1900 in Canada

Events from the year 1900 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – Victoria<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Federal government

• Governor General – Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto
• Prime Minister – Wilfrid Laurier
• Chief Justice – Samuel Henry Strong (Ontario)
• Parliament – 8th (until 9 October)

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Thomas Robert McInnes (until June 21) then Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – James Colebrooke Patterson (until October 10) then Daniel Hunter McMillan
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Jabez Bunting Snowball
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Malachy Bowes Daly (until July 26) then Alfred Gilpin Jones
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Oliver Mowat
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Peter Adolphus McIntyre
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Louis-Amable Jetté

Premiers

• Premier of British Columbia – Charles Augustus Semlin (until February 28) then Joseph Martin (February 28 to June 15) then Edward Gawler Prior
• Premier of Manitoba – Thomas Greenway (until January 10) then Hugh John Macdonald (January 10 to October 29) then Rodmond Roblin
• Premier of New Brunswick – Henry Emmerson (until August 31) then Lemuel John Tweedie
• Premier of Nova Scotia – George Henry Murray
• Premier of Ontario – George William Ross
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – Donald Farquharson
• Premier of Quebec – Félix-Gabriel Marchand (until October 8) then Simon-Napoléon Parent

Territorial governments

Commissioners

• Commissioner of Yukon – William Ogilvie

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Keewatin – James Colebrooke Patterson (until October 10) then Daniel Hunter McMillan
• Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories – Amédée E. Forget

Premiers

• Premier of North-West Territories – Frederick Haultain

Events

January to June

• January 8 – Hugh John Macdonald becomes premier of Manitoba, replacing Thomas Greenway.
• February 18 – February 27 – Boer War: The Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry plays a decisive role in the Battle of Paardeberg.
• February 27 – Charles Semlin is dismissed as premier of British Columbia.
• February 28 – Joseph Martin becomes premier of British Columbia.
• March 16 – Boer War: Strathcona's Horse leave for South Africa.

File:View of 1900 Ottawa-Hull fire.jpg

Hull fire on April 26, 1900.

• April 26 – Two-thirds of Hull, Quebec, is destroyed in a fire.
• June 15 – James Dunsmuir becomes premier of British Columbia, replacing Joseph Martin.

July to December

• August 31 – Lemuel John Tweedie becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Henry Emmerson.
• September 25 – Félix-Gabriel Marchand, Premier of Quebec, dies in office.
• October 8 – Simon-Napoléon Parent becomes premier of Quebec.
• October 29 – Sir Rodmond Roblin becomes premier of Manitoba, replacing Hugh John Macdonald.
• November 7
  • Federal election: Sir Wilfrid Laurier's Liberals win a second consecutive majority.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• • Boer War: The Battle of Leliefontein begins. Three Canadians receive the Victoria Cross for their valour in the engagement.
• December 6 – Alphonse Desjardins founds Mouvement Desjardins, the first credit union in North America.

Full date unknown

• -The federal government doubles the head tax on Chinese immigrants
• -The Canadian Tuberculosis Association meets for the first time

Births

January to June

• January 1 – Sam Berger, lawyer, businessman and football player (d.1992)
• January 8
  • Harry Cassidy, academic, social reformer and civil servant (d.1951)
  • Solon Earl Low, politician (d.1962)
• February 20 – Graham Spry, broadcasting pioneer, business executive, diplomat and socialist (d.1983)
• March 12 – David Croll, politician (d.1991)
• April 3 – Albert Walsh, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1958)
• April 19 – Roland Michener, lawyer, politician, diplomat and Governor-General of Canada (d.1991)
• April 30 – David Manners, actor (d.1998)
• May 25 – Alain Grandbois, poet (d.1975)

File:John Babcock 1920.jpg

John Babcock in 1920

• May 25 – Malcolm Norris, Métis leader (d.1967)
• May 29 – Antonio Talbot, politician (d.1980)
• June 3 – Gordon Sinclair, journalist, writer and commentator (d.1984)
• June 21 – Edward S. Rogers, Sr., inventor and radio pioneer (d.1939)

July to December

• July 6 – Paul Métivier, World War I veteran (d. 2004)
• July 23 – John Babcock, Canada's last surviving World War I veteran (d.2010)
• August 13 – Gordon Sparling, filmmaker (d.1994)
• August 23 – Frances Adaskin, pianist (d. 2001)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• August 31 – James Campbell Clouston, naval officer (d.1940 in Dunkirk evacuation)
• September 6 – W. A. C. Bennett, Premier of British Columbia (d.1979)
• October 2 – Rod Keller, general (d. 1954)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• November 20 – Athole Shearer, actress (d.1985)
• November 27 – Jovette Bernier, journalist, author and radio show host (d.1981)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• November 28 – Mary Bothwell, classical vocalist and painter (d. mid-1970s)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Deaths

• February 25 – Benjamin Pâquet, Roman Catholic priest and educationist (b.1832)
• March 1 – Frederick Carter, Premier of Newfoundland (b.1819)
• March 20 – George Hope Bertram, politician (b. 1847)
• August 4 – Marc-Aurèle Plamondon, lawyer, journalist, publisher, and judge (b.1823)
• August 11 – Georges-Isidore Barthe, lawyer, publisher, journalist and politician (b.1834)
• September 25 – Félix-Gabriel Marchand, journalist, author, notary, politician and 11th Premier of Quebec (b.1832)
• December 21 – Désiré Olivier Bourbeau, politician and merchant (b.1834)

Historical documents

Political cartoonist shows Canadian farmer's preference for Liberal over Conservative record <ref>J.W. Bengough, "Swap?," John Wilson Bengough collection, Library and Archives Canada. Accessed 29 December 2019 http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item?id=e010958287_s1-v8 http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item?id=e010958287-v8</ref>

After spreading fire destroys Ottawa power plant, House forced to adjourn as governments seek help from military and nearby cities<ref>"The Fire in Hull and Ottawa" (April 26, 1900), Official Report of the Debates of the House of Commons, Vol. LII, 4331-2. Accessed 4 July 2021</ref>

Fire that destroyed much of Hull (Gatineau), Quebec, and part of Ottawa described<ref>Report of the Ottawa and Hull Fire Relief Fund (1900), pgs. 3-8. (See also photo of fire) Accessed 29 December 2019</ref>

Hartley Bay girl describes her time in Kitimat, B.C. boarding school<ref>Alice Bates (Nohsdahmtk), "A Home Girl's Letter" Na-Na-Kwa, or Dawn on the Northwest Coast, No. 10 (April 1900; unpaginated). Accessed 13 April 2020</ref>

Newspaper publishers' problems with costs and paper supply<ref>"The Newspaper Situation in Canada," The Canadian Printer and Publisher, Vol. IX, No. 5 (May 1900), pgs. 1-3. Accessed 22 December 2019 https://fishercollections.library.utoronto.ca/islandora/object/cpp%3ACPP190005 (turn to page 1)</ref>

Cape Town thanks Imperial volunteer forces for their South African War service<ref>"Thank You card, from the Citizens of Cape Town, Showing Table Bay, South Africa." Accessed 22 December 2019</ref>

Saint John, New Brunswick program includes two women's military drill teams <ref>"Military Entertainment in Aid of the Funds of the New Brunswick Portions of the Canadian Contingents Now Taking Part in the War in South Africa." Accessed 22 December 2019</ref>

Whitefish, spuds and Klondikers: the news from Lesser Slave Lake, N.W.T.<ref>"Report from Lesser Slave Lake," Edmonton Bulletin (January 1, 1900). Accessed 22 December 2019 http://explorenorth.com/library/weekly/aa010100a.htm (scroll down to "Edmonton Bulletin.")</ref>