comment outrages some Martin backers", Toronto Star, 14 May 2003, p. A8.