Charles Drury

For other people named Charles Drury, see Charles Drury (disambiguation).

Brigadier-General the Honourable Charles Drury PC OC CBE DSO QC
Minister of Public Works
In office 8 August 1974 – 14 September 1976
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau
Preceded by	Jean-Eudes Dubé
Succeeded by	J. Judd Buchanan
Minister of Finance
Acting 10 September 1975 – 25 September 1975
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau
Preceded by	John Turner
Succeeded by	Donald Stovel Macdonald
President of the Treasury Board
In office 6 July 1968 – 7 August 1974
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau
Preceded by	Edgar Benson
Succeeded by	Jean Chrétien
Minister of National Defence
Acting 7 September 1972 – 26 November 1972
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau
Preceded by	Jean-Eudes Dubé (acting)
Succeeded by	James Armstrong Richardson
Acting 17 September 1970 – 23 September 1970
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau
Preceded by	Léo Cadieux
Succeeded by	Donald Stovel Macdonald
Member of Parliament for Westmount
In office 25 June 1968 – 26 January 1978
Preceded by	Riding created
Succeeded by	Don Johnston
Member of Parliament for Saint-Antoine—Westmount
In office 18 June 1962 – 24 June 1968
Preceded by	A. Ross Webster
Succeeded by	Riding dissolved
Personal details
Born	Charles Mills Drury (1912-05-17)17 May 1912 Westmount, Quebec, Canada
Died	12 January 1991(1991-01-12) (aged 78) Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Jane Ferrier Counsell ​ ​ (m. 1939; died 1971)​ [1]
Children	4
Relatives	Walter L. Gordon (brother-in-law)
Military service
Allegiance	Canada
Branch/service	Canadian Army
Years of service	1933–1970
Rank	Brigadier-General
Unit	Royal Canadian Artillery
Commands	4th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Distinguished Service Order

Brigadier-General Charles Mills "Bud" Drury PC OC CBE DSO QC (17 May 1912 – 12 January 1991) was a Canadian military officer, lawyer, civil servant, businessman and politician.^[2]

Early life and education

Born in Westmount, Quebec, he was the elder son of Victor Montague Drury (1884–1962), a prominent businessman who was the son of Major-General Charles William Drury (1856–1913) and the brother-in-law of Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook.^[3] He was educated at Selwyn House School and Bishop's College School,^[4] and he later attended the Royal Military College of Canada, McGill University (B.C.L., 1936) and the University of Paris.^[5]

Career

Drury served in the Canadian Armed Forces from 1933 to 1936,^[6] then he practiced law from 1936 to 1939.^[5] During World War II, he was a Canadian Army officer and from March−July 1944 commanded the 4th Field Regiment of the Royal Canadian Artillery, part of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, which took part in Operation Overlord, before being made the 2nd Division's General Staff Officer Grade 1 (GSO1) and later becoming the Commander, Royal Artillery (CRA) of the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division.^[7] He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General in 1945.^[6] After the war, he headed the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration mission in Poland from 1945 to 1947.^[5]

He then entered the Canadian civil service and was appointed as deputy minister of the Department of National Defence from 1949 to 1955.^[6] He spent 1955 to 1962 working on private family business before running for election to the House of Commons of Canada.^[5]

Drury was elected as a Liberal party Member of Parliament (MP) for the Montreal riding of Saint-Antoine—Westmount (later Westmount) in the 1962 federal election. He was re-elected in the 1963, 1965, 1968, 1972 and 1974 elections.

He held many ministerial positions in the governments of prime ministers Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, including Defence Production, Industry, Trade and Commerce, Treasury Board, National Defence (acting), Public Works and Finance (acting).^[6]

After leaving politics in 1978, Drury became chairman of the National Capital Commission from 1978 to 1984. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1980.^[8]

Electoral record (partial)

v t e 1974 Canadian federal election: Westmount
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Drury	20,816	57.61
	Progressive Conservative	Michael Meighen	11,575	32.03
	New Democratic	Peter P. Berlow	3,140	8.69
	Social Credit	Joseph Ranger	412	1.14
	Marxist–Leninist	Lawrence Tansey	190	0.53
Total valid votes			36,133	100.00
Total rejected ballots			994
Turnout			37,127	71.96
Electors on the lists			51,592
lop.parl.ca

References

1. BGen Charles Drury, The Canada Veterans Hall of Valour.
2. Charles Mills Drury, The Canadian Encyclopedia.
3. William Fong (24 October 2008). J.W. McConnell: Financier, Philanthropist, Patriot. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 441. ISBN 978-0-7735-7468-7.
4. Selwyn House School Yearbook 1950
5. "Charles M. Drury" (PDF). Office of Central Reference. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
6. The Hon. Charles Drury, Parliament of Canada biography.
7. "Biography of Brigadier Charles Mills Drury (1912 – 1991), Canada".
8. Office of the Governor General of Canada. Order of Canada citation. Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved 3 January 2021.

External links

• Charles Drury – Parliament of Canada biography
• Order of Canada citation
• Charles Mills Drury at The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Generals of World War II

Government offices
Preceded by Unknown	Deputy Minister of National Defence 1949–1955	Succeeded by Frank Robert Miller