1949 in Canada

• Monarch – George VI{{cite web |title=King George VI {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/king-george-vi |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |access-date=4 December 2022}}

• Governor General – the Viscount Alexander of Tunis{{cite book |last1=Lentz |first1=Harris M. |title=Heads of States and Governments Since 1945 |date=4 February 2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-26490-2 |page=142 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6HKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA142 |language=en}}
• Prime Minister – Louis St. Laurent
• Chief Justice – Thibaudeau Rinfret (Quebec)
• Parliament – 20th (until 30 April) then 21st (from 15 September)

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John C. Bowen
• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Charles Arthur Banks
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Roland Fairbairn McWilliams
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – David Laurence MacLaren
• Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Albert Walsh (until September 15) then Leonard Outerbridge
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – John Alexander Douglas McCurdy
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Ray Lawson
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Joseph Alphonsus Bernard
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Eugène Fiset
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – John Michael Uhrich

• Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
• Premier of British Columbia – Boss Johnson
• Premier of Manitoba – Douglas Campbell
• Premier of New Brunswick – John McNair
• Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood
• Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Macdonald
• Premier of Ontario – Thomas Laird Kennedy (until May 4) then Leslie Frost
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – J. Walter Jones
• Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Tommy Douglas

• Commissioner of Yukon – John Edward Gibben
• Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside

Image:Joseph Smallwood signing Newfoundland into Confederation.jpg

• March 31 - Newfoundland becomes Canada's 10th province at a fraction of a second from April 1
• April 1 - Joey Smallwood becomes the first premier of Newfoundland as a Canadian province
• April 4 - Canada joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
• May 4 - Leslie Frost becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Thomas Kennedy
• June 27 - Federal election: Louis Saint Laurent's Liberals win a fourth consecutive majority
• August 22 - Queen Charlotte earthquake: Canada's largest earthquake since the 1700 Cascadia earthquake
• September 9 - Albert Guay affair: in-flight bombing of a Canadian Pacific Airlines DC-3 en route from Quebec City to Baie-Comeau
• September 14 - The Noronic, the largest Canadian passenger ship on the Great Lakes, is destroyed by a fire while docked in Toronto, killing 118

• Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council are abolished, making the Supreme Court of Canada the country's top court
• British Columbia gives Asian-Canadians the vote
• Gustave Sherman establishes his custume jewellery business, Sherman & Company Ltd. in Montreal

Image:Pauline Marois - Chicoutimi 03.jpg

• See 1949 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Stephen Leacock Award: Angeline Hango, Truthfully Yours

• April 16 – The Toronto Maple Leafs win their eighth (third consecutive) Stanley Cup by defeating the Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 0. The deciding Game 4 was played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto
• May 16 – The Quebec Junior Hockey League's Montreal Royals win their only Memorial Cup by defeating the Manitoba Junior Hockey League's Brandon Wheat Kings 4 games to 3 (with 1 tie). The deciding game was played Shea's Amphitheatre in Winnipeg
• November 26 – The Montreal Alouettes win their first Grey Cup by defeating the Calgary Stampeders 28–15 in the 37th Grey Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto
• Date unknown – The Edmonton Eskimos join the Western Interprovincial Football Union

Image:Marc Garneau STS-97.jpg

• January 24 - Guy Charron, ice hockey player
• February 14 - Denis Rocan, politician
• February 23 - Marc Garneau, astronaut, engineer and politician (d. 2025)
• March 1 - Jane Haist, discus thrower and shot putter (d. 2022)
• March 3 - Elijah Harper, politician (d. 2013)
• March 16 - Victor Garber, actor and singer
• March 25 - Jean Potvin, ice hockey player (d. 2022)
• March 29 - Pauline Marois, social worker, civil servant and 30th premier of Quebec
• March 30 - Liza Frulla, politician

Image:Raymond Henault.jpg

• April 4 - Nava Starr, chess player and a Women's International Master
• April 6 - Réginald Bélair, politician
• April 8 - Claudette Bradshaw, politician
• April 14 - Percy Mockler, politician and Senator
• April 16 - Sandy Hawley, jockey
• April 18 - Jean-Paul Saint-Pierre, politician, Mayor of Russell, Ontario (since 2010) (d. 2014)
• April 26 - Ray Henault, general and Chief of Defence Staff
• May 6 - Diane Ablonczy, politician
• May 20 - Sheldon Oberman, children's writer (d. 2004)
• May 20 - Dave Thomas, comedian and actor
• June 7 - Christopher W. Morris, philosopher and academic
• June 21 - Jane Urquhart, writer
• June 22 - Wayne Easter, politician

Image:Danny Williams - Andrew Spearin.jpg

• July 3 - Jan Smithers, actress
• July 11 - Liona Boyd, classical guitarist
• July 12 - Ted Barris, writer, journalist, professor, and broadcaster
• August 4 - Danny Williams, politician and 9th Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador
• August 13 - Bobby Clarke, ice hockey player
• August 21 - Larry Fisher, murderer (d. 2015)
• August 30 - Don Boudria, politician and Minister
• September 6 - Carole-Marie Allard, politician
• September 12 - Kevin Major, author
• September 26 - Marie Tifo, actress

Image:Jim Flaherty 2007.JPG

• October 10 - Michel Létourneau, politician (d. 2019)
• October 24 - Robert Pickton, serial killer and pig farmer (d. 2024)
• October 25 - Laurie Skreslet, mountaineer, first Canadian to reach the summit of Mount Everest
• October 27 - Garth Drabinsky, film and theatrical producer and entrepreneur
• November 27 - Nick Discepola, politician
• November 28 - Paul Shaffer, musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian and composer
• November 29 - Stan Rogers, folk musician and songwriter (d. 1983)
• December 13 - Denise Leblanc-Bantey, politician (d. 1999)
• December 19 - Larry Bagnell, politician
• December 21 - John Loewen, businessman and politician
• December 30 - Jim Flaherty, politician and Minister (d. 2014)

• Zahra Kazemi, photographer, died in Iranian custody (d. 2003)

• January 9 - Tom Longboat, long-distance runner (b. 1887)
• January 11 - John Wesley Brien, physician and politician (b. 1864)
• February 12 - Pegi Nicol MacLeod, artist (b. 1904)
• May 22 - Sir Douglas Alexander, 1st Baronet, British-born Canadian industrialist (b. 1864){{cite news |title=Deaths {{!}} ALEXANDER--Archibald G. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1978/04/04/110825158.pdf |accessdate=26 April 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=4 April 1978}}
• June 2 - François Blais, politician (b. 1875)

• July 7 - Fred Wellington Bowen, politician (b. 1877)
• August 23 - Herbert Greenfield, politician and 4th Premier of Alberta (b. 1869)
• September 2 - Ian Alistair Mackenzie, politician and Minister (b. 1890)
• December 7 - Stanislas Blanchard, politician (b. 1871)
• December 16 - Albert Edward Matthews, 16th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (b. 1873)
• December 16 - Sidney Olcott, film producer, director, actor and screenwriter (b. 1873)

• List of Canadian films

Illingworth cartoon depicts Stalin-shaped mushroom cloud overshadowing western Europe and North AmericaLeslie Gilbert Illingworth, (no caption), Daily Mail (September 26, 1949). Accessed 18 September 2020 https://archive.cartoons.ac.uk/record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=ILW1661

Joint US-Canadian defence strategy must address not only huge Soviet force in Europe, but its recently revealed atomic weapon capability[https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=9532 "Extract from Minutes of Meeting of Cabinet Defence Committee"] (November 23, 1949), Chapter XI, Relations with the United States; Part 3, Other Defence Issues; Section B, Joint Defence Plans and Requirements of Armed Forces, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 918. Accessed 22 September 2020

"This struggle [with Communism] is coming closer and closer" - Canada should be aware that it has U.S.S.R. on its northern borderRobert W. Keyserlingk, [http://speeches.empireclub.org/62566/data?n=1 "Between the Iron and the Ice Curtain"] (November 10, 1949), The Empire Club of Canada Addresses, pgs. 84-94. Accessed 18 September 2020

Denial of NATO "automatic commitment" comes from old idea of U.S.A. and Canada as "producers and not consumers of security"[https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=8902 "Secretary of State for External Affairs to Ambassador in United States"] (February 17, 1949), Chapter IV, North Atlantic Security; Part 1, Negotiation of the North Atlantic Treaty, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 290. Accessed 16 September 2020

Despite disapproval, Canada would strengthen its Article 2 on cultural, economic and social collaboration in draft NATO treaty[https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=8875 Lester Pearson's memo to Prime Minister] (January 4, 1949), Chapter IV, North Atlantic Security; Part 1, Negotiation of the North Atlantic Treaty, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 263. Accessed 16 September 2020

After prolonged objection to NATO treaty Article 2 by U.S. Senators, they publicly praise it as one reason for ratification[https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=8951 Hume Wrong's telegram to Lester Pearson] (March 25, 1949), Chapter IV, North Atlantic Security; Part 1, Negotiation of the North Atlantic Treaty, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 339. Accessed 16 September 2020

U.S.A. undermines Canada's export economy and aid to European recovery, and unfairly criticizes defence spending[https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=9130 Lester Pearson's memo to Prime Minister] (February 9, 1949), Chapter VII, International Economic Relations; Part 3, Canadian-American Finance and Trade, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 518. Accessed 22 September 2020

Discussion of suggested USA-UK-Canada federation, UK's place in Europe, and Europe's economic decline as world industrializes[https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=9295 Letter of ambassador to U.K.] (August 23, 1949), Chapter VII, International Economic Relations; Part 10, Implications of European Integration, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 683. Accessed 22 September 2020

"Spectre of starvation, not only of the body, but also of the mind" - Canadians organize for cultural reconstruction of EuropeCanadian Council for Reconstruction through UNESCO, [https://www.collectionscanada.ca/2/5/h5-318-e.html "A Report of Activities, July 1947 - March 1949"] (April 11, 1949), Submission to Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters, and Sciences. Accessed 17 September 2020

Canada raises $1 million for aid to devastated countries, including 5,000 school food boxes, 30,000 library books, and artists' equipmentUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, [https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000155384?posInSet=1 "Canadian Council for Reconstruction through UNESCO" allocation] (May 10, 1949), Meeting of Experts from Devastated Countries, Paris. Accessed 27 August 2020

PM Nehru explains India's "championship of freedom and racial equality in Asia" and asks Canada's support for liberty and against want[https://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.debates_HOC2101_02/44?r=0&s=2 "Appendix A; Address of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru"] (October 24, 1949), House of Commons Debates, 21st Parliament, 1st Session, Vol. 2, pg. 1104. Accessed 29 August 2021

National Film Board's history of independent international distribution bothers Department of External Affairs[https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=9686 "Annex: Relations between the Department of External Affairs and the National Film Board"] (June 7, 1949), Chapter XV, National Film Board, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 1069. Accessed 22 September 2020

"(UNESCO should reject) projects not likely to achieve immediately useful results" - Example of Canada's role as helpful fixer[https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=8861 "Secretary of State for External Affairs to Ambassador in France"] (September 14, 1949), Chapter III, United Nations; Part 3, Economic and Social Council and Specialized Agencies; Section G, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 249. Accessed 18 September 2020

Letters of appreciation about (and from) displaced persons brought from Europe by government to work in Canada[https://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.com_SOC_2005_2_1/44?r=0&s=1 "Appendix 'C'"] Proceedings of the Standing committee on Immigration and Labour (March 22, 1949), pgs. 28-35. Accessed 7 October 2020

Cabinet orders immigration officials to "deal favourably" with German husbands, wives, children (under 18) and senior parents of legal residents"Immigration; admission of enemy aliens (German nationals)," Cabinet Conclusions (September 13, 1949), [https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record?app=cabcon&IdNumber=9165 pgs. 7–8] Library and Archives Canada. Accessed 15 October 2023

Given their unpopularity in Canada, External Affairs urged to be judicious about allowing Germans in[https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=9348 "Memorandum from Head, Consular Division"] (October 11, 1949), Chapter IX, Immigration; Part 1, Exit and Entry Controls; Section C, Admission of Enemy Aliens, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 735. Accessed 17 September

"Running a war and a wide-open immigration policy at the same time[ – there's] no alternative" - Newspaper columnist on IsraelMargaret Aitken, [http://speeches.empireclub.org/60444/data?n=7 "The Birth of A Nation"] (March 3, 1949), The Empire Club of Canada Addresses, pgs. 245-53. Accessed 17 September

Canadian leadership tries to settle dispute in refugee organization over Jewish emigration to Palestine conflict zone"Responsibility of I.R.O. for Financing Transport of Jewish Refugees from Europe to Palestine" (January 20, 1949), Chapter III, United Nations; Part 3, Economic and Social Council and Specialized Agencies; Section D, International Refugee Organization, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 237. Accessed 14 September 2020 https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=8849 (see compromises on pgs. 238-9)

Canadian diplomat on elimination of corruption and black market and other positive changes in China following Communist takeover[https://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/norman/archives/governmentdocument/5558en.html Chargé d'affaires to Secretary of State for External Relations] (excerpts; December 29, 1949), "Death of a Diplomat: Herbert Norman & the Cold War," Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History. Accessed 18 September 2020

"Undesirable contacts" - Federal official is leery about stationing Black U.S. troops near Inuit[https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=9559 "Deputy Minister of Mines and Resources to Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs"] (April 23, 1949), Chapter XI, Relations with the United States; Part 3, Other Defence Issues; Section F, Use of United States Black Troops in Canada, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 944. Accessed 21 September 2020

Hydro-electricity, boundary waters, roads and railways: Canada wants information on U.S. interest in northwestern North America[https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=9490 "Deputy Minister of Mines and Resources to Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs"] (November 9, 1949), Chapter XI, Relations with the United States; Part 2, Sovereignty; Section A, Arctic; Sub-Section I, General, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 877. Accessed 18 September 2020

Historical and diplomatic reasons for retaining "Alert" name for joint U.S.-Canadian weather station on Ellesmere Island[https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=9500 "Memorandum from Acting Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs to Secretary of State for External Affairs"] (March 7, 1949), Chapter XI, Relations with the United States; Part 2, Sovereignty; Section A, Arctic; Sub-Section IV, Joint Arctic Weather Stations Programme, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 886. Accessed 18 September 2020

"You are joining a good country" - Prime Minister St. Laurent's speech on Newfoundland's entry into ConfederationLouis St. Laurent, [https://www.collectionscanada.ca/2/4/h4-4031-e.html "Address by Rt. Hon. Louis S. St-Laurent, Prime Minister of Canada, on the Occasion of the Entry of Newfoundland into Confederation as a Province of Canada"] (1949). Accessed 21 September 2020

"The Catholic Syndicates appear to have shunned [a] settlement" - Violence and unspoken motivation behind Quebec's Asbestos Strike"Aux Barricades!," Time magazine (Canadian edition, May 16, 1949), pg. 16, and "The Struggle in Asbestos," The (Montreal) Gazette (May 16, 1949), pg. 8. Accessed 21 September 2020 http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/docs/asbestos/ (scroll down to the two titles)

Film: newsreel of strikers, strikebreakers and police in Asbestos, QuebecBritish Pathé, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydRO3zwOZYo "Strike Paralyses Canadian Town."] Accessed 10 May 2020

"The most powerful social and moral authority in the community" - Sociologist says unions are replacing church in Windsor, Ont.Canadian Press, "Unions Replacing Church Is Claim" (truncated), The Windsor Daily Star (March 11, 1949). Accessed 21 September 2020 https://projects.windsorpubliclibrary.com/digi/sar/part7.htm (scroll down to article image)

Discussions between George Hislop and Jim Egan are roots of Toronto-area gay liberation[https://digitalexhibitions.arquives.ca/files/original/9d0aed9d41a812f06d22a04de03ea84f.pdf "John Grube's Interview with George Hislop"] pgs. 28-33. Accessed 18 May 2020

Fearing recent total war effort may result in permanent checks on individual rights, senator introduces draft bill of rights[https://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.debates_SOC2101_01/230?r=0&s=1 "Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms motion"] (November 3, 1949), Senate Debates, 21st Parliament, 1st Session: Vol. 1, pgs. 215-18. Accessed 14 September 2020

"A more complete[...]Canadian democracy" - Canadian Jewish Congress promotes national institutions for cultural understanding[https://www.collectionscanada.ca/2/5/h5-306-e.html "Canadian Jewish Congress. Submission to the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences"] (1949). Accessed 21 September 2020

Massey Commission suggests questions on influences and possibilities to Ernest MacMillan for his critical study of Canadian musicLetter of Vincent Massey (September 21, 1949). Accessed 21 September 2020 https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/lac-bac/sir_ernest_macmillan-ef/www.lac-bac.gc.ca/4/6/m7-203-e.html (scroll down to Letter from Vincent Massey)

"A cultural renaissance[...]from the grass roots" - Calgary Allied Arts Council urges Massey Commission to back community arts[https://www.collectionscanada.ca/2/5/h5-315-e.html "Calgary Allied Arts Council. Brief to the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences"] (1949). Accessed 21 September 2020

"A new and gifted player" - Jazz at the Philharmonic presents Oscar Peterson's debut at Carnegie Hall, New YorkR.B., [https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/lac-bac/oscar_peterson-ef/www.lac-bac.gc.ca/4/2/m3-3024-e.html "Jazz Concert; Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson Heard"] New York Post. Accessed 21 September 2020

Film: newsreel of cruise ship burning in Toronto harbour with scores of lives lostBritish Pathé, [https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVAEANOKUGBJUJS05UXD2I5AXR98-NORONIC-CRUISE-SHIP-DESTROYED-BY-FIRE "Noronic Cruise Ship Destroyed By Fire"] (1949). Accessed 27 July 2020

Advertisement: CP Air staged flight to Australia with Honolulu and Fiji stopoversCanadian Pacific Air Lines, [https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4891298r "Now Fly to Australia; Canadian Pacific style; sleep on land by night! travel by air in the day!"] New York Times (July 12, 1949). Accessed 14 September 2020

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Category:1949 in North America