A millionaire and one-time owner of Sherwin Williams Paints in Montreal , Ballantyne was president of the Canadian Manufacturer 's Association and a member of the Montreal Harbour Board . He also raised and commanded the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards of Canada . He was appointed to Sir Robert Borden 's World War I Union government . He held no parliamentary seat when Borden appointed him minister of public works , minister of marine and fisheries and minister of the naval service in October 1917 . He became a Cabinet minister prior to being elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the December 1917 federal election ; delayed for two weeks because of the Halifax Explosion . Ballantyne was one of a handful of Unionist Members of Parliament ( MPs ) elected from Quebec during the Conscription Crisis of 1917
Halifax Explosion
Halifax Explosion
Charles Ballantyne