TheMinister of Militia and Defence was the federal government minister in charge of the volunteer army units inCanada, theCanadian Militia.

From 1855 to 1906, the minister was responsible forCanadian militia units only, as theBritish Army was still stationed inCanada. From 1906 to 1923, the minister was in charge of theDepartment of Militia and Defence (Canada). After 1923, the position was merged with theMinister of the Naval Service and theMinister of Aviation into the new position ofMinister of National Defence. The Minister of National Defence became responsible for theCanadian Militia, theRoyal Canadian Navy and, from 1924, theRoyal Canadian Air Force.

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The following individuals were named the Minister of Militia and Defence for theProvince of Canada.

Key:

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Political party
1		Étienne-Paschal Taché	1855	1860	Parti bleu
2		John A. Macdonald	1860	1867	Tories

The following individuals were named the Minister of Militia and Defence for Canada.

Key:

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Political party	Ministry	Ref.
1		George-Étienne Cartier	1 July 1867	20 May 1873	Liberal-Conservative	1(Macdonald)	[1]
–		Hector-Louis Langevin (Acting)	21 May 1873	30 June 1873			[2]
2		Hugh McDonald	1 July 1873	4 November 1873			[3]
3		William Ross	7 November 1873	29 September 1874	Liberal	2(Mackenzie)	[4]
4		William Berrian Vail	30 September 1874	20 January 1878			[5]
5		Alfred Gilpin Jones	21 January 1878	8 October 1878			[6]
6		Louis-Rodrigue Masson	19 October 1878	15 January 1880	Conservative	3(Macdonald)	[7]
7		Alexander Campbell	16 January 1880	7 November 1880			[8]
8		Adolphe-Philippe Caron	8 November 1880	6 June 1891			[9]
			16 June 1891	24 January 1892		4(Abbott)
9		Mackenzie Bowell	25 January 1892	24 November 1892			[10]
10		James Colebrooke Patterson	5 December 1892	12 December 1894		5(Thompson)	[11]
			21 December 1894	26 March 1895		6(Bowell)
11		Arthur Rupert Dickey	26 March 1895	5 April 1896			[12]
12		Mackenzie Bowell	6 January 1896	14 January 1896			[10]
13		Alphonse Desjardins	15 January 1896	27 April 1896			[13]
14		David Tisdale	1 May 1896	8 July 1896		7(Tupper)	[14]
15		Frederick William Borden	13 July 1896	6 October 1911	Liberal	8(Laurier)	[15]
16		Sam Hughes	10 October 1911	12 October 1916	Conservative	9(Borden)	[16]
17		Albert Edward Kemp	23 November 1916	11 November 1917			[17]
18		Sydney Chilton Mewburn	12 October 1917	15 January 1920	Unionist	10(Borden)	[18]
–		James Alexander Calder (Acting)	16 January 1920	23 January 1920			[19]
19		Hugh Guthrie	24 January 1920	28 December 1921			[20]
					National Liberal and Conservative	11(Meighen)
20		George Perry Graham	29 December 1921	31 December 1922	Liberal	12(King)	[21]
Office succeeded by theMinister of National Defence

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Several individuals that served as the Minister of Militia and Defence have served with theCanadian Militia. They include:

• PrivateJohn Alexander Macdonald, Sedentary Militia during 1837 Rebellion
• LieutenantÉtienne-Paschal Taché, 5th Battalion of Select Embodied Militia,Chasseurs Canadiens Militia
• Lieutenant ColonelDavid Tisdale,39th Norfolk Battalion of Infantry
• AssistantSurgeonFrederick William Borden,68th (Kings) Battalion of Infantry,Non-Permanent Active Militia
• Colonel SirSam Hughes, 45th Canadian Volunteer Militia (45th West Durham Battalion of Infantry, laterThe Victoria and Haliburton Regiment and lastly as 45th Medium Battery, RCA) merged into what is50th Field Artillery Regiment (The Prince of Wales Rangers), RCA) in 1960; Canadian volunteer to theBritish Army
• MajorSydney Chilton Mewburn, Commanding Officer ofRoyal Hamilton Light Infantry,Permanent Active Militia

• Eugène Fiset 1906-1922

Fiset was a retired as Surgeon Colonel ofRoyal Canadian Regiment

• Minister of Aviation
• Minister of the Naval Service
• Minister of National Defence
• Minister of National Defence for Naval Services
• Minister of National Defence for Air
• Minister of Overseas Military Forces

• Ministerial offices in Canada
• Military history of Canada
• Canadian Militia

• Articles needing additional references from January 2009
• All articles needing additional references