1946 in Canada

Events from the year 1946 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

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

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Federal government

• Governor General – the Earl of Athlone (until April 12) then the Viscount Alexander of Tunis<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Prime Minister – William Lyon Mackenzie King
• Chief Justice – Thibaudeau Rinfret (Quebec)
• Parliament – 20th

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John C. Bowen
• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – William C Woodward (until October 1) then Charles Arthur Banks
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Roland Fairbairn McWilliams
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – David Laurence MacLaren
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Henry Ernest Kendall
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Albert Edward Matthews (until December 26) then Ray Lawson
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Joseph Alphonsus Bernard
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Eugène Fiset
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Reginald John Marsden Parker

Premiers

• Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
• Premier of British Columbia – John Hart
• Premier of Manitoba – Stuart Garson
• Premier of New Brunswick – John McNair
• Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Macdonald
• Premier of Ontario – George A. Drew
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – J. Walter Jones
• Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Tommy Douglas

Territorial governments

Commissioners

• Controller of Yukon – George A. Jeckell
• Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Charles Camsell

Events

• January 21 – The Bluenose sinks off Haiti.
• May 14 – The Canadian Citizenship Act, 1946 is passed. It creates Canadian citizenship separate from the British.
• May 31 – All Japanese-Canadians ordered deported to Japan.
• April 12 – Sir Harold Alexander appointed the new Governor General of Canada, replacing the Earl of Athlone.
• June 23 – The 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake affects Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia.
• June 27 – Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 is enacted, defining a Canadian citizen and including a reference to being a British subject.
• July 15 – A royal commission investigates a Soviet spy ring in Canada. Secret information was found to be leaked and among the Canadians held suspect was the one parliamentary delegate of the Labor-Progressive (Communist) Party.
• August 3 – A Canadian wheat agreement provided for British purchases of large amounts of Canadian wheat at prices considerably below the world market.
• October 14 – Canada Savings Bonds introduced for the first time.
• November 8 - Viola Desmond refuses to leave her seat in a movie theatre and is arrested.
• The Canadian Army Command and Staff College is established.

Arts and literature

• January 8 – Betty Beaumont, Canadian American site-specific artist, all media
• August 29 – Leona Gom, Canadian poet and novelist
• October 28 – Sharon Thesen, Canadian poet
• November 7 – Diane Francis, Canadian journalist and author

Sport

• April 9 - The Montreal Canadiens win their sixth Stanley Cup by defeating the Boston Bruins four games to one. The deciding Game 5 was played at the Montreal Forum.
• April 27 - The Manitoba Junior Hockey League's Winnipeg Monarchs win their third (and final) Memorial Cup by defeating the Ontario Hockey Association Toronto St. Michael's Majors four games to three. All games were played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
• November - The New York Knicks win the first National Basketball Association game by defeating the Toronto Huskies 68–66 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
• November 30 - The Toronto Argonauts win their seventh Grey Cup by defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 28 to 6 in the 34th Grey Cup at Varsity Stadium in Toronto.
• Date unknown:
  • The Western Interprovincial Football Union resumes play for the first time since 1942
  • The Montreal Alouettes join the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union
  • Herb Trawick of the Alouettes becomes the first black player of professional football in Canada

Births

January to March

File:Kate McGarrigle.jpg

Kate McGarrigle at the 2008 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame gala

• January 10 – Alexis Nihon, Jr., real estate businessman, Olympic wrestler for The Bahamas (1968) (d. 2013)
• January 15 – Veronica Tennant, ballet dancer and dance and performance film producer and director
• January 17 – Domenic Troiano, rock guitarist (d. 2004)
• January 18 – Paul Shmyr, ice hockey player (d. 2005)
• January 22 – Serge Savard, ice hockey player
• January 30 – Jean-Paul Daoust, writer
• February 6 – Kate McGarrigle, folk music singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
• March 1 – Gerry Boulet, rock singer (d.1990)
• March 5 – Richard Bell, musician (d. 2007)
• March 6 – Marcel Proulx, politician
• March 7 – Elaine McCoy, politician (d. 2020)
• March 11 – Paul DeVillers, politician
• March 19 – Donny Gerrard, singer (d. 2022)
• March 22 – Rivka Golani, viola player
• March 26 – Marion Boyd, politician (d. 2022)

April to June

• April 11 – Donald Orchard, politician
• April 15 – David Chatters, politician
• April 20 – Julien Poulin, actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2025)
• April 24 – Doug Christie, lawyer and free speech activist (d. 2013)
• April 26 – Lorne Nystrom, politician
• April 28 – Ginette Reno, author, composer, singer and actress
• May 17 – Joan Barfoot, novelist
• May 18 – Rod Zaine, ice hockey player (d. 2022)
• May 20 – Donald Cameron, politician and Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2021)
• May 30 – Don Ferguson, actor and comedian
• June 17 – Ernie Eves, politician and 33rd Premier of Ontario
• June 24 – David Collenette, politician
• June 25 – Andy Anstett, politician
• June 25 – Roméo Dallaire, senator, humanitarian, author and retired general

July to September

• July 1 – Rosalie Abella, jurist
• July 5 – Pierre-Marc Johnson, lawyer, physician, politician and 24th Premier of Quebec
• July 6 – John Honderich, businessman and editor (d. 2022)
• July 10 – Roger Abbott, comedian (d. 2011)
• July 19 – Dennis Mills, politician and businessman
• August 8 – Richard Johnston, politician, educator and administrator
• August 29 – Leona Gom, poet and novelist
• September 4
  • Eric Malling, television journalist (d. 1998)
  • Greg Sorbara, politician
• September 9
  • Lawrence MacAulay, politician
  • Bruce Palmer, musician (Buffalo Springfield) (d. 2004)

October to December

• October 16 – Elizabeth Witmer, politician
• October 28 – Sharon Thesen, poet
• November 4 – Robert Davidson, artist
• November 12 – Peter Milliken, lawyer and politician
• November 17 – Petra Burka, figure skater, Olympic bronze medallist, World Champion and coach
• November 17 – Bob McBride, singer (d. 1998)
• November 22 – Anne Wheeler, film and television writer, producer and director
• November 26 – Andreas Schroeder, poet, novelist and nonfiction writer
• December 14 – Paul Forseth, politician
• December 17
  • Margot Lemire, writer, poet and playwright (d. 2024)
  • Eugene Levy, actor, television director, producer, musician and writer

Deaths

File:Howard Ferguson.jpg

Howard Ferguson

• January 21 – Napoleon Lemay, politician (b. 1865)
• February 15 – Ernest Howard Armstrong, journalist, politician and Premier of Manitoba (b. 1864)
• February 21 – Howard Ferguson, politician and 9th Premier of Ontario (b. 1870)
• April 20 – Egerton Reuben Stedman, politician (b. 1872)
• August 17 – John Patrick Barry, politician and lawyer (b. 1893)
• September 9 – Aimé Boucher, politician and notary (b. 1877)
• October 23 – Ernest Thompson Seton, author and wildlife artist (b. 1860)
• December 6 – Charles Stewart, politician and 3rd Premier of Alberta (b. 1868)
• December 25 – Charles Ernest Gault, politician (b. 1861)
• December 27 – John Babington Macaulay Baxter, lawyer, jurist and 18th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1868)
• December 29 – James Thomas Milton Anderson, politician and 5th Premier of Saskatchewan (b. 1878)

Full date unknown

• John Queen, politician (b.1882)

Historical documents

Canadian issues in postwar Germany include pacification and recovery, export trade, reparations, and punishment of war crimes<ref>Letter of Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs to Head, Military Mission[...], Germany (January 29, 1946), Chapter II, Peace Settlement in Europe; Part 2, Germany; Section A, Occupation and Control, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 80. Accessed 19 August 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=11361 (scroll down to "III. Canadian Interests in Germany")</ref>

British Prime Minister asks PM King not to withdraw occupation forces from Germany, arguing U.K. should not be expected to do all<ref>Telegram to Secretary of State for External Affairs (January 3, 1946), Chapter II, Peace Settlement in Europe; Part 2, Germany; Section A, Occupation and Control, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 77. Accessed 19 August 2020</ref>

"Purely and simply the extermination of allied airmen" - evidence that captured flyers accused of "terroristic attacks" were murdered<ref>"Forty-Sixth Day: Wednesday, 30th January, 1946" The Trial of German Major War Criminals, Sitting at Nuremberg, Germany, Vol. 5, pgs. 295-8. Accessed 24 August 2020</ref>

Testimony against SS physician conducting biological experiments at Dachau concentration camp<ref>"One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth Day: Saturday, 3rd August, 1946," The Trial of German Major War Criminals, Sitting at Nuremberg, Germany, Vol. 20, pgs. 258-9. Accessed 24 August 2020 http://www.nizkor.com/hweb/imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-20/tgmwc-20-194-04.shtml (scroll down to "Dr. Rascher")</ref>

Nazis fought "an intellectual battle, the goal of which was the destruction of Christianity and the church"<ref>"Twenty-Ninth Day: Tuesday, January 8th, 1946," The Trial of German Major War Criminals, Sitting at Nuremberg, Germany, Vol. 4, pgs. 46-7. Accessed 24 August 2020 http://www.nizkor.com/hweb/imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-04/tgmwc-04-29-01.shtml (scroll down to "Pastoral Letter")</ref>

"A giant quantity of valuables" - testimony that SS profited from clothing, jewellery and other belongings of murdered Jews<ref>"Affidavit of Oswald Pohl" (translation; July 15, 1946), Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression; Supplement A, pgs. 805-7 (PDF pgs. 830-2). Accessed 5 August 2020 https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/NT_Nazi-conspiracy.html (click Supplement A)</ref>

PM King announces royal commission to report on leaks of secrets, including to "a foreign mission in Ottawa"<ref>Department of External Affairs press release (February 15, 1946), Chapter XII, Relations with Individual Countries; Part 18, Soviet Union, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 1245. Accessed 19 August 2020</ref>

Soviets say PM's announcement tied to "unbridled anti-soviet campaign[...]in the Canadian press and on[...]radio"<ref>Telegram of Chargé d'Affaires (Moscow, February 21, 1946), Chapter XII, Relations with Individual Countries; Part 18, Soviet Union, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 1247. Accessed 19 August 2020</ref>

"In knowledge, with a sense of proportion" - editorial says there should be no hysteria in hunt for communists<ref>"Let's Avoid Hysteria" (excerpts), Ottawa Journal (March 22, 1946). Accessed 24 August 2020</ref>

In charge to jury at first espionage trial, judge says conspiracy "touches the very nerve centre of our national existence"<ref>Canadian Press, "Mazerall Is Found Guilty In Soviet Espionage Plot(...)" The Montreal Gazette, Vol. CLXXV, No. 122 (May 23, 1946), pg. 1. Accessed 24 August 2020</ref>

Royal Commission on Espionage final report alleges "spy rings" include federal government employees and military officers<ref>Canadian Press, "Soviet 5th Column in Canada Charged; Probe Reveals Spy Activities" The Winnipeg Tribune, 57th Year, No. 166 (July 15, 1946), pg. 1. Accessed 24 August 2020</ref>

Parsing reaction to Churchill's Iron Curtain speech, Lester Pearson finds U.S. hardening toward U.S.S.R. "depressing if not dangerous"<ref>Despatch of Lester Pearson (Washington, March 11, 1946), Chapter XII, Relations with Individual Countries; Part 18, Soviet Union, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 1248. Accessed 19 August 2020</ref>

Real possibility that food situation in Europe, India, China and elsewhere will worsen from "low caloric intake" to starvation<ref>Memorandum of Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs (February 19, 1946), Chapter VII, Food Crisis, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 343. Accessed 19 August 2020</ref>

To help end world crisis, Canadians should conserve food and expect less meat, dairy, beer and spirits<ref>Privy Council Office, "World Food Problem" memorandum (February 7, 1946), Chapter VII, Food Crisis, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 339. Accessed 19 August 2020</ref>

Canadian Wheat Board supports giving U.K. priority for wheat over UN Relief and Rehabilitation Administration<ref>Letter of Canadian Wheat Board chief commissioner (February 3, 1946), Chapter VII, Food Crisis, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 337. Accessed 19 August 2020</ref>

"Selective attraction[, not] repulsion" - Senate committee wants end to Immigration Act centred on exclusion ("Asiatic" excepted)<ref>"Report; The Act" Proceedings of the Standing Committee on Immigration and Labour (August 13, 1946), pg. 310. Accessed 7 October 2020</ref>

Once veterans' employment has been seen to, Canadians should expect refugee Poles, Ukrainians, Mennonites and ethnic Germans<ref>Memorandum of Second Political Division (January 3, 1946), Chapter IV, Immigrants and Refugees; Part 1, General, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 211. Accessed 19 August 2020</ref>

English woman and baby make voyage with 1,000 other war brides to Halifax and take train to her husband in Calgary<ref>Eswyn Lyster, "My Journey to Canada on the Mauretania II" Canadian War Brides. Accessed 24 August 2020</ref>

Canadian citizenship, separate from British subject status, created by act specifying how it can be earned and lost, plus status of aliens<ref>"An Act respecting Citizenship, Nationality, Naturalization and Status of Aliens" (June 27, 1946). Accessed 1 September 2020</ref>

Head of U.S. atomic research criticizes U.S.A.-U.K.-Canada agreement to jointly develop atomic energy for peace<ref>United States Department of State, "Memorandum by the Commanding General, Manhattan Engineer District(...)" (February 13, 1946), Foreign Policy Aspects of United States Development of Atomic Energy, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946; Volume I, General; The United Nations, pgs. 1204-7. Accessed 25 August 2020</ref>

U.S.A. asks that Loran network, useful for navigation, guided missiles and early warning, continue in North (request accepted)<ref>Cabinet Defence Committee, "Extension of Loran Program" memorandum (May 3, 1946), Chapter XI, Relations with the United States; Part 3, Defence; Section A, Sovereignty in the Arctic, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 906. Accessed 19 August 2020</ref>

Responses from several reserves (Nanaimo to Shubenacadie) to Parliament's query about treaty rights, bands, schools, franchise etc.<ref>"Appendices" Special Joint Committee of the Senate and the House of Commons Appointed to Examine and Consider the Indian Act; Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, No. 21 (August 13, 1946), pg. vii. Accessed 7 October 2020</ref>

Indian residential school principal asks for small tractor to give practical experience to grade 7-9 boys taking mechanics course<ref>Letter of Principal P. Piche (March 1, 1946), National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Archives. Accessed 9 September 2021 https://archives.nctr.ca/R00011425 (click on Master file PDF)</ref>

Joey Smallwood advocates Newfoundland entering Confederation by laying out federal government's "New Deal" offer to provinces<ref>Letter-to-the-editor of Joseph R. Smallwood The (St. John's, Newfoundland) Daily News (March 13, 1946). Accessed 25 August 2020</ref>

Film: sleighs loaded and pulled by tractor across Great Slave Lake to Yellowknife<ref>British Pathé, "Northern Canada" Accessed 10 May 2020</ref>

Painting: Portrait of Black member of Canadian Women’s Army Corps<ref>Molly Lamb Bobak, "Private Roy, Canadian Women’s Army Corps" (1946), Canadian War Museum. Accessed 18 May 2022</ref>