1902 in Canada explained

Events from the year 1902 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – Edward VII^[1]

Federal government

• • Governor General – Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto Prime Minister – Wilfrid Laurier
• Chief Justice – Samuel Henry Strong (Ontario) (until 18 November) then Henri Elzéar Taschereau (Quebec)
• Parliament – 9th

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Daniel Hunter McMillan
  • • • • Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Abner Reid McClelan (until January 28) then Jabez Bunting Snowball Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Alfred Gilpin Jones Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Oliver Mowat Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Peter Adolphus McIntyre Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Louis-Amable Jetté

Premiers

• • • Premier of British Columbia – James Dunsmuir (until November 21) then Edward Prior Premier of Manitoba – Rodmond Roblin Premier of New Brunswick – Lemuel John Tweedie
      • Premier of Nova Scotia – George Henry Murray Premier of Ontario – George William Ross Premier of Prince Edward Island – Arthur Peters Premier of Quebec – Simon-Napoléon Parent

Territorial governments

Commissioners

• Commissioner of Yukon – James Hamilton Ross (until February 8) then Henry W. Newlands (acting) (February 8 to August 15) then Zachary Taylor Wood (acting)

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Keewatin – Daniel Hunter McMillan
• Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories – Amédée E. Forget

Premiers

• Premier of the North-West Territories – Frederick Haultain

Events

• February – The town of Crofton, British Columbia, is founded on Vancouver Island
• May 21 – 1902 Northwest Territories general election
• May 24 – The first Victoria Day is celebrated
• May 29 – 1902 Ontario general election: G. W. Ross's Liberals win a second consecutive majority. Margaret Haile runs as a candidate of the Canadian Socialist League in Toronto North, becoming the first woman ever to stand in a provincial election.
• May 31 – The Second Boer War ends, and Canadian troops return home to great acclaim
• July 1 – Ray Knight stages the first Raymond Stampede in Raymond, Alberta. This was the first use of the word stampede in the name of a rodeo. The Raymond Stampede is now Canada's oldest rodeo
• August 9 – Edward VII is crowned King of the United Kingdom and of Canada.
• October 10 – Altona schoolhouse shooting
• October 20 – The first train enters Edmonton, by way of the Canadian Northern's Edmonton, Yukon and Pacific Railway across the Low Level Bridge
• November 21 – Edward Prior becomes Premier of British Columbia, replacing James Dunsmuir
• December 15 – The first transatlantic radio press report is filed from Glace Bay, Nova Scotia.
• The first ascent of Mount Forbes by James Outram and party

Arts and literature

• The first symphony orchestra in Canada begins in Quebec City.
• The first movie theatre in Canada opens in Vancouver

Births

January to June

• January 22 – Jean-Paul Beaulieu, politician and chartered accountant (d.1976)
• February 17 – Howard O'Hagan, writer
• April 14 – Olive Diefenbaker, wife of John Diefenbaker, 13th Prime Minister of Canada (d.1976)
• April 20 – Elizabeth Goudie, writer (d.1982)
• May 24 – Sylvia Daoust, sculptor (d.2004)
• June 17 – Anna Hilliard, doctor
• June 19 – Guy Lombardo, bandleader and violinist (d.1977)
• June 21 – Howie Morenz, ice hockey player (d.1937)

July to December

• July 15 – Donald Creighton, historian (d.1979)
• July 30 – Dorise Nielsen, politician (d.1980)
• August 10 – Norma Shearer, Academy Award-winning actress (d.1983)
• November 8 – A. J. M. Smith, poet (d.1980)
• November 21 – Foster Hewitt, radio pioneer (d.1985)
• December 29 – Nels Stewart, ice hockey player (d.1957)

Deaths

• February 12 – Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, Governor General of Canada (b.1826)
• February 19 – Richard Maurice Bucke, psychiatrist (b.1837)
• August 5 – Thomas Christie, physician, professor and politician (b.1834)
• August 10 – James McMillan, United States Senator from Michigan from 1889 until 1902. (b.1838)
• October 31 – John A. Dawson, politician (b.1826)

Historical documents

Laurier cabinet member praised as "Finance Minister of surpluses, high wages and general prosperity"^[2]

North-West Territories official says rapidly developing N.W.T. could become Canada's dominant province^[3]

Copper and nickel miners live in pollution-devastated landscape near Sudbury, Ontario^[4]

Western farmers form grain growers association to oppose corporations and "wheat blockade"^[5]

Immigrants arrive in Saskatchewan and enjoy megabushel first harvest of wheat^[6]

Entomologist on pest control with crude petroleum, potash-and-fish-oil (either in solution) and hydrocyanic acid gas in fumigation tents^[7]

Young mission doctor captains medical ship through storm on Strait of Belle Isle^[8]

Lucy Maud Montgomery gives tips to beginning photographers^[9]

Notes and References

1. Book: Tidridge . Nathan . Canada's Constitutional Monarchy . 15 November 2011 . Dundurn . 978-1-55488-980-8 . 235 . en.
2. https://archive.org/details/fieldingbanqueta00haliuoft/page/n6 "The Fielding Banquet; An Account of the Dinner Given by the Liberals of Nova Scotia(....)"
3. https://library.usask.ca/sni/stories/pol9.html "Provincial Status;(...)The North-West 'Asks For Nothing Unreasonable'(....)"
4. James Lumsden, Through Canada in Harvest Time[....] (1903), pgs. 315-17
5. http://library.usask.ca/sni/stories/agr1.html "A Grain Growers' Association Formed At Indian Head"
6. Canadian Pacific Railway, Home Life of Women in Western Canada (1907), pgs. 24-5 Accessed 23 January 2020
7. https://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.HOC_0902_37_01_A01/71?r=0&s=1 "Insects, Fungous Diseases–Treatments"
8. Cluny Macpherson, "A Bad Night in the Straits of Belle Isle" Dr. Cluny Macpherson Notebook 2, pgs. 51-8. Accessed 23 January 2020
9. "Cynthia," "Around the Table; Photography as a Hobby" Halifax Daily Echo (May 12, 1902). (See also photograph "(People) showing various types of cameras (in 1904)") Accessed 23 January 2020