1919 in Canada

Events from the year 1919 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

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

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Federal government

• Governor General – Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire
• Prime Minister – Robert Borden
• Chief Justice – Louis Henry Davies (Prince Edward Island)
• Parliament – 13th

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Robert Brett
• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Francis S. Barnard (until December 9) then Edward Gawler Prior
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – James Albert Manning Aikins
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – William Pugsley
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – MacCallum Grant
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Strathearn Hendrie (until November 20) then Lionel Herbert Clarke
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Augustine Colin Macdonald (until July 16) then Murdock MacKinnon (from September 2)
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Charles Fitzpatrick
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Richard Stuart Lake

Premiers

• Premier of Alberta – Charles Stewart
• Premier of British Columbia – John Oliver
• Premier of Manitoba – Tobias Norris
• Premier of New Brunswick – Walter Foster
• Premier of Nova Scotia – George Henry Murray
• Premier of Ontario – William Hearst (until November 14) then Ernest Drury
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – Aubin Arsenault (until September 9) then John Howatt Bell
• Premier of Quebec – Lomer Gouin
• Premier of Saskatchewan – William Melville Martin

Territorial governments

Commissioners

• Gold Commissioner of Yukon – George P. MacKenzie
• Commissioner of Northwest Territories – William Wallace Cory

Events

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January to June

• January 19 – Canadian troops take part in the Battle of Shenkursk, part of the Russian Civil War.
• February 17 – Wilfrid Laurier, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and former prime minister of Canada, dies in office.
• April 17 – New Brunswick women are permitted to vote.
• April 10 – The Quebec referendum on the prohibition of alcohol.
• May 3 – Yukon women are permitted to vote.
• May 15 – June 25 – Winnipeg General Strike of 1919.
• May 22 – The House of Commons passes the Nickle Resolution.
• June – Rodeo's first reverse-opening side-delivery bronc chute is designed and made by rodeo cowboy Earl W. Bascom at the Bascom Ranch in Lethbridge, Alberta
• June 6 – The government-owned Canadian National Railway is formed out of a number of financially troubled private railways.
• June 28 – Canada signs the Treaty of Versailles, formally ending the First World War

July to December

• September 1 – Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, opens the third session of the 13th Canadian Parliament
• September 6 – George-Étienne Cartier Monument unveiled
• September 9 – John Howatt Bell becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Aubin Arsenault.
• October 20 – Ontario election: Ernest C. Drury's United Farmers of Ontario win a majority, defeating Sir William Hearst's Conservatives.
• November 14 – Ernest Drury becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Sir William Hearst.

Full date unknown

• Influenza epidemic in Alberta.
• Monument aux braves de N.D.G. unveiled

Arts and literature

• February 27 – Robert Harris, Canadian painter (b. 1848)

Sport

• December 22 – Toronto Arenas become the Toronto St. Patricks
• March 19–22 – Ontario Hockey Association's University of Toronto Schools win the first Memorial Cup by defeating the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association's Regina Pats 29–8 in a two-game aggregate at the Arena Gardens in Toronto

Births

January to June

File:Daphne Odjig 2008.JPG

Daphne Odjig

• January 13 – Igor Gouzenko, Russian defector (d. 1982)
• January 23 – Frances Bay, actress (d. 2011)<ref>Maslin Nir, Sarah (September 18, 2011). "Frances Bay, Actress Known for ‘Old Lady’ Roles, Dies at 92". The New York Times.</ref>
• February 17 – J. M. S. Careless, historian (d. 2009)<ref>CBC article "Canadian Historian J. M.S. Careless dies"</ref>
• February 20
  • Thomas Ide, educator and the founding Chairman of TVOntario (d. 1996)
  • Joe Krol, Canadian football player (d. 2008)
• March 21 – Victor Copps, politician and Mayor of Hamilton (d. 1988)
• March 26 – Vernon Singer, politician (d. 2003)
• April 16 – Louis Harrington Lewry, politician and reporter (d. 1992)
• April 21 – William Perehudoff, painter (d. 2013)
• May 27 – Francess Halpenny, editor and professor (d. 2017)
• May 29 – Jacques Genest, physician and academic (d. 2018)
• June 18 – Gordon A. Smith, artist and teacher (d. 2020)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• June 19
  • Gérard Dionne, Roman Catholic bishop (d. 2020)
  • Simon Reisman, civil servant and chief negotiator of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement (d. 2008)
• June 21 – Gérard Pelletier, journalist, editor, politician and Minister (d. 1997)

July to December

• July 5 – Gordon Towers, politician and Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta (d. 1999)
• August 1 – Jack Butterfield, President of the American Hockey League (1969–1994) (d. 2010)
• August 9 – Edmund Hockridge, singer and actor (d. 2009)
• August 19 – Margaret Marquis, Canadian-American actress (d. 1993)
• August 21 – Marcel Lambert, politician and Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada (d. 2000)
• September 1 – Gladys Davis, professional baseball player (d. 1991)
• September 11 – Daphne Odjig, artist (d. 2016)

File:Pierre Trudeau.jpg

Pierre Trudeau in 1980

• October 12 – Gilles Beaudoin, politician and mayor of Trois-Rivières (d. 2007)
• October 17 – Violet Milstead, World War II aviator and bush pilot (d. 2014)
• October 18 – Pierre Trudeau, politician and 15th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2000)
• November 1 – Russell Bannock, aviator and test pilot (d. 2020)
• November 14 – Albert Ludwig, politician (d. 2019)
• November 21 – Eleanor Collins, jazz singer (d. 2024)
• December 10 – Vincent Brassard, politician (d. 1974)
• December 25 – Paul David, cardiologist and founder of the Montreal Heart Institute (d. 1999)

Deaths

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File:The Honourable Sir Wilfrid Laurier Photo C (HS85-10-16873).jpg

Wilfrid Laurier

• January 30 – Sam Steele, soldier and member of the North-West Mounted Police (b. 1849)
• February 17 – Wilfrid Laurier, politician and 7th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)
• July 29 – Frederick Peters, lawyer, politician and Premier of Prince Edward Island (b. 1851)
• August 18 – Joseph E. Seagram, distillery founder, politician, philanthropist and racehorse owner (b. 1841)
• October 14 – Simon Hugh Holmes, publisher, lawyer, politician and Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1831)
• November 10 – Charles Mickle, politician (b. 1849)
• November 11 – George Haddow, politician and merchant (b. 1833)
• December 10 – Arthur Boyle, politician (b. 1842)
• December 29 – William Osler, physician (b. 1849)

File:Laurier funeral procession.jpg

Funéraille de Wilfrid Laurier

See also

• List of Canadian films

Historical documents

Canada and other dominions demand full status in League of Nations<ref>The Associated Press, "Dominions Will Make Big Claims; Will Ask to Be Admitted to League as Individual Nations; Want Same Status as Other Powers" The Calgary Daily Herald, No. 4938 (January 21, 1919), pg. 1. Accessed 20 March 2020</ref>

J.W. Dafoe hears about Canadian researchers whose weapon helped to end First World War<ref>John W. Dafoe, Paris Peace Conference Diary Transcriptions, pgs. 87 to 88. Accessed 20 March 2020</ref>

Getting soldiers from France to England to Canada and their dispersal stations for discharge<ref>The Repatriation Committee, "War to Peace; Demobilizing Canada's Army" The (Edmonton) Morning Bulletin, Vol. IX, No. 228 (January 18, 1919), pg. 2. Accessed 20 March 2020</ref>

Returning veteran longs for home, especially to escape English hostility and disdain<ref>Letter of Harold Henry Simpson (April 13, 1919). Accessed 20 March 2020</ref>

Soldiers' Civil Re-Establishment vocational officer reports 30% of trainees not prepared enough to get jobs, and 60% won't keep jobs<ref>Testimony of Roderick S. Kennedy (October 3, 1919), Soldiers' Civil Re-Establishment; Proceedings of the Special Committee[...]of the House of Commons[....], pg. 564. Accessed 12 October 2020 (See also "14. Rehabilitation of Returned Soldiers," Canada's Part in the Great War pgs. 49-58)</ref>

Film: tractor use on farm and roadwork<ref>"Why Not Use a Tractor?" (1919), Ontario Motion Picture Bureau, Pathéscope of Canada Limited, Library and Archives Canada. Accessed 7 July 2024</ref>

Film: silver mining in northern Ontario<ref>Government of Ontario, "Silver Mining in Ontario" (1919), Library and Archives Canada. (See also fictional depiction of "Life in a Mining Camp") Accessed 22 September 2024</ref>

Film: highlights of tour by Edward, Prince of Wales to Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Ontario<ref>British Pathé, "Prince of Wales in Canada." Accessed 10 May 2020</ref>

Prince of Wales makes very successful postwar visit to Regina (Note: racial stereotypes)<ref>"Greatest Crowd Ever Seen In Saskatchewan Welcomes The Prince" Regina Morning Leader (October 6, 1919), pgs. 9 & 10. Accessed 23 March 2020</ref>

Chronic illness resulting from influenza epidemic includes "Great White Plague" of tuberculosis<ref>"Results of Influenza" The (Weston, Ont.) Times & Guide (January 1, 1919), pg. 1. Accessed 30 March 2020.</ref>

Debate on creation of federal health ministry brings up infant mortality, tuberculosis and venereal disease as well as influenza<ref>Senate Debates, 13th Parliament, 2nd Session: Vol. 1 (May 1, 1919), pgs. 287-289. Accessed 30 March 2020.</ref>

Newspaper published "in the interest of the Citizens" opposes Winnipeg General Strike<ref>The Winnipeg Citizen, Vol. 1, No. 21 (June 11, 1919). Accessed 23 March 2020</ref>

Solicitor-General says legislation against sedition targets "insidious agencies of crime and revolt," not Winnipeg General Strike<ref>"Says Sedition Act Not Result of Strike Here" The Winnipeg Evening Tribune, Vol. XXX, No. 130 (June 11, 1919), pg. 11. Accessed 23 March 2020</ref>

Editorial insists Winnipeg General Strike leaders rightly charged with sedition, and trial will decide their guilt or innocence<ref>"Most Serious Charges" The Winnipeg Evening Tribune, Vol. XXX, No. 136 (June 18, 1919), pg. 4. Accessed 23 March 2020</ref>

Indictment for seditious libel against J.S. Woodsworth quotes his newspaper's coverage of police attack on Winnipeg General Strikers<ref>Indictment for: Publishing Seditious Libels; 6 Counts, The King vs J.S. Woodsworth, Court of King's Bench. Accessed 23 March 2020</ref>

Royal commission reports on causes and events of Winnipeg General Strike<ref>"Royal Commission to Enquire into(...)the General Strike Which Recently Existed in the City of Winnipeg(...); Report of H.A. Robson, K.C., Commissioner" (November 6, 1919). Accessed 23 March 2020</ref>

Alberta labour leader reports on convention discussing discrimination at home and internationalism abroad<ref>Alex. Ross, MLA, "The Alberta Labor Convention" The Alberta Non Partisan, Vol. 3, No. 3 (January 30, 1919), pg. 4. Accessed 24 March 2020</ref>

Communist Party of Canada program calls for rejection of reform in favour of revolution<ref>Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada, "Programme of the Communist Party of Canada" Accessed 24 March 2020</ref>

Professor says chemistry graduates will keep leaving Canada until domestic chemical industry is induced to exploit their research talent<ref>Testimony of William Lash Miller (June 4, 1919), Proceedings of the [House] Special Committee [on] the Development in Canada of Scientific Research, pgs. 92-5. Accessed 15 October 2020</ref>

Stern warnings and instruction from Saskatoon Fire Department to combat "national disgrace of fire waste"<ref>Saskatoon Fire Department, "Saskatoon Fire Prevention Bulletin," Souvenir; Saskatoon Fire Department; Fire Prevention and First Aid (1919), pg. 29 and after. Accessed 25 March 2020</ref>

Boy Scouts provide courier service after Maritimes storm breaks telegraph connection between Western and Eastern Hemispheres<ref>"Canadian Scouts Save Wire Service" Scouting, Vol. 7, No. 1 (January 2, 1919), pg. 8. Accessed 12 February 2020</ref>

Opinion and possible legislation supports Canadian content in film-making<ref>"Canadian Legislation May Cut U.S. Film Importations" Variety, Vol. LIII, No. 10 (January 31, 1919), pg. 57. Accessed 24 March 2020</ref>