Canada-related events during the year of 1939
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
Sovereign states Dependencies and other territories