1. Brooke Claxton was born in Montreal and received his early education at Lower Canada College.
19 Facts About Brooke Claxton
1. 2.
Brooke Claxton was a gifted student and entered McGill University in September 1915 after completing grade 11.
3.
Brooke Claxton served overseas with the Royal Indian Field Artillery on the Western Front, and saw action, which experience marked him profoundly.
4.
Brooke Claxton was promoted to the rank of Battery Sergeant-Major in the field and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
5.
Brooke Claxton had an academic post at McGill where he was associate professor of commercial law until 1944.
6.
Brooke Claxton served as President of the Canadian Club of Montreal, Chairman of the Montreal branch of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, chairman of the Board of Governors of Lower Canada College from 1925 until 1934, and was a graduate fellow of the Corporation of McGill University.
7.
The burgeoning nationalism after World War I led Brooke Claxton to become involved in associations such as the Canadian League and the League of Nations Society.
8.
Brooke Claxton was an intervenor on behalf of the federal government in the constitutional issue concerning jurisdiction over radio broadcasting.
9.
Brooke Claxton was active in laying the foundations for the establishment of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
10.
Brooke Claxton was re-elected in 1945 and again in 1949.
11.
Brooke Claxton was appointed in 1943 as Parliamentary Assistant to the Prime Minister.
12.
Brooke Claxton served in the federal Liberal cabinets of Mackenzie King and Louis St Laurent.
13.
Brooke Claxton was responsible for the organization of the department and implementation of the administration system for the universal Family Allowances social welfare scheme.
14.
In 1946 Brooke Claxton became Minister of National Defence in which portfolio he served until 1954.
15.
Brooke Claxton represented Canada at the meetings of the Defence Committee under the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, DC, Paris and The Hague.
16.
In 1947, Brooke Claxton reopened RMC as a 3-service cadet college offering a 4-year academic degree.
17.
Brooke Claxton's brother-in-law was Second Lieutenant Donaldson Lizars Savage who died on 15 November 1916 at the age of 20.
18.
Brooke Claxton was honoured by the University of Saskatchewan with the degree of Doctor of Laws at its Golden Jubilee Convocation in 1959.
19.
The Brooke Claxton Building in Ottawa, where the Department of Health is based, was named in his honour.