Jones ran a West Indian importing firm in Halifax until his opposition to the union of Nova Scotia with Canada brought him into politics in 1864. He protested the refusal of the British government to exempt Nova Scotia from the British North America Act, which created the Dominion of Canada in 1867, the year in which he was elected member of the Canadian House of Commons for Halifax. In 1878 he was briefly minister of militia in Alexander Mackenzie's Liberal government, and his refusal to abandon the free trade policy influenced the party and led to its defeat. He represented Canada on the Pacific Cable Committee.