1939 in Canada explained

Events from the year 1939 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – George VI^[1]

Federal government

• Governor General – John Buchan^[2]
• Prime Minister – William Lyon Mackenzie King
• Chief Justice – Lyman Poore Duff (British Columbia)
• Parliament – 18th

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• • Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John C. Bowen Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Eric Hamber
    • • • • • Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – William Johnston Tupper Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Murray MacLaren Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Robert Irwin Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Albert Edward Matthews Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – George DesBrisay DeBlois (until September 11) then Bradford William LePage Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Esioff-Léon Patenaude (until December 30) then Eugène Fiset Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – 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 – Thane Campbell Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis (until November 9) then Adélard Godbout Premier of Saskatchewan – William John Patterson

Territorial governments

Commissioners

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

Events

• May 17 – King George VI and Queen Elizabeth begin their royal tour of Canada, eventually visiting every province and Newfoundland.
• September 3 – The Department of Labour establishes the Wartime Prices and Trade Board to control inflation.
• September 7 – Prime Minister Mackenzie King calls for a special session of Parliament, to discuss a declaration of war versus Nazi Germany. The session lasts until September 13.^[3]
• September 10 – World War II: Canada declares war on Germany, one week after the United Kingdom does so.
• September 11 – World War II: Canada establishes a High Commission of Canada in Australia. Australia reciprocates the next day.^[4]
• September 16 – World War II: The Royal Canadian Navy escorts the first of many transatlantic convoys.
• September 28 – World War II: Air training facilities are set up in Canada to train pilots from Britain and the rest of the Empire.
• October 25 – The Quebec election is won by the Liberals under Joseph-Adélard Godbout.
• December 17 – World War II: The 1st Canadian Infantry Division lands in Scotland en route to England. The division is accompanied by a team of announcers and technicians, who set up Radio Canada's overseas service.
• November 9 – Adélard Godbout becomes premier of Quebec for the second time, replacing Maurice Duplessis.

Year-long

• Canada expands its international presence by establishing High Commissions in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa.

Sport

• February 12 – The Trail Smoke Eaters win the 1939 Ice Hockey World Championships for Canada.
• April 16 – The Boston Bruins win their second Stanley Cup (and last until 1970) by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4 games to 1.
• April 17 – The Ontario Hockey Association's Oshawa Generals win their first Memorial Cup by defeating the Edmonton Junior Hockey League's Edmonton Athletic Club Roamers 3 games to 1. The deciding Game 4 was played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
• December 9 – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers win their second Grey Cup by defeating the Ottawa Rough Riders 8 to 7 in the 27th Grey Cup played in Lansdowne Park in Ottawa.

Births

January to March

• January 3 - Bobby Hull, ice hockey player (d. 2023)
• January 11 - Anne Heggtveit, alpine skier and Olympic gold medalist

• January 14 - Martha Gibson, actress
• January 19 - Grant Notley, politician (d. 1984)
• February 3 - Ovid Jackson, politician
• February 10 - Adrienne Clarkson, journalist and 26th Governor General of Canada
• March 1 - Marlene Catterall, politician
• March 5 - Peter Woodcock, serial killer and child rapist (d. 2010)
• March 8 - Lynn Seymour, ballerina (d. 2023)
• March 17 - Bill Graham, politician (d. 2022)
• March 20 - Brian Mulroney, politician and 18th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2024)
• March 26 - Patrick Lane, poet (d. 2019)

April to June

• April 14 - Ian Binnie, jurist and puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada
• April 20 - Wayson Choy, writer (d. 2019)
• April 24 - Dan Hays, politician
• April 24 - Ernst Zündel, German-born neo-Nazi, Holocaust denier and pamphleteer (d. 2017)
• May 7 - Sidney Altman, molecular biologist, joint 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate (d. 2022)
• May 11 - Ken Epp, politician (d. 2022)
• May 16 - Roger Soloman, politician (d. 2021)
• May 26 - Gerry McAlpine, politician
• June 5 - Joe Clark, journalist, politician, statesman, businessman, professor and 16th Prime Minister of Canada
• June 23 - Jack MacIsaac, politician

July to September

• July 12 - David Bazay, television journalist (d. 2005)
• July 19 - Ray Turnbull, curler (d. 2017)
• July 25 - Catherine Callbeck, politician and 30th Premier of Prince Edward Island
• August 12 - Roy Romanow, politician and 12th Premier of Saskatchewan
• August 15 - Hardial Bains, founder and leader of Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) (d. 1997)
• August 21 - JoAnn Wilson, murder victim (d. 1983)
• August 23 - Isabel Bassett, broadcaster and politician
• August 31 - Dennis Lee, poet and children's writer
• September 1 - Jake Epp, politician
• September 2 - Henry Mintzberg, academic and author on business and management
• September 4 - Jim Penner, businessman and politician (d. 2004)
• September 10 – Jim Pappin, ice hockey player (d. 2022)
• September 11 – Lyse Richer, administrator and music teacher
• September 30 - Len Cariou, actor

October to December

• October 5 - Marie-Claire Blais, novelist, poet and playwright (d. 2021)
• November 6 - Joyce Fairbairn, Senator and first woman to serve as Leader of the Government in the Senate (d. 2022)
• November 18 - Margaret Atwood, author, poet, critic, feminist and social campaigner
• November 23 - Bill Bissett, poet
• November 30 - Louis LeBel, jurist and puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada
• December 2 - Francis Fox, politician, minister and senator
• December 21 - Lloyd Axworthy, politician and minister
• December 24 - James Bartleman, diplomat, author and 27th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

Full date unknown

• Michael Estok, poet (d. 1989)
• Michael Overs, businessman, founder and owner of Pizza Pizza Limited (d. 2010)
• Tony Parsons, journalist and television news anchor
• Robin Spry, filmmaker and television producer (d. 2005)

Deaths

• January 24 - Alfred Edmond Bourgeois, politician (b. 1872)
• March 7 - Sir Joseph Flavelle, businessman (b. 1858)
• March 8 - Henry Pellatt, financier and soldier (b. 1859)
• May 6 - Edward S. Rogers, Sr., inventor and radio pioneer (b. 1900)
• July 12 - Fernand Rinfret, politician (b. 1883)
• August 21 - Francis Patrick O'Connor, businessman, politician and philanthropist (b. 1885)
• November 12 - Norman Bethune, physician and medical innovator (b. 1890)
• November 28 - James Naismith, sports coach and innovator, inventor of basketball (b. 1861)
• December 22 - Herbert James Palmer, politician and Premier of Prince Edward Island (b. 1851)
• December 27 – Napoléon Turcot, politician (b. 1867)

Full date unknown

• Constance Piers, journalist, poet and editor (b. 1866)^[5]

See also

• List of Canadian films

Historical documents

With crisis in Europe, MP suggests Canada follow up on Statute of Westminster by declaring neutrality and following America-oriented defence policy^[6]

Labour Day finds fighters and nurses enlisting for overseas service and Red Cross rushing its wartime planning^[7]

Editorial says Canada and Commonwealth are "one and indivisible, [and] pledged unwaveringly to the support of the Mother Country"^[8]

Before declaring war, PM King asks Commons for "authority for effective cooperation by Canada at the side of Britain"^[9]

MP J.S. Woodsworth interrogates "cooperation," unspoken government policy, and whether Canada is already in war^[10]

"We cannot be at peace while the head of this Empire is at war" - Sen. Arthur Meighen insists Canada enter European conflict^[11]

Canada's declaration of war against German Reich^[12]

Editorial says PM King, in choosing home defence over expeditionary force, is not giving "definite leadership"^[13]

Regimen for Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry's transport ship includes lectures, training and organized games^[14]

Enlisted man's 1939 surprises: Poland's fall weeks after invasion, and Christmas invitation given on his first day in England^[15]

Editorial says "equality of sacrifice," essential to war effort, must include fairness in agricultural costs, prices and margins^[16]

British meals depend on Canada for breakfast porridge and (with other wheat exporters) bread, and cheese, tinned soup, and suet in pudding at tea^[17]

MP A.A. Heaps advocates joining other countries in welcoming refugees from persecution^[18]

Mentioning uranium ore in Canada and German-occupied Czechoslovakia, Einstein urges President Roosevelt to back atomic energy research^[19]

"Only a mile from home" - Eleven-year-old student Andrew Gordon from Gordon's reserve residential school dies of exposure walking home^[20]

Supreme Court finds tavern, in absence of specific law, has "freedom of commerce" to not serve Black man^[21]

Law professor comments on Quebec's Padlock Law allowing police to seal premises and arrest occupants deemed "communistic"^[22]

Private intelligence agency offers to spy on corporation's workers to detect "plots, plans and unrest"^[23]

Mao's appreciation of Norman Bethune - "We must all learn the spirit of absolute selflessness from him"^[24]

Poster: "Time Is Life" depicts Bethune riding a galloping horse^[25]

King George VI - "It is my earnest hope that my present visit may give my Canadian people a deeper conception of their unity as a nation."^[26]

Woman records her excitement over 1939 royal tour of George VI and Elizabeth in her diary^[27]

Film of royal tour's stops in Calgary, Banff, Vancouver and Victoria^[28]

CBC chairman tells House committee move into television will not come soon because of its current technical and financial limitations^[29]

Course in interior decoration includes hands-on stitching, glazing, block-printing, weaving, lettering, etc., etc.^[30]

Photo: children work on their art projects in Arthur Lismer's children's art classes in Toronto^[31]

Calling "more friendly relations" essential to world progress, bank's advertisement pledges friendship in its service^[32]

Notes and References

1. Web site: King George VI The Canadian Encyclopedia . www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca . 4 December 2022.
2. Web site: John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir: Biography on Undiscovered Scotland . www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk . 29 January 2021.
3. Web site: House of Commons Procedure and Practice – 8. The Parliamentary Cycle – Opening a Parliament and a Session. Parliament of Canada. 2011-09-15.
4. Web site: Australia-Canada relations. Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. 2011-02-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20110706181511/http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/australia-australie/assets/pdfs/CanadaInAustralia_english.pdf. 2011-07-06. dead.
5. https://www.myheritage.com/names/constance_piers Constance Piers
6. https://www.lipad.ca/full/permalink/1168496/ "Mr. Wilfrid Lacroix (Quebec-Montmorency)"
7. "Holiday Finds Canada Making Ready for War," Sherbrooke (Quebec) Daily Record (September 4, 1939), pg. 3. Accessed 22 June 2020 http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3000671 (turn to pg. 3)
8. https://islandnewspapers.ca/islandora/object/guardian%3A19390904-004 "The Empire at War"
9. http://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.debates_HOC1805_20/41?r=0&s=1 "Governor General's Speech; Address in Reply..."
10. http://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.debates_HOC1805_20/52?r=0&s=1 "Governor General's Speech; Address in Reply..."
11. http://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.debates_SOC1805_01/19?r=0&s=1 "The Governor General's Speech; Address in Reply"
12. https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/canada-gazette/001060-119.01-e.php?image_id_nbr=300981&document_id_nbr=8324&f=g "Proclamation"
13. "Canada Enters the Struggle," Sherbrooke (Quebec) Daily Record (September 11, 1939), pg. 4. Accessed 23 June 2020 http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3000690 (turn to pg. 4)
14. Lieut. Col. W.G. Colquhoun, "Ship's Standing Orders;[...]S.S. Orama" (December 1939). Accessed 23 June 2020 https://archives.ppcli.com/74-1-1-ships-standing-orders (click on document for PDF copy)
15. http://www.thememoryproject.com/stories/980:fernand-trepanier/ "Veteran Stories: Fernand Trépanier, Army"
16. http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/newspapers/WFL/1939/09/15/4/ "With All Our Resources"
17. https://cdm21047.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/tav/id/940/rec/96 "Food; Meals and Where They Come From"
18. http://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.debates_HOC1804_01/434?r=0&s=2 "Governor General's Speech; Continuation of Debate on Address in Reply"
19. https://www.atomicheritage.org/key-documents/einstein-szilard-letter Einstein-Szilard Letter
20. https://www2.uregina.ca/education/saskindianresidentialschools/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/c-8685-00869-00898_Page_01.jpg "Indian Boy Frozen on Bush Trail"
21. https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/8489/index.do Christie v. The York Corporation, Supreme Court Judgments (1939-12-09)
22. John T.[sic] Humphrey, "Homes are Not Castles" (truncated), The Canadian Magazine (March 1939). Accessed 23 June 2020
23. Letter from General Investigations of Canada Limited (March 29, 1939). Accessed 23 June 2020 https://projects.windsorpubliclibrary.com/digi/sar/part2.htm (scroll down to Solicitation)
24. Mao Zedong, "In Memory of Norman Bethune" (December 21, 1939), Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung: Vol. II; The Period of the War of Resistance Against Japan. Accessed 23 June 2020
25. Zhang Xingguo, "Time Is Life" (1975). Accessed 14 July 2021
26. https://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.debates_SOC1804_01/411?r=0&s=2 "The King's Speech"
27. Diary of Vera (Collins) Webb (excerpts of May 17 and 26, 1939). Accessed 23 June 2020 https://archivesalberta.org/diary/royal.htm (click on illustrations to read excerpts)
28. British Pathé, "The Royal Tour of Western Canada." Accessed 10 May 2020
29. https://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.com_HOC_1804_7_1/43?r=0&s=1 Testimony of Leonard Brockington
30. "Design; Fourth Year," Behind the Palette; Vancouver School of Art; March - Nineteen Hundred and Thirty-nine (unpaginated). Accessed 23 June 2020 https://ecuad.arcabc.ca/islandora/object/ecuad%3A9024/issue_pages?page=1 (click on image 020)
31. Ronny Jaques, Children work on art projects (ca. 1939-40), Lismer's Children's Art Classes Toronto, Library and Archives Canada. Accessed 4 July 2021
32. The Bank of Toronto, "Friendly Relations" The Western Farm Leader, Vol. 4, No. 18 (Calgary, September 15, 1939), pg. 2. Accessed 22 June 2020