James Lorimer Ilsley

The Right Honourable James Lorimer Ilsley PC KC
Ilsley in March 1942
Chief Justice of Nova Scotia
In office 1950–1967
Preceded by	Joseph Andrew Chisholm
Succeeded by	Lauchlin Daniel Currie
Minister of Justice Attorney General of Canada
In office 10 December 1946 – 30 June 1948
Prime Minister	W. L. Mackenzie King
Preceded by	Louis St. Laurent
Succeeded by	Louis St. Laurent
Minister of Finance
In office 8 July 1940 – 9 December 1946
Prime Minister	W. L. Mackenzie King
Preceded by	James Ralston
Succeeded by	Douglas Abbott
Postmaster General
Acting 23 May 1940 – 7 July 1940
Prime Minister	W. L. Mackenzie King
Preceded by	Charles Gavan Power
Succeeded by	William Pate Mulock
Minister of National Revenue
In office 23 October 1935 – 7 July 1940
Prime Minister	W. L. Mackenzie King
Preceded by	Robert Charles Matthews
Succeeded by	Colin W. G. Gibson
Member of Parliament for Hants—Kings (Digby—Annapolis—Kings; 1935–1948)
In office 14 September 1926 – 28 October 1948
Preceded by	Arthur de Witt Foster
Succeeded by	George Nowlan
Personal details
Born	James Lorimer Ilsley (1894-01-03)3 January 1894 Somerset, Nova Scotia, Canada
Died	14 January 1967(1967-01-14) (aged 73) Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Evelyn Wilhelmina Smith ​ ​ (m. 1919)​
Children	2
Education	Acadia University (BA) Dalhousie University (LLB)
Profession	Barrister

James Lorimer Ilsley PC KC (3 January 1894 – 14 January 1967) was a Canadian politician and jurist. He was minister of finance from 1940 to 1946. He was finance minister during World War II; to fund the increase in wartime expenditure, he dramatically expanded the income tax by imposing it on millions of workers and citizens.

He was born in Somerset, Nova Scotia, the son of Randel Ilsley and Catherine Caldwell. Ilsley was educated at Acadia University where he served as Editor-In-Chief of the university newspaper The Athenaeum. He then attended Dalhousie University and was admitted to the Nova Scotia bar in 1916. In 1919, he married Evelyn Smith. Ilsley then practised law in Yarmouth and Halifax, Nova Scotia until 1926.

He was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a Liberal in the 1926 election. He survived the 1930 election that sent the Liberals into Opposition. When the Liberal Party returned to power in the 1935 election, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King brought Ilsley into Cabinet as Minister of National Revenue.

In 1940, he was promoted to Minister of Finance. He held that position for the duration of World War II during a period of massive expansion in expenditure due to the war effort, described as a "transformation of the Canadian tax system" by historian Colin Campbell.^[1] Under his direction, the minimum income required to pay income tax was push dramatically downward, effectively changing income tax from a "class tax" on the wealthiest 300,000 or so Canadians to a national tax imposed on millions of average workers, and directly deduced from their checks.^[1] The revenue generated from income tax during this era expand by nearly 1000%.^[1]

He also led the Victory Bond campaign, brought in wage and price controls in 1941, and deal with several currency crises.^[1] He was also known for his call for personal sacrifice by civilians during the war and led by example by giving up his car and riding the streetcar to Parliament Hill.^[1] In 1945, despite the taxes he had imposed on the general public, he was rated the most popular cabinet minister in the cabinet.^[1]

He was recognized for his service in 1946 when he was appointed to the Imperial Privy Council, and given the honorific of "Right Honourable".

The same year, he became Minister of Justice. He served in that position until he retired from politics in 1948.

Illsley retired from politics in 1948. The next year, he was appointed to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court and became Chief Justice of Nova Scotia in 1950. He served in that capacity until his death in 1967 in Halifax at the age of 73.

J. L. Ilsley High School, opened in 1971 and located in Spryfield, Nova Scotia, bears his name.

• James Lorimer Ilsley – Parliament of Canada biography
• Marble, Allan E. (1977). Nova Scotians at Home and Abroad: including biographical sketches of over six hundred native born Nova Scotians. Lancelot. p. 215. ISBN 0-88999-074-3.