1939 in Canada
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| Years in Canada: | 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 |
| Centuries: | 19th century · 20th century · 21st century |
| Decades: | 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s |
| Years: | 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 |
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Events from the year 1939 in Canada.
Incumbents[]
Crown[]
- Monarch – George VI
Federal government[]
- Governor General – John Buchan[1]
- Prime Minister – William Lyon Mackenzie King
- Chief Justice – Lyman Poore Duff (British Columbia)
- Parliament – 18th
Provincial governments[]
Lieutenant governors[]
- Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John C. Bowen
- Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Eric Hamber
- Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – William Johnston Tupper
- Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Murray MacLaren
- Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Robert Irwin
- Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Albert Edward Matthews
- Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – George DesBrisay DeBlois (until September 11) then Bradford William LePage
- Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Esioff-Léon Patenaude (until December 30) then Eugène Fiset
- Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Archibald Peter McNab
Premiers[]
- Premier of Alberta – William Aberhart
- Premier of British Columbia – Thomas Dufferin Pattullo
- Premier of Manitoba – John Bracken
- Premier of New Brunswick – Allison Dysart
- Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Lewis Macdonald
- Premier of Ontario – Mitchell Hepburn
- Premier of Prince Edward Island – Thane Campbell
- Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis (until November 9) then Adélard Godbout
- Premier of Saskatchewan – William John Patterson
Territorial governments[]
Commissioners[]
- Controller of Yukon – George A. Jeckell
- Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Charles Camsell
Events[]
- May 17 – King George VI and Queen Elizabeth begin their royal tour of Canada, eventually visiting every province and Newfoundland.
- September 3 – The Department of Labour establishes the Wartime Prices and Trade Board to control inflation
- September 7 – Prime Minister Mackenzie King calls for a special session of Parliament, to discuss a declaration of war versus Nazi Germany. The session lasts until September 13.[2]
- September 10 – World War II: Canada declares war on Germany, one week after the United Kingdom does so
- September 11 – World War II: Canada establishes a High Commission of Canada in Australia. Australia reciprocates the next day.[3]
- September 16 – World War II: The Royal Canadian Navy escorts the first of many transatlantic convoys
- September 28 – World War II: Air training facilities are set up in Canada to train pilots from Britain and the rest of the Commonwealth.
- October 25 – The Quebec election is won by the Liberals under Joseph-Adélard Godbout.
- December 17 – World War II: The 1st Canadian Infantry Division lands in Scotland en route to England. The division is accompanied by a team of announcers and technicians, who set up Radio Canada's overseas service.
- November 9 – Adélard Godbout becomes premier of Quebec for the second time, replacing Maurice Duplessis
Year-long[]
- Canada expands its international presence by establishing High Commissions in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa.
Sport[]
- February 12 – The Trail Smoke Eaters win the 1939 Ice Hockey World Championships for Canada.
- April 16 – The Boston Bruins win their second Stanley Cup (and last until 1970) by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4 games to 1.
- April 17 – The Ontario Hockey Association's Oshawa Generals win their first Memorial Cup by defeating the 's 3 games to 1. The deciding Game 4 was played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
- December 9 – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers win their second Grey Cup by defeating the Ottawa Rough Riders 8 to 7 in the 27th Grey Cup played in Lansdowne Park in Ottawa.
Births[]
January to March[]
- January 3 - Bobby Hull, ice hockey player
- January 11 - Anne Heggtveit, alpine skier and Olympic gold medalist
Brian Mulroney
- January 14 - Martha Gibson, actress
- January 19 - Grant Notley, politician (d. 1984)
- February 3 - Ovid Jackson, politician
- February 10 - Adrienne Clarkson, journalist and 26th Governor General of Canada
- March 1 - Marlene Catterall, politician
- March 5 - Peter Woodcock, serial killer and child rapist (d. 2010)
- March 17 - Bill Graham, politician
- March 20 - Brian Mulroney, politician and 18th Prime Minister of Canada
- March 26 - Patrick Lane, poet (d. 2019)
April to June[]
Joe Clark
- April 14 - Ian Binnie, jurist and puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada
- April 20 - Wayson Choy, writer (d. 2019)
- April 24 - Dan Hays, politician
- April 24 - Ernst Zündel, neo-Nazi, Holocaust denier and pamphleteer
- May 7 - Sidney Altman, molecular biologist, joint 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate
- May 11 - Ken Epp, politician
- May 16 - Roger Soloman, politician
- May 26 - Gerry McAlpine, politician
- June 5 - Joe Clark, journalist, politician, statesman, businessman, professor and 16th Prime Minister of Canada
- June 23 - Jack MacIsaac, Canadian politician
July to September[]
- July 12 - David Bazay, television journalist (d. 2005)
- July 19 - Ray Turnbull, Canadian curler (d. 2017)
- July 25 - Catherine Callbeck, politician and 30th Premier of Prince Edward Island
- August 12 - Roy Romanow, politician and 12th Premier of Saskatchewan
- August 15 - Hardial Bains, founder and leader of Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) (d. 1997)
- August 21 - JoAnn Wilson, murder victim (d. 1983)
- August 23 - Isabel Bassett, broadcaster and politician
- August 31 - Dennis Lee, poet and children's writer
- September 1 - Jake Epp, politician
- September 2 - Henry Mintzberg, academic and author on business and management
- September 4 - Jim Penner, businessman and politician (d. 2004)
- September 11 – Lyse Richer, administrator and music teacher
- September 30 - Len Cariou, actor
October to December[]
- October 5 - Marie-Claire Blais, novelist, poet and playwright (d. 2021)
- November 6 - Joyce Fairbairn, Senator and first woman to serve as Leader of the Government in the Senate
- November 18 - Margaret Atwood, author, poet, critic, feminist and social campaigner
- November 23 - Bill Bissett, poet
- November 30 - Louis LeBel, jurist and puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada
- December 2 - Francis Fox, politician, Minister and Senator
- December 21 - Lloyd Axworthy, politician and Minister
- December 24 - James Bartleman, diplomat, author and 27th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
Full date unknown[]
- Michael Estok, poet
- Michael Overs, businessman, founder and owner of Pizza Pizza Limited (d. 2010)
- Tony Parsons, journalist and television news anchor
- Robin Spry, filmmaker and television producer (d. 2005)
Deaths[]
- January 24 - Alfred Edmond Bourgeois, politician (b. 1872)
- March 7 - Sir Joseph Flavelle, businessman (b. 1858)
- March 8 - Henry Pellatt, financier and soldier (b. 1859)
- May 6 - Edward S. Rogers, Sr., inventor and radio pioneer (b. 1900)
- July 12 - Fernand Rinfret, politician (b. 1883)
- August 21 - Francis Patrick O'Connor, businessman, politician and philanthropist (b. 1885)
- November 12 - Norman Bethune, physician and medical innovator (b. 1890)
- November 28 - James Naismith, sports coach and innovator, inventor of basketball (b. 1861)
- December 22 - Herbert James Palmer, politician and Premier of Prince Edward Island (b. 1851)
- December 27 – Napoléon Turcot, politician (b. 1867)
Full date unknown[]
See also[]
Historical documents[]
Labour Day finds fighters and nurses enlisting for overseas service and Red Cross rushing its wartime planning[5]
Editorial says Canada and Commonwealth are "one and indivisible, [and] pledged unwaveringly to the support of the Mother Country"[6]
Before declaring war, PM King asks Commons for "authority for effective cooperation by Canada at the side of Britain"[7]
MP J.S. Woodsworth interrogates "cooperation," unspoken government policy, and whether Canada is already in war[8]
"We cannot be at peace while the head of this Empire is at war" - Sen. Arthur Meighen insists Canada enter European conflict[9]
Canada's declaration of war against German Reich[10]
Editorial says PM King, in choosing home defence over expeditionary force, is not giving "definite leadership"[11]
Regimen for Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry's transport ship includes lectures, training and organized games[12]
Enlisted man's 1939 surprises: Poland's fall weeks after invasion, and Christmas invitation given on his first day in England[13]
Editorial says "equality of sacrifice," essential to war effort, must include fairness in agricultural costs, prices and margins[14]
MP A.A. Heaps advocates joining other countries in welcoming refugees from persecution[15]
Mentioning uranium ore in Canada and German-occupied Czechoslovakia, Einstein urges President Roosevelt to back atomic energy research[16]
"Only a mile from home" - Eleven-year-old student Andrew Gordon from Gordon's reserve residential school dies of exposure walking home[17]
Supreme Court finds tavern, in absence of specific law, has "freedom of commerce" to not serve Black man[18]
Law professor comments on Quebec's Padlock Law allowing police to seal premises and arrest occupants deemed "communistic"[19]
Private intelligence agency offers to spy on corporation's workers to detect "plots, plans and unrest"[20]
Mao's appreciation of Norman Bethune - "We must all learn the spirit of absolute selflessness from him"[21]
Poster: "Time Is Life" depicts Bethune riding a galloping horse[22]
King George VI - "It is my earnest hope that my present visit may give my Canadian people a deeper conception of their unity as a nation."[23]
Woman records her excitement over 1939 royal tour of George VI and Elizabeth in her diary[24]
Film of royal tour's stops in Calgary, Banff, Vancouver and Victoria[25]
CBC chairman tells House committee move into television will not come soon because of its current technical and financial limitations[26]
Course in interior decoration includes hands-on stitching, glazing, block-printing, weaving, lettering, etc., etc.[27]
Photo: children work on their art projects in Arthur Lismer's children's art classes in Toronto[28]
Calling "more friendly relations" essential to world progress, bank's advertisement pledges friendship in its service[29]
References[]
- ^ "John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir: Biography on Undiscovered Scotland". www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ "House of Commons Procedure and Practice – 8. The Parliamentary Cycle – Opening a Parliament and a Session". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
- ^ "Australia-Canada relations" (PDF). Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
- ^ Constance Piers
- ^ "Holiday Finds Canada Making Ready for War," Sherbrooke (Quebec) Daily Record (September 4, 1939), pg. 3. Accessed 22 June 2020 http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3000671 (turn to pg. 3)
- ^ "The Empire at War" The Charlottetown Guardian (September 4, 1939), pg. 4. Accessed 22 June 2020
- ^ "Governor General's Speech; Address in Reply..." (September 8, 1939), House of Commons Debates, 18th Parliament, 5th Session: Vol. 1, pg. 30. Accessed 20 June 2020
- ^ "Governor General's Speech; Address in Reply..." (September 8, 1939), House of Commons Debates, 18th Parliament, 5th Session: Vol. 1, pgs. 41-3. Accessed 21 June 2020
- ^ "The Governor General's Speech; Address in Reply" (September 9, 1939), Senate Debates, 18th Parliament, 5th Session: Vol. 1, pgs. 8-11. Accessed 20 June 2020
- ^ "Proclamation" The Canada Gazette (September 10, 1939). Accessed 23 June 2020 Also published by Canadian Press
- ^ "Canada Enters the Struggle," Sherbrooke (Quebec) Daily Record (September 11, 1939), pg. 4. Accessed 23 June 2020 http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3000690 (turn to pg. 4)
- ^ Lieut. Col. W.G. Colquhoun, "Ship's Standing Orders;[...]S.S. Orama" (December 1939). Accessed 23 June 2020 https://archives.ppcli.com/74-1-1-ships-standing-orders (click on document for PDF copy)
- ^ "Veteran Stories: Fernand Trépanier, Army" The Memory Project. Accessed 23 June 2020
- ^ "With All Our Resources" The Western Farm Leader, Vol. 4, No. 18 (Calgary, September 15, 1939), pg. 4. Accessed 22 June 2020
- ^ "Governor General's Speech; Continuation of Debate on Address in Reply" (January 30, 1939), House of Commons debates, 18th Parliament, 4th Session: Vol. 1, pgs. 432-6. Accessed 21 June 2020
- ^ Einstein-Szilard Letter (August 2, 1939), Atomic Heritage Foundation. Accessed 20 November 2021
- ^ "Indian Boy Frozen on Bush Trail" The (Regina) Leader-Post, Vol. XXXI, No. 62 (March 15, 1939). Accessed 23 June 2021
- ^ Christie v. The York Corporation, Supreme Court Judgments (1939-12-09). Accessed 20 June 2020
- ^ John T.[sic] Humphrey, "Homes are Not Castles" (truncated), The Canadian Magazine (March 1939). Accessed 23 June 2020
- ^ Letter from General Investigations of Canada Limited (March 29, 1939). Accessed 23 June 2020 https://projects.windsorpubliclibrary.com/digi/sar/part2.htm (scroll down to Solicitation)
- ^ Mao Tse-tung, "In Memory of Norman Bethune" (December 21, 1939), Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung: Vol. II; The Period of the War of Resistance Against Japan. Accessed 23 June 2020
- ^ Zhang Xingguo, "Time Is Life" (1975). Accessed 14 July 2021
- ^ "The King's Speech" (May 19, 1939), Debates of the Senate of the Dominion of Canada 1939; Fourth Session, Eighteenth Parliament, 3 George VI, pg. 400. Accessed 23 May 2021
- ^ Diary of Vera (Collins) Webb (excerpts of May 17 and 26, 1939). Accessed 23 June 2020 https://archivesalberta.org/diary/royal.htm (click on illustrations to read excerpts)
- ^ British Pathé, "The Royal Tour of Western Canada." Accessed 10 May 2020
- ^ Testimony of Leonard Brockington (March 2, 1939), Special Committee on Radio Broadcasting, pgs. 17-19. Accessed 28 October 2020
- ^ "Design; Fourth Year," Behind the Palette; Vancouver School of Art; March - Nineteen Hundred and Thirty-nine (unpaginated). Accessed 23 June 2020 https://ecuad.arcabc.ca/islandora/object/ecuad%3A9024/issue_pages?page=1 (click on image 020)
- ^ Ronny Jaques, Children work on art projects (ca. 1939-40), Lismer's Children's Art Classes Toronto, Library and Archives Canada. Accessed 4 July 2021
- ^ The Bank of Toronto, "Friendly Relations" The Western Farm Leader, Vol. 4, No. 18 (Calgary, September 15, 1939), pg. 2. Accessed 22 June 2020
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