1939 in Canada
Events from the year 1939 in Canada .
Incumbents
Crown
Federal government
Provincial governments
Lieutenant governors
Premiers
Territorial governments
Commissioners
Events
Year-long
Sport
Births
January to March
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 8 - Lynn Seymour , ballerina (d. 2023 )
March 17 - Bill Graham , politician (d. 2022 )
March 20 - Brian Mulroney , politician and 18th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2024 )
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 , German-born neo-Nazi, Holocaust denier and pamphleteer (d. 2017 )
May 7 - Sidney Altman , molecular biologist, joint 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate (d. 2022 )
May 11 - Ken Epp , politician (d. 2022 )
May 16 - Roger Soloman , politician (d. 2021 )
May 26 - Gerry McAlpine , politician
June 5 - Joe Clark , journalist, politician, statesman, businessman, professor and 16th Prime Minister of Canada
June 23 - Jack MacIsaac , politician
July to September
July 12 - David Bazay , television journalist (d. 2005 )
July 19 - Ray Turnbull , 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 10 – Jim Pappin , ice hockey player (d. 2022 )
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 (d. 2022 )
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
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
With crisis in Europe, MP suggests Canada follow up on Statute of Westminster by declaring neutrality and following America-oriented defence policy[ 6]
Labour Day finds fighters and nurses enlisting for overseas service and Red Cross rushing its wartime planning[ 7]
Editorial says Canada and Commonwealth are "one and indivisible, [and] pledged unwaveringly to the support of the Mother Country "[ 8]
Before declaring war, PM King asks Commons for "authority for effective cooperation by Canada at the side of Britain"[ 9]
MP J.S. Woodsworth interrogates "cooperation," unspoken government policy, and whether Canada is already in war[ 10]
"We cannot be at peace while the head of this Empire is at war" - Sen. Arthur Meighen insists Canada enter European conflict[ 11]
Canada's declaration of war against German Reich[ 12]
Editorial says PM King, in choosing home defence over expeditionary force, is not giving "definite leadership"[ 13]
Regimen for Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry 's transport ship includes lectures, training and organized games[ 14]
Enlisted man's 1939 surprises: Poland's fall weeks after invasion , and Christmas invitation given on his first day in England[ 15]
Editorial says "equality of sacrifice ," essential to war effort, must include fairness in agricultural costs, prices and margins[ 16]
British meals depend on Canada for breakfast porridge and (with other wheat exporters ) bread, and cheese, tinned soup, and suet in pudding at tea [ 17]
MP A.A. Heaps advocates joining other countries in welcoming refugees from persecution [ 18]
Mentioning uranium ore in Canada and German-occupied Czechoslovakia , Einstein urges President Roosevelt to back atomic energy research[ 19]
"Only a mile from home" - Eleven-year-old student Andrew Gordon from Gordon's reserve residential school dies of exposure walking home[ 20]
Supreme Court finds tavern, in absence of specific law, has "freedom of commerce" to not serve Black man[ 21]
Law professor comments on Quebec's Padlock Law allowing police to seal premises and arrest occupants deemed "communistic"[ 22]
Private intelligence agency offers to spy on corporation's workers to detect "plots, plans and unrest"[ 23]
Mao's appreciation of Norman Bethune - "We must all learn the spirit of absolute selflessness from him"[ 24]
Poster: "Time Is Life" depicts Bethune riding a galloping horse[ 25]
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."[ 26]
Woman records her excitement over 1939 royal tour of George VI and Elizabeth in her diary[ 27]
Film of royal tour's stops in Calgary, Banff, Vancouver and Victoria[ 28]
CBC chairman tells House committee move into television will not come soon because of its current technical and financial limitations[ 29]
Course in interior decoration includes hands-on stitching, glazing, block-printing, weaving, lettering, etc., etc.[ 30]
Photo: children work on their art projects in Arthur Lismer 's children's art classes in Toronto[ 31]
Calling "more friendly relations" essential to world progress, bank 's advertisement pledges friendship in its service[ 32]
References
^ "King George VI | The Canadian Encyclopedia" . www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca . Retrieved 4 December 2022 .^ "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 ^ "Mr. Wilfrid Lacroix (Quebec-Montmorency)" Debates of the House of Commons (January 30, 1939), 18th Parliament, 4th Session. Accessed 8 January 2023^ "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^ "Food; Meals and Where They Come From" British Survey, Vol. 1, No. 15 (November 10, 1939), pg. 58. Accessed 12 September 2022^ "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 Zedong, "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
1939 in North America
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