1936 in Canada explained

Events from the year 1936 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – George V (until January 20)^[1] then Edward VIII (January 20 to December 11) then George VI^[2]

Federal government

• Governor General – John Buchan^[3]
• Prime Minister – William Lyon Mackenzie King
• Chief Justice – Lyman Poore Duff (British Columbia)
• Parliament – 18th (from 6 February)

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• • Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – William Legh Walsh (until October 1) then Philip Primrose Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – John W.F. Johnson (until May 1) then Eric Hamber
    • • • • • Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – William Johnston Tupper Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Murray MacLaren Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Walter Harold Covert Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Herbert Alexander Bruce Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – George Des Brisay de Blois Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Esioff-Léon Patenaude Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Hugh Edwin Munroe (until September 10) then Archibald Peter McNab

Premiers

• • • • • Premier of Alberta – William Aberhart Premier of British Columbia – Thomas Dufferin Pattullo Premier of Manitoba – John Bracken Premier of New Brunswick – Allison Dysart Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Lewis Macdonald
  • Premier of Ontario – Mitchell Hepburn Premier of Prince Edward Island – Walter Lea (until January 10) then Thane Campbell (from January 14)
  • Premier of Quebec – Louis-Alexandre Taschereau (until June 11) then Adélard Godbout (June 11 to August 26) then Maurice Duplessis Premier of Saskatchewan – William John Patterson

Territorial governments

Commissioners

• • Controller of Yukon – George A. Jeckell Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Vacant (Roy A. Gibson acting) (until December 3) then Charles Camsell

Events

• January 6 - Barbara Hanley is elected mayor of Webbwood, Ontario, becoming the first female mayor in Canada
• January 14 - Thane Campbell becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Walter Lea
• April 12 - The Moose River Gold Mines collapse
• June 11 - Adélard Godbout becomes premier of Quebec, replacing Louis-Alexandre Taschereau
• August 26 - Maurice Duplessis becomes premier of Quebec, replacing Adélard Godbout
• September - Earl Bascom of Raymond, Alberta, designs and directs the construction of the first rodeo arena and grandstands in the state of Mississippi
• November 2 - The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation replaces the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission
• November 18 - The Toronto Globe and the Mail and Empire merge to form The Globe and Mail
• December 11 - The British Parliament, with the consent of the Canadian government, passes His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 which legislates the abdication of King Edward VIII.
• The Spanish Civil War begins. Eventually, 1135 Canadians will serve in the International Brigades of the Republican forces
• Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis hangs a crucifix in the Legislative Assembly Chamber. It hung there for 83 years, until it was removed on 10 July 2019^[4]

Sport

• April 13 - The Ontario Hockey Association's West Toronto Nationals win their only Memorial Cup by defeating the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Saskatoon Wesleys 2 games to 0
• August 8 - Frank Amyot wins a gold medal in canoeing, Men's C-1 1000 m at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin
• December 5 - The Sarnia Imperials win their second and final Grey Cup by defeating the Ottawa Rough Riders 26 to 20 in the 24th Grey Cup played at Varsity Stadium

Births

January to March

• January 18 - Albert Driedger, politician
• February 6 - Kent Douglas, ice hockey player and coach (d. 2009)
• February 9 - Stompin' Tom Connors, folk singer (d. 2013)
• February 18 - Ab McDonald, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2018)
• February 29 - Henri Richard, ice hockey player
• March 1 - Monique Bégin, academic, politician and minister (d. 2023)
• March 21 - Ed Broadbent, politician and political scientist (d. 2024)
• March 24 - David Suzuki, science broadcaster and environmental activist

April to June

• April 17 - Peter Adams, politician
• April 19 - Sharon Pollock, playwright, actress, and director (d. 2021)
• May 14
  • Aline Chrétien, wife of Jean Chrétien (d. 2020)
  • Richard John Neuhaus, churchman and author (d. 2009)
• May 15 - Milan Kymlicka, arranger, composer and conductor (d. 2008)
• May 31 - Tony Pajaczkowski, football player (d. 2022)
• June 21 - Joseph Gosnell, Nisga'a statesman
• June 26
  • Herbert Obst, fencer
  • Jean-Claude Turcotte, cardinal (d. 2015)
• June 30 - Alan Hamel, entertainer, producer and television host

July to December

• July 3 - Larry Condon, politician (d. 1991)
• July 9 - André Pronovost, ice hockey player
• July 13 - Sandor Stern, writer, director and film producer
• July 18 – Ted Harris, ice hockey player
• July 25 - August Schellenberg, actor (d. 2013)
• July 28 - Russ Jackson, football player
• August 20 - David MacDonald, politician and author
• September 7 - Bruce Gray, Puerto Rican/Canadian actor (d. 2017)
• September 26 - Lowell Murray, Senator
• October 9 – Don Wittman, sportscaster (d. 2008)
• October 27 - Suzanne Paradis, writer
• November 7 - Audrey McLaughlin, politician
• December 16 - Karleen Bradford, children's author

Full date unknown

• Greg Curnoe, painter (d. 1992)
• Sheldon Turcott, journalist (d. 2000)

Deaths

• January 8 - John Augustus Barron, politician and lawyer (b. 1850)
• January 10 - Walter Lea, politician and Premier of Prince Edward Island (b. 1874)
• January 20 - George V, King of Canada (b. 1865)
• January 22 - Noah Timmins, mining developer and executive (b. 1867)
• February 26 - Frederick C. Alderdice, businessman, politician and last Prime Minister of Newfoundland (b. 1871)
• May 7 - Isidore-Noël Belleau, politician and lawyer (b. 1848)
• May 30 - Homer Watson, artist (b. 1855)
• June 18 - Edith Jane Miller, concert contralto singer (b. 1875)
• July 6 - Peter Veniot, businessman, newspaper owner, politician and 17th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1863)
• October 3 - William Parks, geologist and paleontologist (b. 1868)
• October 29 - Tobias Norris, politician and 10th Premier of Manitoba (b. 1861)

See also

• List of Canadian films

Historical documents

Saying "I hate war," President Roosevelt seeks foreign and economic policies that will encourage peace^[5]

Threatening embargo on Canadian liquor, U.S.A. demands back taxes and customs duties for liquor smuggled during Prohibition^[6]

"Taxes are urgently needed" - Alberta's Two Rivers School District board cajoles ratepayers in arrears^[7]

Seventy-year-old woman talks to enough of Yukon's 1,805 voters to be elected to House of Commons^[8]

"Sterilization is proposed[...]as logical humane procedure to limit the reproduction of the mentally defective."^[9]

Vancouver business groups testify that limiting employment of "orientals" on Canadian ships may curtail or cancel service^[10]

Governor General Lord Tweedsmuir expresses his deep regret to King Edward VIII on his abdication^[11]

"A commission of three cannot[...]execute policies" - House committee calls for corporation to replace Canadian Radio Commission^[12]

"We in Canada are sound asleep in flying matters," says Air Vice-Marshall Billy Bishop^[13]

Canadian Tuberculosis Association urges more clinics for Indigenous people, who suffer 30% of TB deaths in western Canada^[14]

Youth organizations ranging from church groups to Young Communist League unite for reform at 1936 Youth Congress^[15]

Stephen Leacock's views of travel writing and Port Arthur (Thunder Bay), Ont.^[16]

"A Literary Map of Canada" includes insets "Some Books of the St. Lawrence Basin" and "The Land of Evangeline"^[17]

Ralph J. Gleason praises Canadian hockey while covering college tournament for Columbia University student newspaper^[18]

Setting new record for one-mile event, Canadian race walker wins in New York City^[19]

Cover photograph: Menu from Canadian Pacific Railway train^[20]

Notes and References

1. Web site: King George V The Canadian Encyclopedia . www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca . 4 December 2022.
2. Web site: King George VI The Canadian Encyclopedia . www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca . 4 December 2022.
3. Web site: John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir: Biography on Undiscovered Scotland . www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk . 29 January 2021.
4. News: Crucifix removed from National Assembly's Blue Room. July 9, 2019. CBC News. 2019-07-14.
5. Franklin Roosevelt, "Address at Chautauqua, New York, August 14, 1936," Development of United States Foreign Policy; Addresses and Messages of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1942), pgs. 11-15 Accessed 13 June 2020
6. United States Department of State, "Protests of the Canadian Government Against Certain Provisions of the Liquor Tax Bill; Settlement of United States Claims Against Canadian Distillers" Foreign Relations of the United States, Diplomatic Papers, 1936; Volume I, General, The British Commonwealth, pgs. 796-825. Accessed 11 June 2022
7. https://albertaonrecord.ca/two-rivers-school-district-3497-minutes-1935-1937 Two Rivers School District 3497 Minutes, 1936
8. Martha Louise (Mrs. George) Black (as told to Elizabeth Bailey Price), "The Life I've Lived" Chatelaine (January 1936), pg. 14. Accessed 13 June 2020
9. William Hutton, "A Brief for Sterilization of the Feeble-Minded" (Second Edition, June 1936). Accessed 13 June 2020
10. "Minutes of Evidence" (March 13, 1936), [House] Standing Committee on Industrial and International Relations, pg. 8 Accessed 26 October 2020
11. https://archives.queensu.ca/sites/archwww/files/uploaded_images/Exhibits/johnbuchan/tn_Abdication.jpg Note of John Buchan, Lord Tweedsmuir, to Private Secretary, Buckingham Palace
12. "Third and Final Report" (May 26, 1936), Special Committee on the Canadian Radio Commission, pg. 784 Accessed 26 October 2020
13. W.A. Bishop, "What Aviation Means to Canada" (February 13, 1936), The Empire Club of Canada Addresses, pgs. 235-52. Accessed 13 June 2020
14. Canadian Press, "Aids Tubercular Indians; Canada Plans Traveling Clinics in Effort to Stem High Death Rate," New York Times (June 30, 1936). Accessed 14 June 2020 https://searchit.libraries.wsu.edu/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=WSU_CDM5clipping%2F8680&context=L&vid=WSU (click on Link to Resource)
15. Tim Buck, "Chapter Nine; Canada's Youth Comes of Age," Thirty Years; 1922-1952; The Story of the Communist Movement in Canada (1952). Accessed 20 May 2020 http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/compoundobject/collection/radical/id/81602/rec/15 (scroll to Page 131)
16. Stephen Leacock, My Discovery of the West; A Discussion of East and West in Canada (1937), pgs. 1-14. Accessed 14 June 2020
17. https://digitalarchive.mcmaster.ca/islandora/object/macrepo%3A82219 "A literary map of Canada"
18. Ralph J. Gleason, "Christmas Opportunity Hockey Has Everything; Look, Boys, at Canada" Columbia Daily Spectator, Vol. LIX, No. 59 (January 6, 1936), pg. 3. Accessed 14 June 2020
19. Daniel M. Friedman, "Let's Take a Walk; A Canadian Wizard; Venzke's Stock Booms" Columbia Daily Spectator, Vol. LIX, No. 73 (February 11, 1936), pg. 3. Accessed 14 June 2020
20. https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/chung/chungtext/items/1.0356902 "Dinner menu from the Dominion train from 1936"