Canada through the Decades - 1900-1909 · 2016. 5. 3. · Britain declares war on Germany. Canada is automatically at war too. 1914 The First World War begins. Britain declares war

1900 18 February Boer War-The Battle of Monte Cristo, Natal

1900

Reginald Fessenden transmits the world's first wireless spokenmessage via radio, and six years later the two-way voice transmission.His credited with the discovery of the super-heterodyne principle, thebasis of all modern broadcasting.

1900

Jack Caffery of Hamilton, Ontario, wins the Boston Marathon in2:39:44. Two other Canadian, Bill Sherring and Fred Hughson, finishedsecond and third. Caffery won again in 1901.

1900 25 June Boer War-Skirmish, Leliefontein, Senekal, OFS

1900 10 May Boer War-Attack on Mafeking

1900 23 February Boer War-Battle of Hart's Hill (Terrace Hill), Natal

1900 18 February Boer War-The Battle of Paardeberg

1900 23 Dec

Canadian-born Reginald Fessenden makes the first wireless radiobroadcast near Washington, D.C., narrowly beating Marconi, whoreceives the first transatlantic radio message at St. John's,Newfoundland, in the following year.

1900 20 January Boer War-Battle of Tabanyama, Natal

1900 23 January Boer War-Battle of Spioenkop, Natal

1902 The first symphony orchestra in Canada is created in Quebec City.

1902 19 January Boer War-Attack, concentration camp/ blockhouseline, Pietersburg, Tvl

1902

Le Roy, the first true Canadian "production car", is built by the Goodbrothers, Milton and Nelson, in their company in Berlin, Ontario, (nowKitchener) that they founded in 1899. Its name came from the French"le roi", meaning the king, and its currently on display at the DoonHeritage Crossroads museum in Kitchener.

1903

Silver is discovered in Cobalt, Ontario, along with cobalt and nickel.Ontario rapidly became one of the world's leading silver producingdistricts, yielding more than 18,000 metric tonnes of silver between1903 and 1989, when the last mine closed.

1903

The first nude demonstrations of the Doukhobours take place nearYorkton, Saskatchewan, to protest governmental policy regardingindividual ownership.

1903 20 Oct

Canada loses the Alaska boundary dispute when British tribunalrepresentative Lord Alverstone sides with the U.S.. Silver is discoveredin Northern Ontario.

Canada through the Decades - 1900-1909

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1903The Ivanhoe, a popular electric car, is made by Canada Cycle andMotor Co. of Toronto

1904

Canada wins an Olympic gold medal in soccer. Though known more asa country that specialized in hockey, a team from Galt, Ontario,defeated the Americans for gold at the Olympics in St. Louis.

1904

Charles Saunders, a native of London, Ontario, developed the Marquiswheat at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa. Maturing early thanother varieties, this strain of wheat produced larger crops and resistedthe cold and strong winds. The Marquis is given credit for bringingprosperity to Canada's prairies.

1905 1 SeptemberSaskatchewan and Alberta join Confederation. Immigrants rush tosettle in the plains, mainly as wheat farmers.

1906 31 AugustRoald Amundsen's Gjoa reaches Nome, Alaska, after becoming thefirst ship to sail the Northwest Passage.

1906 1 SeptemberProvince and territories joined Confederation, or were created fromexisting parts of Canada: Alberta, Saskatchewan

1906Norwegian Roald Amundsen, in the schooner Gjoa, finds his waythrough the Northwest Passage to the Pacific.

1906 7 MaySir Adam Beck creates the Hydro-Electric Power Commission ofOntario, the largest such company in Canada.

1907 December Canada Dry Ginger Ale is first bottled.

1907

Tom Longboat, an Onondaga from the Six Nations Reserve and worldrunner, wins the Boston Marathon in record time. In 1906 he won a 20km race against a horse.

1908

The Parliament passed the Tobacco Restraint Act prohibiting the saleof tobacco to person under 16, and prohibiting them from purchasing orpossessing tobacco.

1908A branch of the Royal Mint is established in Ottawa, making for the firsttime coins in Canada.

1908

Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery, is published. In thenext ninety years the book sells more than a million copies, is madeinto a television movie, and becomes a popular musical.

1908Peter Verigin, leader of the Doukhobours since his arrival in Canada in1902, leads the extremist Sons of Freedom to British Columbia.

1909The first powered, heavier-than-air flight in Canada is made byJ.A.D.McCurdy in the Silver Dart. The biplane flew almost a kilometer.


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1909

The first Grey Cup game; the University of Toronto football teamdefeats Toronto Parkdale. A trophy has been donated by the governorgeneral, Earl Grey.

1909 1 JulyJoseph-Elzear Bernier affirms Canadian sovereignty in the High Articby erecting a plaque on Melville Island.

1909 23 FebruaryJ. A. D. McCurdy makes the first manned flight in the British Empire, atBaddect, N.S.

1909

The Boundary Waters Treaty between Canada and United Statescreates the International Joint Commission, which first mission was toinvestigate the pollution of the Great Lakes in 1912. Its research andadvocacy led to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1972.

1909 Canada's first powered air flight takes place at Baddeck, N.S.

1909 The first Grey Cup is played.

1909 The Department of External Affairs is formed.


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1910 4 May Royal Canadian Navy formed.

1910

William Gibson built the first aircraft engine in Canada in Victoria,BC. It produced fifty-five horsepower and was installed in the

Gibson twin plane, the first one in North America to use contrarotating propellers.

1910 Laurier creates a Canadian navy the Naval Service Bill.

1911

A proposal for free trade between the United States and Canadais rejected in a fiercely contested general election. The Liberal

government, under Wilfrid Laurier, is replaced by a Conservativegovernment led by Sir William Borden.

1911

The last Dominion of Canada four-dollar notes were issued, beingreplaced by the five-dollar notes in 1912. Legislation was passed

authorizing the striking of the silver dollar, Canada's first dollarcoin, and two patterns for 1911 dollars were struck in silver.

1911Robert Borden and the Conservatives win federal election,

defeating Laurier on the issue of Reciprocity.

1912A botanist, Carrie Derrick, is Canada's first woman professor, at

McGill University.

1913Vilhjalmur Stefansson leads a Canadian expedition to the Arctic,

and explores the North by deliberately drifting on ice floes.

1914 25 DecemberTroops share an unofficial Christmas Truce in the Western Front

trenches.

1914 21 OctoberPrincess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry is assigned to the

British 80th Brigade and become the first Canadians in France.

1914 15 September Trenches first dug on the Western Front

1914 23 AugustGermans and British troops engage for the first time at Mons.

British slow the German advance

1914 4 AugustBritain declares war on Germany, automatically drawing Canada

into the conflict.

1914 8 August US declares itself neutral

1914 5 August Canada commits 25,000 troops to support England.

1914 4 AugustGermany invades Belgium, establishing the Western Front war,

Britain declares war

1914 3 August Germany declares war on France


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1914 1 August Germany declares war on Russia

1914 14 October First Canadian Troops arrive in Britain

1914

The Komagata Maru drops anchor in Burrard Inlet, sparkingpolitical maneuvers intended to exclude unwanted Sikh

immigrants (May-July).

1914 29 May Empress of Ireland sinks in the St. Lawrence; 1, 015 perish.

1914 4 AugustBritain declares war on Germany. Canada is automatically at war

too.

1914The First World War begins. Britain declares war on Germany on

behalf of the British Empire, including Canada.

1914 29 May

One thousand and twelve people died when Canadian Pacificsteamer Empress of Ireland collided with Norwegian ship Storstad

in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It’s the worst maritime disaster inCanadian history.

1914 19 JuneA dust explosion at a coal mine in Hillcrest, Alberta, kills 189

miners.

1914

Annie Langstaff was the first woman to graduate with a lawdegree in Quebec. She was not able to practice, though, becauseQuebec Bar refused to admit her, who end up working as a legal

clerk.

1914 AugustCanada goes off the gold standard, breaking forever the link

between national gold reserves and the money supply.

1914Parliament passes the War Measures Act, allowing suspension of

civil rights during periods of emergency.

1914 29 May

The C.P. ship Empress of Ireland sinks in the St. Lawrence withinfifteen minutes of a collision in dense fog. Over one thousandlives are lost. With nearly four hundred passengers on board,

1914 3 Oct The first Canadian troops leave for England.

1914 29 July Britain warns Canada of deteriorating situation in Europe.

1914 28 JuneArchduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary assassinated in

Sarajevo

1914 4 September Aproximately 32,000 men have assembled at Valcartier.

1914 14 October 1st contingent C.E.F. arrives in England.

1914 3 October 1st contingent Canadian Expeditionary Force sails for England.


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1914 19 August The first volunteers begin to arrive at Valcartier camp.

1914 6 August Britain accepts Canada's offer of troops.

1914 5 August Britain declares war. Canada is automatically at war.

1914 2 August Canada offers Britain troops for overseas service.

1914 21 DecemberPrincess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry arrives in France. The

first Canadian unit committed to battle in the Great War.

1915 13 October Actions of the Hohenzollern Redoubt

1915

Elizabeth Smellie is appointed colonel in the Canadian Armynursing corps. She was the first Canadian women to hold this

position.

1915 14 March Action of St. Eloi

1915 9 May Battle of Aubers Ridge

1915 25 September Action of Bois Grenier (part of the Battle of Loos)

1915 25 September-Octo The Battle of Loos

1915 15 June Second Action of Givenchy

1915 24 May Bellewaerde Ridge. Part of 2nd Ypres.

1915 17 May Battle of Festubert

1915 8 May Frezenberg Ridge. Part of 2nd Ypres.

1915 7 MayLusitania is sunk by a German submarine; casualties include 124

Americans passengers.

1915 24 AprilBattle of St.Julien. First use of poison gas against Canadian

troops.

1915 22 April

Gravenstafel Ridge - Poison Gas is first used on the WesternFront, in a German attack on French and Canadian troops on the

Ypres Salient. Part of 2nd Ypres.

1915 10 March Battle of Neuve Chapelle

1915 16 February the 1st Canadian Division arrives in France

1915 31 JanuaryFirst use of poison gas in WW1, by Germany at Bolimow in

Poland on the Eastern Front

1915 19 January First German Zeppelin raid on British mainland.


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1915 22 April

Battle of Ypres starts in Belgium. It’s the first major battle foughtby Canadian troops. They stand their ground against poison-gas

attack.

1915 22 AprilCanadian troops in the Second Battle of Ypres hold against

history's first major gas attack.

1915 24 April-May St. Julien. Part of 2nd Ypres.

1915 18 May Battle of Festubert.

1915 20 December Newfoundland Regiment evacuated from Suvla Bay

1915National Transcontinental, the eastern division of the Grand Trunk

Railway, consolidates a line from Moncton to Winnipeg.

1915 16 November Canadian's launched their first trench raid at Riviere Douve.

1915 19 September Newfoundland Regiment lands at Suvla Bay in Gallipoli.

1915 25 December 3rd Canadian Division formed.

1915 25 May Second Canadian Division formed in Canada.

1915 22 April Battle of Ypres. First use of poison gas against French.

1915 1 April 1st Canadian Division is moved north to the Ypres Salient.

1915 3 March1st Canadian Division is made responsible for 6000m of front

near Fleurbaix.

1915 7 February 1st Canadian Division begins moving to France.

1915 22 AprilIn their first battle, the 1st Canadian Division face one of the first

recorded chlorine gas attacks at Ypres, Belgium.

1915 5 MayLt-Col John McCrae of the Canadian Expeditionary Force

composed the well-known poem In Flanders Fields.

1915 John McCrae writes "In Flanders' Fields."

1915 15 June Battle of Givenchy.

1916 20 July Attacks on High Wood

1916 29 July

A devastating forest fire broke out in northwest of North Bay,Ontario, killing between 200 and 250 men, women, and children

and destroying six towns, including Matheson and Cochrane.Property damage was estimated at more than $2 million.


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1916 3 February

The Centre Block of Parliament Hill burned to ground. MPs andSenators had to conducted the nation's business in a museum notfar from the Hill doing their work in the former hall of invertebrate

fossils.

1916 2 June Battle of Mount Sorrel

1916 1 JulyAlbert (Capture of Montauban, Mametz, Fricourt, Contalmaison

and la Boisselle)

1916 27 March-April Action of St Eloi Craters

1916 19 July Attack at Fromelles

1916 3 September Guillemont

1916 15 September Flers-Courcelette

1916 26 September Thiepval Ridge

1916 1 October Le Transloy Ridges (Capture of Eaucourt l'Abbaye)

1916 1 October-Novem Ancre Heights (Capture of Regina Trench)

1916 15 November The Ancre (Capture of Beaumont Hamel)

1916 1 September Pozieres Ridge (Fighting for Mouquet Farm)

1916 14 July Bazentin Ridge

1916 3 Feb The Parliament buildings are destroyed by fire.

1916

The 1st Canadian Division discovers that the Canadian-madeRoss rifle (controversial since 1905) is unreliable in combatconditions. It is withdrawn from service and replaced by the

British-made Lee- Enfield (Aug.).

1916The National Research Council is established to promote

scientific and industrial research.

1916 Female suffrage is first granted in Canada in Manitoba.

1916 NovemberSir Samuel Hughes Minister of Militia and Defense is sacked by

Prime Minister Borden.

1916 26 September Battle of Thiepval Ridge.

1916 15 September Battle of Courcelette. First use of the tank and the rolling barrage.

1916 9 September Ginchy

1916 6 April The Battle of St.Eloi Craters.


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1916 2 June Battle of Mount Sorrel. Major General Mercer killed.

1917 26 October-Novem Second Passenchdaele

1917 9 April The Battle of Vimy Ridge.

1917 15 December

Russia and Germany sign an armistice at Brest-Litovsk,effectively ending the two-front war and allowing Germany to

concentrate troops on the Western Front

1917 20 November Battle of Cambrai - Tank attacks

1917 29 August Conscription became law in Canada.

1917

The Migratory Birds Convention Act is enacted, implementing theTreaty for International Protection of Migratory Birds which was

signed by Canada and U.S.A. in 1916. It was the first internationaltreaty for the conservation wildlife.

1917 9 October Poelcappelle

1917 26 September-Octo Polygon Wood

1917 23 November Battle of Cambrai - Capture of Bourlon Wood

1917 9 April Battle of Vimy Ridge

1917

A Union Government (a coalition of Liberals and Tories) underBorden wins in a federal election, in which all women of British

origin are allowed to vote for the first time.

1917 6 DecemberThe Halifax Explosion. French munitions vessel Mont Blanc

explodes in Halifax Harbour killing almost 1600 people.

1917 3 May Third Scarpe (Capture of Fresnoy)

1917 28 April Arleux

1917 23 April Attack on la Coulotte

1917 15 August Battle for Hill 70. First use of mustard gas against Canadians.

1917 1 April First Scarpe

1917 11 JunePrime Minister Sir Robert Borden introduced a Military Service

Bill.

1917 6 April The US declares war on Germany.

1917 24 March German retreat to the Hindenburg Line

1917 20 November The Battle of Cambrai.


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1917 NovemberPrime Minister Borden's Unionists win a majority in the federal

election.

1917 4 October Broodseinde

1917 26 October The Battle of Passchendaele

1917 23 April Second Scarpe

1917 7 June Battle of Messines (Capture of Wytschaete)

1917 9 April Canadians capture Vimy Ridge, France (Apr. 9-12) and

1917 6 Nov Passchendaele, Belgium, in one of the war's worst battles.

1917 6 DecThe explosion of a munitions ship in Halifax harbour wipes out

two square miles of Halifax, killing almost 2000 and injuring 9000.

1917In Alberta, Louise McKinney becomes the first woman elected to

a legislature in the British Commonwealth.

1917

Heavy Canadian lost and a sharp decline in voluntary enlistmentduring the World War led Ottawa to introduce compulsory military

service, French-Canadian opposition and English-Canadiansupport sparked a bitter linguistic and national unity crisis.

1917Louise McKinney is the first woman in Canada to be elected to a

provincial legislature when she won a seat in Alberta.

1917 3 June Affairs south of the Souchez River

1917 12 October First Passchendaele

1917 26 June Capture of Avoin

1917 23 FebBorden sits as a member of the Imperial War Cabinet, giving

Canada a voice in international war policy.

1917 31 July-August Pilckem Ridge

1917 26 November

The National Hockey League is established in Montreal. Theoriginal teams are: Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers,

Ottawa Senators, and Toronto Arenas.

1917 11 JuneThe military service bill is introduced, leading to a conscription

crisis dividing French and English Canada.

1917 9 AprilBattle of Vimy Ridge begins in France. A Canadian victory at the

cost of more than 10 000 killed or wounded.

1917 9 April Canadians capture Vimy Ridge.


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1917

Sir William Borden leads a unionist coalition, which combinessupport by Conservatives and western Liberals, into a wartime

election against the Laurier Liberals. Borden wins.

1917

The first Federal Income Tax is introduced. The Income Tax Actwas presented as a "temporary" measure to help finance World

War I, but, unsurprisingly, proved too good for the government togive up, even though the war ended in November 11, 1918.

1917 6 DecemberA French munitions ship explodes in Halifax harbor, flattening the

city, killing 1 600, and injuring 9 000.

1917 26 May First US troops arrive in France.

1917 15 August Battle of Hill 70

1917 Income tax is introduced as a temporary wartime measure.

1917Flying ace Billy Bishop of Owen Sound, Ontario, wins the Victoria

Cross for attacking a German airfield single-handed.

1917 16 August Langemarck

1917 20 September Menin Road Ridge

1917 6 December Halifax explosion kills nearly 2,000 persons.

1917 26 October

Battle of Passchendaele starts also in Belgium. A Canadianvictory at the cost of more than 15 000 casualties. Nine Victoria

Crosses are awarded to Canadians.

1917 8 June

General Sir Arthur Currie appointed Commander-in-Chief of theCanadian Corps. Currie became the first Canadian to hold overall

command of Canadian troops. He was appointed over otherBritish Generals who had higher rank/more seniority. Currie had

his detractors but was the greatest Canadian General and tosome the greatest military leader of all time.

1918 24 March First Bapaume

1918 26 March Rosieres

1918 30 March Moreuil Wood

1918 30 March Canadian Cavalry attack at Moreuil Wood.

1918 28 March First Arras

1918 24 March Actions at the Somme Crossings

1918 21 March St. Quentin


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1918 28 May US forces make their first offensive

1918 8 AugustCanadians break through the German trenches at Amiens,

France, beginning "Canada's Hundred Days."

1918 11 November Armistice ends the war.

1918Imprisoned in South Dakota for pacificism, Hutterites flee

northward into the Prairie provinces.

1918 Women win the right to vote in federal elections.

1918Between 1918 and 1925 the Spanish Influenza affected all

regions, killing more than 50 000 Canadians.

1918 18 March Daylight Saving Time is first used in Canada.

1918 3 October Beaurevoir Line

1918 8 August

Battle of Amiens (code named "Llandovery Castle"). On 8 August,'the Black Day of the German Army' - Canadian and Australian

troops, plus 600 tanks, shatter German forces and reachHindenburg line.

1918 11 November

At 10:58am Private George Price of the 28th Battalion is killed bya sniper. Two minutes later at 11:00am the armistice came into

effect. The war was over.

1918 21 August Albert (1st Pioneer Battalion on detached duty)

1918 26 August The Battle of the Scarpe.

1918 31 August-Septemb Second Bapaume

1918 26 August-Septemb 2nd Battle of Arras

1918 26 AugustScarpe (Capture of Monchy-le-Preux). Part of the 2nd Battle of

Arras.

1918 2 September Drocourt-Queant Canal

1918 12 September Havrincourt

1918 18 September Epehy

1918 4 July Capture of Hamel

1918 29 September-Octo St. Quentin Canal

1918 15 August Actions around Damery

1918 8 October Cambrai (Capture of Cambrai)


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1918 28 September-Octo Battle of Ypres

1918 9 October Pursuit to the Selle

1918 14 October Battle of Courtrai

1918 17 October Battle of the Selle

1918 1 November Battle of Valenciennes (Capture of Mont Houy)

1918 4 November Battle of the Sambre

1918 5 November Passage of the Grande Honnelle

1918 9 November Capture of Mons

1918 11 November Armistice

1918 27 September-Octo Canal du Nord (Capture of Bourlon Wood)

1918 12 April Hazebrouck. Part of the battle of the Lys.

1918 10 November The Canadian Corps Reached the outskirts of Mons.

1918 2 NovemberThe Canadian Corps capture the town of Valenciennes in its last

major battle of the war.

1918 27 September The Battle of the Canal Du Nord and Cambrai.

1918 2 September The Battle of the Drocourt-Queant Line.

1918 8 AugustThe Battle of Amiens. The beginning of what is known as

Canada's Hundred Days.

1918 21 March German Offensive begins.

1918 January Conscription now in force.

1918 4 April Avre

1918 10 April Messines (Loss of Hill 63). Part of the battle of the Lys.

1918 28 June Action of La Becque

1918 13 April Bailleul (Defence of Neuve Eglise). Part of the battle of the Lys.

1918 17 April First Kemmel Ridge . Part of the battle of the Lys.

1918 27 June

Canadian Hospital ship Llandovery Castle sunk by German U-Boat. Life boats were pursued and sunk. 234 were killed,

including 14 nursing sisters. 24 survived. This attack proved arallying cry for the Canadian troops for the rest of the war.

1918 29 March Anti-conscription riots break out in Quebec City.


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1918 11 NovemberArmistice declared, one day after the capture of Mons has

climaxed " Canada's Hundred Days" of unbroken advanced.

1918 9 AprilEstaires (First Defence of Givenchy, 1918). Part of the battle of

the Lys.

1918 8 May US forces make their first offensive

1919 28 June End of the war/Treaty of Versailles

1919 4 MarchKinmel Park Mutiny. Canadian troops mutiny because of delays in

returning to Canada.

1919 15 May

The Winnipeg General Strike. A strike in the building and metaltrades spreads to other unions, and 30 000 workers stop,

crippling the city until June, 25, of the same year.

1919 21 June Mounties smash 37 day old Winnipeg General Strike.

1919 The federal government passes a Technical Education act.

1919Grand Trunk Pacific, the western division of the Grand TrunkRailway, consolidates a line from Winnipeg to Prince Rupert.

1919The Canadian National Railways is created as a crown

corporation to acquire and further consolidate these smaller lines.

1919 14 June The first successful transatlantic flight leaves St. John's, Nfld.

1919 1 June

This day is called Bloody Saturday when policy charged ademonstration of strikers during the Winnipeg General Strike,

killing two and wounding twenty seven others.

1919James Shaver Woodsworth and others were charged with

seditious conspiracy.

1919 AugustFollowing the death of Laurier, William Lyon Mackenzie is chosen

to be leader of the Liberal Party.

1919 21 JuneAn armed charge by the RCMP on Bloody Saturday kills one and

injures thirty.

1919

Beginning in the metals and buildings trades as a call for unionrecognition, a general strike expands until it paralyzes Winnipeg

(May 19-June 26).


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1920

Canada's director of military operations drafted a plan forthe Canadian army to invade certain cities in the U.S.

Fortunately, no one took the plan seriously.

1920The Progressive Party is formed by T. A. Crerar to obtain

law tariffs for western farmers.

1920 Canada joins the League of Nations at its inception.

1920The Group of Seven artists hold their first exhibition in

Toronto.

1920The size of the cent is reduced from 25.4 mm to 19.05

mm.

1921Woodsworth becomes the first socialist elected to the

House of Commons.

1921 Mackenzie King and the Liberals win federal election.

1921

Agnes Macphail of Owen Sound, Ontario, becomes thefirst woman elected to the House of Commons, in the first

election since women gained the vote.

1921 26 March The Bluenose is launched at Lunenburg, N.S..

1921

Agnes Macphail becomes the first woman elected toParliament, then representing the Progressive Party

(which came in second and held the balance of powerdespite refusals to form an official opposition).

1921

Agnes Campbell Macphail is the first woman in Canada tobe elected to the House of Commons winning the Ontarioriding of Grey South East. It was also the first election in

which women had the right to vote.

1921Colonial Motors of Walkerville, Ontario manufactures an

automobile called the Canadian.

1922 August

Omar Roberts poured gasoline on Elora Gray and set fireto her and his house in Kemptville, Nova Scotia, becauseshe had turned down his marriage proposal and was inlove with another man. Police found Gray before shedied, however, and she was able the tell them what

Roberts had done. He was found guilty of murder andhanged in November of the same year.


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1922

Andrew Bonar Law of New Brunswick became leader ofthe Conservatives in England and then prime minister,

post that he held for 209 days before resigning becauseof bad health. He moved to England in 1900 and became

a MP.

1922Banting, Best, MacLeod, and Collip share the Nobel Prize

for the discovery of insulin.

1922

The mint replaces the small, inconvenient silver five-centpiece with one made out of nickel, quickly becoming

known as "nickles", expression used even today.

1922Of the other provinces, only Newfoundland has not yet

given women the vote.

1922A Provincial Franchise Committee is organized in Québec

to work towards female suffrage in the province.

1922 Foster Hewitt makes the first hockey broadcast.

1922Canada's reveals a growing independence by not going

to Britain's aid in the Chanak crisis in Turkey.

1922The Canadian Northern and Canadian Transcontinental

Railways merge to form the Canadian National Railways.

1923

A feeling of independence continues to grow. Canadasigns the Halibut Treaty with the U.S. without the

traditional British signature.

1923

The Nobel Prize for Medicine is awarded to doctorsFrederick Banting and J.J.R. Macleod. Along with Dr.

Charles and others, Banting discovered the insulin as atreatment for diabetes.

1923 August

The Home Bank goes bankrupted with losses todepositors as well as shareholders. The failure led to thecreation of the federal office of the Inspector General of

Banks.

1923Always heavily subsidized, the Grand Trunk Railway is

finally taken over by the government.

1923

The federal government more or less forbids Chineseimmigration on Dominion Day, soon to be called

"Humiliation Day" by Chinese-Canadians.

1923Mackenzie King leads the opposition to a common

imperial policy at the Imperial Conference in London.


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1925 Newfoundland women receive the right to vote.

1926

Armand Bombardier, of Valcourt, Quebec, developed thesnowmobile, vehicles were in difficult terrain. In 1950 hepioneered the development of small, light snow vehicles

for winter sports.

1926 18 NovemberThe Balfour Report defines British dominions as

autonomous and equal in status.

1927 1 MarchBritain's Privy Council awards Labrador to Newfoundland

instead of Québec.

1927 1 JulyTo celebrate Canada's Diamond jubilee (sixtieth birthday)

the first coast-to-coast radio broadcast is made.

1927The first coast-to-coast radio network broadcast

celebrates the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation.

1927The first government old-age pension pays up to $20 per

month.

1928

At the first Olympics in which women may compete, aCanadian women's six-member track team wins bronze,

two silver, and two gold medals.

1928

The Supreme Court of Canada rules that the BNA Actdoes not define women as "persons" and are therefore

not eligible to hold public office.

1929

England's Privy Council rules that women are indeed"person", and therefore can be appointed to the Canadian

Senate. The next year, Cairine Wilson becomesCanada's first woman senator.

1929 29 OctoberNorth American stock markets crash and the Great

Depression begins.

1929 18 October

The British Privy Council reverses the Supreme Courtdecision of 1928, and women are legally declared

"persons".

1929 The Great Depression begins.

1929

The bush pilots Vic Horner and Wop May battledsnowstorm and minus 40 degrees weather to fly anti-

toxins to Fort Vermillion to stop a diphtheria epidemic thatthreatened to wipe out Métis and Native in the fort. They

were apparently so frozen when they return that wasnecessary to lifted them form the cockpit.


17

1929 The Workers' Unity League is formed.


18

1930

R.B. Bennett leads the ConservativeParty to victory over William Lyon

Mackenzie King's Liberal as the countryplunged into the Great Depression.

1930

Dr. Wilbur Franks, of Weston, Ontario,developed the G-suit, which allowedfighter pilots to carry out high-speed

maneuvers without blacking out. Used byAllied pilots from 1942 onwards, it led to

the development of modern dayastronauts' suits.

1930Cairine Reay Wilson is the first woman in

Canada appointed to the Senate.

1930The Conservatives under R.B. Bennett

win federal election.

1930Jean de Brébeuf and other Jesuit martyrs

are officially canonized.

1931 11 December

The Statute of Westminster authorizesthe Balfour Report (1926), granting

Canada full legislative authority in bothinternal and external affairs.

1931The Governor General becomes a

representative of the Crown.

1932Doukhobours add the burning of farmbuildings to their protest techniques.

1932

Bennett's government establishesmilitaristic and repressive Relief Camps to

cope with the problem of unemployedsingle men.

1932

Woodsworth plays a role in forming ademocratic socialist political party, the

Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation(CCF) in Calgary.

1932

The Ottawa Agreements provide forpreferential trade between Canada and

other Commonwealth nations.

1934The birth of the Dionne quintuplets

attracts international media attention.


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1934 The Bank of Canada is formed.

1934

Bob Noorduyn built in Montreal theNorseman, the world's first bush plane

which became the universal workhorse ofthe north. Nearly one thousand were

produced and most are still in use todayaround the world.

1935 11 March

The Bank of Canada is created with amandate to be the sole issuer of

Canadian bank notes. The first issue ofbank notes was unilingual English orFrench, becoming bilingual in 1937.

1935

Inspired in part by the Workers' UnityLeague, about one thousand unemployed

and disillusioned men from all over thewestern provinces begin a mass march,usually called the On-to-Ottawa trek, toconfront Bennett over the Relief Camps

(June 3-July 1).

1935

In an attempt to remove a corrupt Liberaladministration, Maurice Duplessis, aQuébec Conservative, allies with a

splinter group of Liberals under PaulGouin to form the Union nationale.

1935 MarchThe Bank of Canada, as the country

central bank, is founded.

1935 August

William Aberhart is elected premier ofAlberta on a Social Credit platform andbegins issuing his own in the form ofprosperity certificates which could be

used as currency. The Supreme Court ofCanada, however, disallowed the

practice, ruling that banking and moneyfell under the control of federal

government.

1936 November

Joan Miller of Nelson, British Columbia,was the world's first woman professionaltelevision performer. She was the star of

the first TV show, "Picture Page Girl",produced by the BBC. She was paid

12.10 pounds per week.


20

1936

Mary Teresa Sullivan becomes Canada'sfirst female municipal councilor when shewas sworn in as a member of Halifax city.

1936

Driven by the reformist Union nationale,Duplessis manages to oust Gouin and

becomes Premier of Québec.

1936 5/17/2016 July

Seven hundred and eighty Canadiansdied when temperatures exceeded 42

degrees Celsius from Alberta to Ontario,in Canada's longest and deadliest heat

wave.

1936 2 NovemberThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

is established.

1937

The Rowell-Sirois Commission isappointed to investigate the financial

relationship between the federalgovernment and the provinces.

1937 1 SeptemberTrans Canada Air Lines begins regular

flights.

1938

Meeting Mackenzie King in Kingston,Franklin D. Roosevelt is the first U.S.president to make an official visit to

Canada.

1938 19 June

The Workers' Unity League helps toorganize the Vancouver Sit-ins in which

Relief Camp workers and others occupiedthe Vancouver Post Office and some

other public buildings. The protest waspeaceful until the police extracted the

men by force on Bloody Sunday, when 35people were wounded.

1938

Thomas Carroll built the first experimentalmodel of the self-propelled farm combine

in a Massey-Harris factory in Toronto.The machine revolutionized wheatfarming in Canada by saving time,money, and backbreaking work.

1939 1 April

Trans-Canada Airlines (later Air Canada)makes the first scheduled passenger

flight from Vancouver to Montreal.


21

1939

The Second World War starts. AfterGermany invades Poland and Britain

declares war.

1939 10 September

Canada declares war on Germany afterremaining neutral for a week following the

British declaration. Premier Duplessisopposes war.


22

1940Idola Saint-Jean and other early feminists finally succeed

in obtaining the vote for Québecois women.

1940

The Unemployment Insurance Commission is introduced.Canada and the U.S. form a Permanent Joint Defense

Board.

1940

Despite provincial disagreement, some of the financialrecommendations of the Rowell-Sirois commission --

especially those relating to a minimum national standard ofservices -- are implicitly and unilaterally adopted by

Ottawa.

1940

Parliament passes the controversial National ResourcesMobilization Act (June), which allows conscription for

military service only within Canada.

1941 JulyThe first national unemployment-insurance program comes

into operation.

1941

Hong Kong falls to the Japanese and Canadians are takenas POW's. The U.S. enters the war due to Japanese

aggression. Together, the incidents lead to racialintolerance in Canada.

1941 7 DecemberThe Japanese attack the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor,

in Hawaii, and Canada declares war on Japan.

1941 December

The Fall of Hong Kong. More than 500 Canadians die inbattle or of starvation and ill-treatment in Japanese prison

camps.

1942

From May to October, German submarines in the Gulf ofSt. Lawrence sink twenty-three Allied ships, with a loss of258 lives. The gulf is then closed to ocean shipping until

1944.

1942 26 February

About 22000 Canadians of Japanese descent are strippedof non- portable possessions, interned and evacuated as

security risks.

1942 27 April

A national plebiscite approves amendment of the NationalResources Mobilization Act to permit sending conscriptsoverseas, once again revealing deep divisions between

Québec and English Canada.

1942 19 AugustThe Dieppe raid, Canada's first participation in the

European theatre, is a disaster.


23

1942 11 October

RCMP ship St. Roch reaches Halifax after becoming thesecond ship ever (and the first going west to east) to sail

the Northwest Passage.

1942 19 August Dieppe raid leaves 907 Canadians dead. 1, 946 capture.

1942 19 AugustIn a disastrous raid on Dieppe, France, 900 out of 5 000

Canadians are killed and almost 2 000 are taken prisoner.

1942

Polymer Corporation Limited is formed because westernnations were cut off from all sources of natural rubber

during the World War II. It took fourteen month to build a$50 million plant which became the forerunner of many

large-scale petrochemical plants and refineries.

1942Twenty two thousand Japanese Canadians are rounded

up by RCMP and placed in work camps until after the war.

1943 July

Canadian troops invade Sicily and, with other Allied troops,fight their way north through Italy. They reach Rome on

June 4, 1944.

1943 10 July Canadians participate in the invasion of Sicily

1943 20 DecemberCanadians win the Battle of Ortona, a German stronghold

on the Adriatic.

1944 6 June

Canadians troops, along with British and Americans, landsuccessfully on the coast of France and begin to drive the

Germans back.

1944

The CCF under Tommy Douglas wins the provincialelection in Saskatchewan, forming the first socialist

government in North America.

1944 August The Family Allowance Act is passed.

1944 6 JuneCanadian troops push further than other allied units on D-

Day.

1944 23 July Canadian forces fight as a separate army.

1945 5 May European hostilities end.

1945 20 JuneThe first family allowance ("baby-bonus") payments are

made.

1945 26 June Canada joins the United Nations.

1945 2 September Hostilities in the Pacific basin end.


24

1945 5 September

Igor Gouzenko defects from the Soviet Embassy in Ottawaand reveals the existence in Canada of a Soviet spy

network.

1945Canada's first nuclear reactor goes on line in Chalk River,

Ontario.

1945 5 September The first Canadian nuclear reactor goes into operation.

1945Family-allowance payment begin. All families receive a

monthly sum for each child under sixteen who is in school.

1946

Canada's largest on-land earthquake shakes CentralVancouver Island measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale andcausing extensive property damage. Seventy percent of

the chimneys were knocked down in Courtenay,Cumberland, and Union Bay. One person was drownedand one died of heart attack. The quake was felt fromOregon to Alaska and east to the Rocky Mountains.

1947 3 February

Canada's record cold temperature is set in Snag, YukonTerritory, when the mercury plunged to -63 degrees

Celcius, solidifying Canadian reputation as one of thecoldest country in the world.

1947 FebruaryProspectors strike oil in Leduc, Alberta, beginning Alberta's

oil boom.

1948

Canadians Suzanne Morrow and Wally Distelmeyerperform for the first time the Death Spiral in an

international skating competition. It’s a circular move inwhich the man lowers his partner to the ice and swings herin circle while she is arched backward gliding on one foot

with the head almost touching the ice.

1948 15 November Louis St. Laurent succeeds Mackenzie as prime minister.

1948 30 June

The Income Tax Act is enacted, taking effect for the 1949and subsequent taxation years. After numerous

amendments to the Income War Tax Act introduced in1917, the new act largely reworded and codified the former

law with little change in actual policy.

1949 31 MarchNewfoundland and Labrador join Confederation as the

tenth province.

1949William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada's longest-serving

prime minister, retires at the age if 74.


25

1949Canada's Supreme Court replaces Britain's judicial

committee as the final court of appeal.

1949 31 MarchProvince and territories joined Confederation, or werecreated from existing parts of Canada: Newfoundland

1949 31 March Joey Smallwood brings Newfoundland into Confederation.

1949 Canada joins NATO.

1949

Canada's biggest earthquake in the 20 century hits QueenCharlotte Island, in British Columbia, with a magnitude of8.1 on the Richter Scale. The shaking was so severe that

cows were knocked off their feet and people could notstand. The value of the damage, however, was not high

because of the sparse population on the island. It was alsofelt over a wide area in western North America.


26

1950

Harold Adams Innes publishes Empire andCommunications, a book that deals with the role of

communications in various societies throughout history.Innes shows the connection between communications

technology and the ability of different empires to surviveand prosper.

1950

The construction of Trans-Canada Highway starts, to becompleted in 1970. The 7 821 kilometer road cost morethan one billion, linked the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans,

and its ranked as one of Canada's most importanttransportation projects

1950

Heart pacemaker was invented in a National ResearchCouncil laboratory in Ottawa by Winnipeg native John

Hops to keep weak of heart alive and kicking.

1950Volunteers in the Canadian Army Special Force join the

United Nations forces in the Korean war.

1950 Inuit win the right to vote in federal elections.

1950

The Korean War starts. Twenty-seven thousandCanadians serve and more than 1 600 are killed or

wounded.

1950

Park Royal Shopping Centre opens in West Vancouver,British Columbia, as the first suburban shopping mall in

Canada. Today the mall has both a north side, theoriginal, and the south side, which construction started in

1960s.

1951 Census shows population as just over 14 million.

1951

The Massey Royal Commission reports that Canadiancultural life is dominated by American influences.Recommendations include improving grants to

universities and the eventual establishment of theCanada Council (1957).

1951Charlotte Whitton becomes mayor of Ottawa, the first

woman in Canada elected for this post.

1952

The outbreak of the Foot and Mouth Disease inSaskatchewan results in the slaughter of thousands of

animals but also sets the stage for very rigorousregulations regarding the health of domestic livestock.Today Canada's herd health programs are recognized

around the world as being the most stringent anywhere.


27

1952 SeptemberCanada's first television stations begin part-time

broadcasts in Montréal and Toronto.

1952Vincent Massey becomes the first native-born Governor

General.

1952 6 September The first Canadian scheduled TV broadcast.

1952Former prime minister Lester B. Pearson is electedpresident of the United Nations General Assembly.

1952

Vincent Massey becomes the first Canadian-borngovernor general since Pierre Regaud de Vaudreuil

governed New France.

1953 27 July The Korean War ends.

1953

Paule-Emile Leger, archbishop of Montreal, is appointedcardinal by the Vatican. Leger served as a missionaryamong lepers and handicapped children in Cameroon,

Africa. He also was involved in many humanitarianactivities and was recipient of the Pearson Peace Medal.

1953 13 July The Stratford Festival opens.

1953 1 January The National Library is established in Ottawa.

1954 30 March The first Canadian subway opens in Toronto.

1954 9 SeptemberMarilyn Bell, age sixteen, is the first person to swim Lake

Ontario.

1954 15 October

Hurricane Hazel touches down in Toronto with 178millimeters of rain. Eighty-three people died, entirestreets in west Toronto ware destroyed and many

bridges were washed away in the worst inland storm inCanada.

1954 15 OctoberHurricane Hazel kills almost seven dozen people in

Toronto.

1954The Yonge Street subway opens in Toronto, the first

underground public transit system in Canada.

1954

Banks in Canada are authorized to make residentialmortgage loans for the first time and also take "chattel

mortgages", which led banks to offer automobilefinancing.

1954 9 SeptemberMarilyn Bell is the first person to swim across Lake

Ontario.


28

1954Viewers of the British Empire games in Vancouver see

two runners break the four minute mile in the same race.

1954The post-war boom is briefly interrupted by an economic

slump.

1955 17 MarchRiots in Montréal are caused by the suspension of

hockey star Rocket Richard.

1955 The Canadian Labour Congress is formed.

1956 1 NovemberUnited Nations General Assembly adopts Lester B.

Pearson's Suez peace-keeping plan.

1956

The Liberals use closure to limit the Pipeline Debate --which begins with concern over the funding of the natural

gas industry and ends in contoversy over properparliamentary procedure (May 8- June 6). The action

contributes directly to their electoral defeat (after twentytwo years in power) the following year.

1957

John George Diefenbaker leads the Conservative Partyto decisive victory over Louis St. Laurent's Liberals in a

federal election, winning more seats in the House ofCommons than any party has before.

1957Ellen Fairclough becomes the first female federal cabinet

minister.

1957

Lester Pearson wins the Nobel Prize for proposing aUnited Nations peacekeeping force to prevent war over

control of the Suez Canal.

1957 10 JuneJohn Diefenbaker and the Conservatives win a minority

government.

1957The Canada Council is formed to foster Canadian

cultural uniqueness.

1957 12 OctoberLester B. Pearson wins the Nobel Peace Prize for

helping resolve the Suez Crisis.

1957

Registered Retirement Saving Plan is introducedallowing Canadians who were either self-employed or did

not belong to a benefit plan could put aside money fortheir retirement on a tax-deferred basis. Today, the

RRSP is a multi-billion dollar industry and consideredone of the few tax breaks available for ordinary

Canadians.


29

1957 OctoberThe newspaper Montreal Herald stopped publication

after 146 years of circulation.

1958 10 October

The last weld is completed on the TransCanada Pipeline,a 2 290 kilometer, $375 million gas line that took twenty-

eight months to build and ran from Burstall,Saskatchewan, to Kapuskasing, Ontario. Capable of

delivering more than nine billion cubic feet of natural gasper day, the project is compared to the building of the

transcontinental railway in the 19th century.

1958 31 MarchDiefenbaker's minority becomes the largest majority ever

obtained in a federal election.

1958 A coal mine disaster at Springhill, N.S. kills 74 miners.

1958 23 October

The Springhill Mining Disaster. Shifting rock kills seventy-four coal miner. Some of the survivors are trapped for

eight days before being rescued.

1959 26 June The St. Lawrence Seaway opens.

1959 26 June

Queen Elizabeth II and U.S. President DwightEisenhower officially open the St. Lawrence Seaway,

which lets ocean vessels reach the Great Lakes.

1959 20 FebruaryDiefenbaker cancels the Avro Arrow project (CF-105aircraft) to public outcry. Almost 14000 jobs are lost.


30

1960 A Canadian Bill of Rights is approved.

1960

Social changes and a new government in Quebeclead to the beginning of Quebec's "Quiet Revolution".Stirring of interest in independence for Quebec soon

follow.

1960Native people living on reserves get the right to vote in

federal elections.

1960 Native people win the right to vote in federal elections.

1960 22 June

Liberals under Jean Lesage win provincial election inQuébec, inaugurating the Quiet Revolution whichpressed for special status within Confederation.

1960 4 March

A shower of more than five hundred stony mereorites,some as small as peas, fells from the sky in

Bruderheim, Alberta. It was the biggest Canadianmereorite fall, with more than three hundred kilograms

recovered from the field.

1961The Canadian Medical Association concluded that

cigarette smoking causes lung cancer.

1961 The New Democratic Party replaces the CCF.

1962

Saskatchewan is the first province to have medicalinsurance covering doctor's bills. In 1966, Parliamentpasses a legislation to establish a national Medicareprogram. By 1972, all provinces and territories have

joined the program.

1962 3 September The Trans- Canada Highway opens.

1962 29 SeptemberCanada becomes the third nation in space with the

launch of the satellite Alouette I.

1962 11 December Canada's last executions take place in Toronto.

1962 1 JulySocialized medicine is introduced in Saskatchewan,

leading to a doctors' strike.

1962 29 September

Canada launches the Alouette I satellite to study theionosphere, becoming the third country in space after

Russia and United States.

1962 18 JuneThe Conservatives are returned to minority status in a

federal election.


31

1962

Blanche Margaret Meagher is appointed ambassadorto Austria, being the first in Canada to hold this

position. While in Vienna she also became Canada'srepresentative at the International Atomic Energy

Agency.

1963

The FLQ, a terrorist group dedicated to revolution toestablish an independent Quebec, explodes bombs in

Montreal.

1964

Marshall McLuhan publishes the book Understandingthe Media which helped Canada and the world to

understand the changes technology andcommunications were bringing to society.

1964 April Canadians get social insurance cards

1964Northern Dancer is the first Canadian horse to win the

Kentucky Derby.

1965 9 November

The Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontarioinadvertently causes a major power blackout in North

America.

1965 7 MarchRoman Catholic churches begin to celebrate masses

in English.

1965 January Canada and the U.S. sign the Auto Pact

1965 15 February Canada gets a new red-and-white, maple leaf flag.

1965 15 February The new flag is inaugurated

1966

Canada Pension Plan (or CPP) is created, requiringcontributions from both employers and employees fora publicly financed retirement saving plan. Lately the

CPP has been mired in controversy about itssolvency, resulting in steep increase inn the premiums

paid by employers and employees.

1966 4 March

The Munsinger affair (in which the Associate Ministerof National Defence, Pierre Sévigny, had a liaison with

a German divorcée suspected by the RCMP)becomes Canada's first political sex scandal.

1966 The Canada Pension Plan is established.

1966 1 October The CBC introduces some colour broadcasts.

1967 1 July Centennial celebrations officially begin.


32

1967 24 JulyFrench president Charles de Gaulle says "Vive le

Québec libre" in Montréal.

1967 27 April World attention is turned to Expo '67 in Montréal.

1967 25 AprilThe air force, army, and navy are unified as the

Canadian Armed Forces.

1967 AprilExpo 67, the Montreal world's fair, attracts more than

55 million visitors from April to October.

1967

Canada celebrates a hundred years of Confederation.Across the country, communities sponsor centennial

projects. In Ottawa, on July 1, Queen Elizabeth II cutsa giant birthday cake.

1967 December

Federal legislation abolishes the death penalty formurder, except when police officers or prison guards

are the victims.

1968A Royal Commission on the Status of Women is

appointed.

1968 25 June

Pierre Trudeau succeeds Pearson as leader of theLiberals and wins a majority in a federal election in an

atmosphere like a media circus.

1968 Canadian divorce laws are reformed.

1968

Pierre Elliott Trudeau succeeds Lester Pearson asprime minister and leader of the Liberal Party.

"Trudeaumania" sweeps the country in thesubsequent federal election.

1968

Rene Levesque founds the Parti Quebecois, with thegoal of making Quebec a "sovereign" (independent)

state "associated" with Canada.

1968

The rising price of silver forces the mint to replace the10, 25, and 50 cent pieces and the dollar coin with

one made of nickel.

1969 May Abortion laws are liberalized.

1969 1 February Postal reforms end Saturday deliveries.

1969 9 JulyEnglish and French are both recognized as offical

languages by the federal government.

1969 20 JulyU.S spacecraft Apollo II lands on the moon with

Canadian-built landing gear.


33

1969 4 MarchThe Royal Canadian Mounted Police replaced the dog

teams by snowmobiles to patrol and search.

1969 1 DecemberThe breathalizer is put into use to test for drunken

drivers.


34

1970 5 OctoberBritish trade commissioner James Cross is kidnapped

by the FLQ, precipitating the October Crisis.

1970 10 OctoberQuébec's labour and immigration minister PierreLaporte is kidnapped and later found murdered.

1970 17 October

The strangled body of Pierre Laporte, a Quebeccabinet minister, was found in the trunk of a car in St.

Hubert, Quebec, during the FLQ crisis. Paul andJacques Rose, Francis Simard, and Bernard Lortie

were charged in 1971 with kidnapping and non-capitalmurder, and later all were convicted and sentenced toprison terms ranging from eight years to double life.

1970

Greame Ferguson, Robert Kerr, Roman Kroitor, BillShaw, and Bill Breukelman developed the IMAX

System, a giant-screen, large-format film medium,which uses the largest film frame in movie history andmulti-track sound system. The first permanent Imax

Theatre was built at Toronto's Ontario Place in 1971.Today there are Imax theatres all over the world.

1970

The October Crisis. After the FLQ kidnaps a Quebecgovernment minister and a British trade commissioner,

Prime Minister Trudeau invokes the War MeasuresAct, which allows Canadians to be arrested and held

without being charged.

1970 Voting age lowered from twenty-one to eighteen.

1970

The greatest change ever in crop planting came withthe introduction of canola, a plant able to produce a

more desirable oil for the food trade. Canola became adominant crop on the Canadian prairies, causing the

greatest change ever in crop planting.

1970 16 OctoberThe War Measures Act is invoked, banning the FLQ

and leading eventually to nearly 500 arrests.

1971Gerhard Herzberg of the National Research Council

wins the Nobel Prize in chemistry for studies of smog.

1971The federal government officially adopts a policy of

multiculturalism.


35

1971 5 March

Fifty-two-year-old bachelor prime minister PierreTrudeau married twenty-two-year-old Margaret

Sinclair, the daughter of a former Liberal cabinetminister. From then, though the birth of their three

sons, to the couple's divorce in 1984, the worldwatched as the antics of Pierre and Margaret charmed

and same times embarrassed Canadians.

1971Gerhard Hertzberg of Ottawa wins the Nobel Prize for

Chemistry.

1971

The Tobacco companies announced that effective in1972 they would voluntarily place a warning on

cigarette packages and would no advertise cigaretteson radio or television.

1972Canada wins the first hockey challenge against the

Soviets.

1972 28 September

Few Canadian have been credited with deeds asmomentous as the goal Paul Henderson scored for

Team Canada The converted rebound, with thirty-fourseconds remaining in the final game of the first ever

Canada-Russia series, turned back a relentless SovietUnion advance in the climactic eight mach and gave

Canada a victory that may never be forgotten.

1972Rosemary Brown is the first black woman elected to

the provincial legislature in British Columbia.

1972

Anik 1 Geo-stationary Commercial Satellite is launchedby Telesat, making Canada the first country in the

world to use satellites for domestic communications.

1972Trudeau's Liberals win a minority government by only

two seats.

1973The separatist Parti Québecois becomes the official

opposition in a provincial election.

1973 13 NovemberHenry Morgentaler is acquitted of illegal abortion

charges in Montréal.

1973 5 JanuaryThe House of Commons criticizes U.S. bombing of

North Vietnam.

1974 8 July Trudeau's Liberals win a majority government.


36

1974 4 March

The Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontariochanges its name to Ontario Hydro and begins to

update its image.

1974 29 June Mikhail Baryshnikov defects in Montréal.

1975 2 AprilToronto's CN Tower becomes the world's tallest free-

standing structure.

1975 14 OctoberTrudeau institutes wage and price controls to fight

inflation.

1975TV cameras are allowed in the House of Commons for

the first time.

1975 18 JulyThe Foreign Investment Review Agency intends to

screen foreign investment in Canada.

1976Rene Levesque and Parti Quebecois are elected in

Quebec.

1976The Eaton Company discontinues catalogue sales

after 92 continuous years.

1976 15 NovemberRené Lévesque and the Parti Québecois win a

provincial election.

1976 15 September Team Canada wins the first Canada Cup.

1976 17 JulyThe Olympic games are held in Montréal under tight

security.

1976 14 July The death penalty is abolished.

1976 4 June Canada announces a 200-mile coastal fishing zone.

1976 14 October

Organized by the Canadian Labor Congress to opposewage controls, the Day of Protest was the Canada'sfirst national general strike and saw more than one

million workers leaving their jobs for a day.

1976

Wayne Gretzky, age seventeen, plays hockey for theOilers; he is the youngest person in North America

playing a major-league sport.

1977 6 September Highway signs are changed to the metric system.

1977 26 August

Québec passes Bill 101, restricting English schoolingto children of parents who had been educated in

English schools.


37

1978 24 JanuaryThe remains of a Soviet nuclear-powered satellite

crash in Canada's north.

1978

Sun Life Assurance acknowledges that it moved itshead office to Toronto because of Montréal's language

laws and political instability.

1978

Manufacturers of birth control pills are required toprovide labels of health risks for smokers and women

over forty.

1979 10 NovemberMost of Mississauga, Ontario is evacuated to avoid

derailed train cars containing chemicals.

1979 10 November

The blue box recycling program is launched inKitchener, Ontario. Since then, the program has

spread to all the provinces and has played a key role inmaking Canada's environment better.

1979 13 DecemberClark's Conservatives lose a non-confidence vote on

the budget, forcing their resignation.

1979 13 December

The Supreme Court of Canada declaresunconstitutional the creation of officially unlilingual

legislatures in Manitoba and Québec.

1979 5 SeptemberThe first uniquely Canadian gold bullion coin, stamped

with a Maple Leaf, goes on sale.

1979 22 May Conservatives under Joe Clark win a federal election.


38

1980 27 JuneO Canada is officially adopted as Canada's national

anthem.

1980 12 April

Terry Fox begins his cross-country run, the "Marathonof Hope". On September 1, he is forced to stop the run

when his cancer returns.

1980

At least 1 200 Canadians of all ages were infected withthe deadly AIDS virus and thousands more contractedhepatitis C after receiving blood transfusion between1980 and 1990. Blame for the suffering has been lain

with the Red Cross, public health officials, bureaucrats,and politicians in what has been called "the greatestpreventable medical scandal" in Canada's history.

1980The Supreme Court recognizes the equal distribution of

assets in failed common-law relationships.

1980 15 MayQuebec voters reject "sovereignty-association" in favor

of renewed Confederation.

1980

Ken Taylor, former Canadian ambassador to Iran, hidsix American diplomats and spirited them out of Tehran

after Iranian militants stormed the U.S. embassy andtook sixty-six hostages.

1980 22 May A Québec referendum rejects sovereignty-association.

1980Canada boycotts Moscow's Olympic games due to the

invasion of Afghanistan.

1980 28 January

Ken Taylor, Canadian ambassador to Iran, becomes aninternational celebrity for helping six Americans escape

Tehran.

1980Federal legislation allows 100 percent owned foreign

banks to be established in Canada.

1981 28 June

Terry Fox dies. Minus one leg already lost to cancer,Fox attempted to run across Canada in 1980 in his

Marathon of Hope to raise money for cancer research.But in September, near Thunder Bay, Ontario, cancerstruck again and the run was called off. By the time of

his death $24 million was raised for his cancer researchfund. Every September, runs are held in Canada andaround the world to keep Fox's memory alive and also

raising fund for the cancer research. Terry Fox in one ofthe most beloved Canadian heroes.


39

1981 5 November

The federal government and every province exceptQuebec reach agreement for patriating the Canadianconstitution (bringing it to Canada from Great Britain).

1981 29 JuneTerry Fox dies of cancer in the middle of his cross-

Canada Marathon of Hope.

1981 His example eventually raises about 25 million dollars.

1981 23 September Québec bans public signs in English.

1981 5 November

The federal and provincial governments (exceptQuébec) agree on a method to repatriate Canada's

constitution.

1981

The University of Waterloo, Ontario, develops the firstlocal area networks, or LAN, for microcomputers. The

networks were created as soon the first Macintoshcomputers and IBM personal computers were available.LANs allow all computers in an office communicate with

one another.

1981 November

First flight of the Canadian Remote Manipulator System(Canadarm) on the space shuttle. The highly

computerized 15m arm can be operated from inside theshuttle to release, rescue, and repair satellites.

1982 4 MarchBertha Wilson is the first woman appointed as a Justice

of the Supreme Court.

1982 17 AprilCanada gets a new Constitution Act, including a Charter

of Rights and Freedoms.

1982 7 AprilThe Québec government demand for a veto over

constitutional change is rejected.

1982 17 AprilCanada gains a new Constitution and Charter of Rights

and Freedoms.

1982 The worst recession since the Great Depression begins.

1982 15 February The offshore oil rig Ocean Ranger sinks, killing 84.

1983

Jeanne Sauve is named Canada's first female governorgeneral. She was also the first woman Speaker of the

House of Commons and the first female MP fromQuebec to be a cabinet minister.

1983 23 DecemberJeanne Sauvé is appointed the first female Governor

General.


40

1983 1 February Pay TV begins operation.

1983Public outcry opposes the government's approval of

U.S. cruise missile testing in the west.

1984 5 OctoberHitching a ride on the U.S. shuttle Challenger, Marc

Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space.

1984 5 OctoberAstronaut Marc Garneau, aboard the U.S. space shuttle

Challenger, becomes the first Canadian in space.

1984 14 May Jeanne Sauve is Canada first woman governor general.

1984

John Turner succeeds Trudeau as Liberal primeminister (June 30) but is soon defeated by Brian

Mulroney's Conservatives with an even larger majoritythan that achieved by Diefenbaker in 1958 (Sept. 4).

1984

At the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Canada winsits greatest-ever number of gold medals: ten, including

two for swimmer Alex Baumann.

1984 9 September The Pope visits Canada.

1985

U.S. ice-breaker Polar Sea challenges Canada's Arcticsovereignty by traveling through the Northwest

Passage.

1985Ontario Liberals under David Peterson end forty years

of Conservative Premiership.

1985 5 March

Wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen leaves Vancouver on around-the-world "Man in Motion" tour to raise money for

spinal-cord research and wheelchair sports.

1985Lincoln Alexander becomes Ontario's first black

lieutenant-governor.

1985 2 December

Mulroney and U.S. president Ronald Reagan declaremutual support for orbital Strategic Defense Initiatives(Star Wars) and Free Trade at the Shamrock Summit

(so-named for their ethnic backgrounds) in Québec City.

1986 11 AugustTamil refugees are found drifting off the coast of

Newfoundland.

1986 5 AugustCanada adopts sanctions against South Africa for its

apartheid policies.

1986 22 MayThe U.S. imposes tariffs on some imported Canadian

wood products.


41

1986 May Expo '86 opens in Vancouver (May 2-Oct. 13).

1986 31 JanuaryThe Canadian dollar hits an all-time low of 70.2 U.S.

cents on international money markets.

1986

Air Canada became the first North America carrier toban smoking from its flights following the 1971

introduction of no-smoking sections on its aircraft.

1986Canadian John Polanyi shares the Nobel prize for

chemistry.

1986John Polany of Toronto is co-winner of the Nobel Prize

for Chemistry.

1986 6 OctoberCanada receives a United Nations award for sheltering

world refugees.

1987 30 AugustCanadian sprinter Ben Johnson sets a new world record

for the 100-metre dash.

1987 3 OctoberThe Canada- U.S. Free Trade agreement is reached,

but still requires ratification.

1987 19 October Stock prices tumble throughout the world.

1987 30 April

Ten provincial premiers and Prime Minister BrianMulroney agree to the Meech Lake Accord, which would

make large changes to Canada's Constitution andaddress Quebec's concerns. Parliament and the

legislatures of all provinces have three years to acceptthe Accord. It dies in June 1991, when both

Newfoundland and Manitoba refuse to endorse it.

1987 30 April

Mulroney and the provincial Premiers agree in principleto the Meech Lake Accord designed to bring Québec

into the new Constitution.

1987 20 JulyA tornado rips through Edmonton, killing 26 and injuring

hundreds.

1988 13 February The Winter Olympics open in Calgary.

1988 DecemberFree Trade legislation passes the House of Commons

and the Senate.

1988 February

The Calgary Winter Olympics. Canada wins two silvermedals (Brian Orser and Elizabeth Manley, for figure

skating) and three bronze medals.


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1988

Ben Johnson wins the 100 meters in the Olympicsdilating Canadians. But the cheers faded quickly afterdrugs screening sowed the Toronto athlete had testedpositive for steroids. He was stripped of the gold medaland his actions led to an inquiry into drugs and sport not

only in Canada but also around the world.

1988 9 SeptemberDavid See-Chai Lam, born in Hong Kong, becomes

British Columbia's lieutenant-governor.

1988 24 September

Ben Johnson sets a world record and wins the goldmedal at the Seoul Olympics in Korea (Sept. 24).

Testing positive for steroids, he is stripped of his medaltwo days later. The Supreme Court strikes down

Québec's French-only sign law.

1988 21 December

Finding a loophole (the "notwithstanding" clause) in theCharter of Rights and Freedoms, the province

reinstates the law.

1988Manitoba Premier Gary Filmon slows the ratification ofthe Meech Lake Accord in reaction to Québec's move.

1988 28 JanuaryThe Supreme Court strikes down existing legislation

against abortion as unconstitutional.

1989 2 DecemberThe first woman to lead a federal political party, AudreyMcLaughlin replaces Ed Broadbent as head of the NDP.

1989 6 December

Fourteen female engineering students are separatedfrom their male colleagues and murdered by a gunman

at the University of Montréal.

1989 2 DecemberAudrey McLaughlin becomes the first woman leader of

a federal party - the New Democratic Party.

1989 5 JuneThe government announces cuts in the funding of VIA

Rail, to much public outcry.

1989One-dollar bills are replaced by the one-dollar coin,

popularly called the "loonie."

1989Heather Erxleben becomes Canada's first

acknowledged female combat soldier.

1989 1 January Free Trade goes into effect.


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1989 1 January

After a federal election fought over the issue of freetrade, the free-trade agreement between Canada andthe United States comes into effect, gradually ending

controls on trade and investment between the twocountries.

1989 6 December

Marc Lepine kills fourteen female engineering studentsat Ecole Polytechnique at the University of Montreal and

than shoots himself. The "Montreal Massacre" hassince become a symbol of violence against women andis commemorated each December across the country.

1989

Audrey McLaughlin is elected leader of the federal NewDemocratic Party, becoming the first women to lead a

national party in Canada and North America.

1989 1 March

The Canadian Space Agency is created to promote thepeaceful use and development of the space and ensure

space science and technology provide social andeconomic benefits to Canadians.


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1990 A recession is officially announced.

1990

A land dispute causes a 78-day armed confrontationbetween Mohawks and the army on a reserve near Oka,

Quebec.

1990 1 December

The federal government banned the use of leaded gas inmotor vehicles after years of debate. Research had linked

lead to health problems, mainly in children.

1990 25 July

Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells further slows down thesigning of the Meech Lake Accord, but a native member of

the Manitoba legislative, Elijah Harper, deals it the fatalblow with his absolute refusal to accept Québec as

Canada's principal, if not only, "distinct society" (June 22).One of the many responses is the formation of the Bloc

Québecois by a handful of disenchanted politicians.

1990 SeptemberBob Rae upsets David Peterson and, with a surprising

majority, becomes Ontario's first NDP Premier.

1990 DecemberDespite the Liberals' sometimes peculiar stalling tactics,

the Senate passes the unpopular Goods and Services Tax.

1990 April

The federal government settles a land claim with the Inuitthat will give them 350 000 square km of territory in the

North, to be called Nunavut.

1991 January

The war in the Persian Gulf starts. Canada sends threewarships, twenty-six fighter jets, and 2 400 people to the

Persian Gulf as part of a United Nations effort to force Iraqitroops to withdraw from Kuwait.

1991The Tungavik sign an agreement with Ottawa to create a

new, quasi-independent Inuit territory in the eastern Arctic.

1991 November

In a Brantford, Ontario courtroom, a Six Nations man is thefirst to be allowed to make a traditional native oath instead

of swearing on the Bible.

1991 8 September

Canada's Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) islaunched aboard NASA's Upper Atmospheric ResearchSatellite (UARS) to provide new measurements of the

physical and chemical processes taking place at altitudesten to three hundred kilometers above the earth's surface.

1991 15 JanuaryCanadian forces join the multinational forces in the battle

to drive Saddam Hussein's Iraqi troops from Kuwait.


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1991 May

George Erasmus, leader of the Assembly of First Nations,resigns at the end of his second term (May); he is

succeeded by Ovide Mercredi, whose popularity earns himthe nickname of "eleventh premier."

1991Yet another committee crosses the country solicitingcitizens' opinions on proposed constitutional reforms.

1991

David Schindler of the University of Alberta wins the firstinternational Stockholm Water Prize for environmental

research.

1991British Columbia premier Bill Van Der Zalm resigns in the

midst of a real estate scandal.

1991 1 January

GST (Good and Services Tax) is introduced by BrianMulroney's Conservative government. The 7 percent tax

paid at the cash register replaced the 13.5 percent federalmanufacturer's tax.

1991 1 January The unpopular Goods and Services Tax comes into effect.

1992 26 October

Canadians vote "no" in a referendum seeking popularsupport for the Charlottetown Agreement, intended as a

corrective to the Canadian Constitution in the wake of thefailed Meech Lake Accord.

1992

Although the players are all American, the Toronto BlueJays become the first nominally Canadian team to win

baseball's World Series.

1992 22 JanuaryDr. Roberta Bondar becomes the first Canadian woman in

space, aboard the U.S. space shuttle Discovery.

1992 The Miss Canada pageant is scrapped.

1992Ontario lawyers vote no longer to swear an oath to the

Queen.

1992 24 OctoberToronto's Blue Jays became the first Canadian team to win

baseball's World Series.

1992 JuneCanada is the first country to sign the international bio-

diversity convention at the Earth Summit in Brazil.

1992 Roberta Bondar is Canada's first female astronaut in orbit.

1992 28 August

Canadian leaders adopt the Charlottetown Accord toreform Canada's constitution, but in a national referendum

in October, Canadians reject it.


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1993 July

Part of northwest B.C. is set aside as a world heritageconservation site. Protesters block loggers' access to

ancient forests near Clayoquot Sound.

1993 23 OctoberThe Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series for the second

year in a row.

1993 June

im Campbell replaces Brian Mulroney as the head of theProgressive Conservatives, becoming Canada's first

woman Prime Minister.

1993 March

Catherine Callbeck becomes the first woman Premier, inPrince Edward Island. Environmental activists cause minordamage to government buildings in Victoria, B.C., during a

demonstration.

1993 25 October

Liberal leader Jean Chrétien is elected in a landslidevictory, with Lucien Bouchard's Bloc Québecois and

Preston Manning's Reform Party only one seat apart indistant second and third places. The Progressive

Conservatives, in power for nine years, are reduced to amere two seats -- less than is required to be considered an

official party.

1993

Common-Law Union is recognized. Effective for the 1993and subsequent tax years, common-law unions began tobe considered the equivalent of a legal marriages for tax

purposes. The measure was a response to courtchallenges that had argued that the tax system

discriminated against legally married couples in favor ofcommon-law ones.

1993 22 February

Paul Martin abolishes the $100.000 Lifetime Capital GainsExemption in his first budget as finance minister, except for

qualified farm property and qualified small businesscorporation shares.

1993

Four members of the elite Canadian Airborne Regimentwho were in Somalia for a peacekeeping mission werecharged with the torture and beating death of Samali

civilian. In 1994 Private Elvin Kyle Brown was convicted ofmanslaughter and torture and sentenced to five years inprison. The government disbanded the regiment later in

1995.

1993 25 June

Kim Campbell, the new Conservative party leader,becomes Canada's first female prime minister, but in

October Jean Chrétien's Liberals win the general election.


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1993

Kim Campbell becomes the first female prime minister ofCanada. She was also the first woman to lead the federal

Progressive Conservative Party.

1993

Canada, with Kurt Browning (gold), Elvis Stojko (silver),and Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler (gold), has its best

skating World Championship since 1962.

1994 15 SeptemberSeparatist Jacques Parizeau becomes the premier of

Quebec.

1994The Canadian pilot of a Korean airliner that crashed isarrested for endangering the lives of his passengers.

1994

The North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) comesinto effect, linking Canada, the United States, and Mexico

in a new economic partnership.

1995 4 November

RADARSAT is launched as the first Canadian earthobservation satellite and first non-communications satellite

since 1971. It can provide images of the earth's surfaceday and night, in any climate conditions, to clients around

the world.

1995A thirteen kilometer bridge connecting Prince Edward

Island to the mainland is opened.

1995

"Turbot war" erupts when Canada arrests a Spanish ship ina bid to prevent European fleets from over-harvesting

Newfoundland fish stocks.

1995

Canadian James Gosling, working for American companySun Microsystems, develops Java, an object-oriented

programming language that allows many different kinds ofcomputers, consumer gadgets, and other devices

communicate with one another more easily.

1995 30 OctoberQuebec votes in a referendum on sovereignty and the

federalists win a razor-thin victory.

1995Donovan Bailey becomes "the world's fastest man" when

he breaks the record for the 100-metre race.

1996 19 May Astronaut Marc Garneau makes his second trip into space.

1996 29 JanuaryLucien Bouchard is sworn in as the new premier of

Quebec.


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1997 31 May

Confederation Bridge opens for business, linking Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island, and Cape Jourimain, New

Brunswick. The 12.9 kilometer bridge cost $1 billion.

1998 December

The federal government rejects proposed bank mergesthat would have united the Canadian Imperial Bank of

Commerce with the Toronto-Dominion Bank and the RoyalBank with the Bank of Montreal.

1998 4/9/2016 January

The most desctructive and disruptive ice storm inCanadian history dropps close to one hundred millimetres

of freezing rain in some areas of central and easternCanada, affecting nearly 20 percent of Canada's

population, mainly in Montreal and Ottawa.

1999 15 April

Wayne Gretzky plays the last game in a Canadian arena atthe Corel Centre, in Nakata, Ontario. After twenty years inthe National Hockey League with Edmonton Oilers, LosAngeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, and New York Rangers,

the Great One announced his retirement. His final game inthe NHL was three days later at Madison Square Garden

in New York.


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Documents

Canada through the Decades - 1900-1909 · 2016. 5. 3. · Britain declares war on Germany. Canada is automatically at war too. 1914 The First World War begins. Britain declares war