This is a timeline of the history of Calgary, Alberta, Canada..
The following is a timeline of riots and civil unrest in Calgary, Alberta.[5] Since its incorporation as a town in 1884, like other cities, Calgary has had to deal with a variety of violence. Calgary has been credited with maintaining relative civility during duress.[6] The Great Depression in Canada has received particular attention from sociologists and historians, including Thomas Thorner and Neil Watson who wrote, "There is little question that Calgary experienced its share of civil strife during the Depression. Battles between police and the single unemployed men, full scale riots and threats to blow up public buildings appear to have been almost annual events."[7] According to Stephen Graham, a Professor of Human Geography at Durham University, recent events have seen the City of Calgary change their tactics towards civil unrest activities such as protests.[8]
| Date | Issue | Event |
|---|---|---|
| August 2, 1892 | Racial tension | After the Chinese community was blamed for a smallpox outbreak, a race riot ensued. The event started when city authorities burned a laundry where a Chinese worker contracted the disease, and its occupants were quarantined. Nine Chinese contracted the disease, and three died. Alleging the spread was caused by unhygienic living conditions, a mob of over 300 men smashed doors and windows of all the Chinese laundries, destroyed and looted property, and assaulted Chinese residents. As the riot ended, police arrived. Many in the Chinese community sought refuge at the North-West Mounted Police barracks or in the homes of clergymen. The NWMP patrolled Calgary continuously for the next 3 weeks to protect Chinese Calgarians.[9] [10] [11] [12] |
| July 16, 1902 | Labour unrest | The Calgary Trades and Labour Council hosts a demonstration with several thousand participants in support of local labour.[13] |
| February 10, 1916 | Ethnic and labour tension | An anti-German riot destroys the Riverside Hotel at 4 Street S.E. and Boulevard Avenue. It reportedly started because the owner was German.[14] During the same month 500 servicemen and civilians destroy Nagel's White Lunch Cafe after the owner reportedly hired an Austrian immigrant instead of a returning soldier.[15] |
| October 11, 1916 | Military unrest | Soldiers from the 218th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, or CEF, overcame the local police. "The city virtually is in the hands of the soldier mob"[16] [17] [18] [19] Morris "Two Gun" Cohen was implicated as a leader of the events during a series of trials held in the city; however, he was acquitted after successfully defending himself in court.[20] [21] |
| January 1918 | Labour unrest | Calgary freight handlers go on strike in defiance of a federal ban on strikes. Civic workers, street railway workers and teamsters walked out in sympathy. Five strike leaders were arrested, paving the way towards the creation of the One Big Union.[22] |
| February 8, 1917 | Military unrest | Soldiers from the former 218th Battalion of the CEF having been relocated from Calgary to Edmonton, rioted on 101 Street after being ordered to depart immediately for Europe. They attacked 14 stores, restaurants and cafes throughout the city.[23] |
| May 1919 | Labour unrest | After the formation of the One Big Union in Calgary in March 1919, the Calgary General Strike was held in solidarity with the Winnipeg General Strike. There was almost a full stoppage of local government, industrial and commercial activities in the city after thousands of workers stopped work for more than a month.[24] |
| January 1926 | Unemployment | More than 40 protesters with the Central Council of the Unemployed were arrested by police after ordering meals and refusing to pay in protest of the city's refusal to provide relief for the homeless and jobless. |
| December 1926 | Unemployment | 300 protesters with the Central Council of the Unemployed marched on City Hall for "relief" in the form of places to sleep, food to eat and transportation to work sites.[25] |
| June 30, 1931 | Unemployment | After several days of "ominous silence" among Calgary's unemployed, a meeting was held between the National Unemployed Workers Association and members of the Calgary City Council. When the crowd gathered outside, it was told to disperse by the Calgary Police. They re-assembled in a nearby vacant lot called "Red Square." After a series of speeches, the crowd was told to disperse, and when they did not, police took away a popular speaker from the platform. A riot ensued, which a local newspaper referred to saying, "It appears to have come to a showdown; the authority of the city is challenged which must be met decisively."[26] |
| June 10, 1935 | Unemployment | Hundreds of protesters participating in the On-to-Ottawa Trek took hostages at the Calgary Relief Office for several hours before continuing out of the city. Prime Minister R.B. Bennett decided not to take action against the trekkers in Calgary. Hundreds more unemployed, some from Edmonton, joined the Trek as it left the city. The Trek was brutally disbanded in Regina several weeks later.[27] |
| 1940 | Racial tension | A group of 300 white soldiers rioted in Calgary's "Harlemtown" near the railway tracks east of downtown. After they invaded the home of a black band leader, military police intervened and were credited with ending the incident.[28] [29] [30] [31] |
| November 28, 1974 | Racial tension | The Calgary Urban Treaty Indian Alliance held a demonstration over social service funding in which dozens of men, women and children occupied the Indian Affairs office in the city. Government officials labeled the participants "terrorists". The local papers charged the protesters with "public mischief" and civil infractions. While charges were not lodged against demonstrators, several reported increased government discrimination against them afterward.[32] |
| December 2, 1983 | Sporting disruption | A riot broke out during a Stampede Wrestling match at the Victoria Pavilion. Speaking of the events, announcer Ed Whalen remarked, "We're starting to scare the patrons with this violence outside the ring, and I will not be associated with it anymore."[33] The event led to Stampede Wrestling being banned from Calgary for six months by the city's wrestling and boxing commission, and within a year the operation was sold to the World Wrestling Federation.[34] |
| October 25, 1993 | Education | 2,000 students walkout of Calgary's schools to protest cuts to education, causing public disruption and raising awareness about the situation in education funding.[35] |
| June 11–15, 2000 | Anti-globalization | 2,000 protesters participated in a "carnivalesque" atmosphere at the World Petroleum Congress while 1,500 police from a number of jurisdictions were involved in counter-protest operations. Other measures included, "police 'spotters' positioned on top of downtown office towers while helicopters busily circled overhead."[36] |
| June 25–27, 2002 | Anti-globalization | About 4000-5000 demonstrators participate in a variety of events throughout Calgary in protest of the Group of Eight, or G8, meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta.[37] [38] |
| March 21, 2008 | Racial tension | The Aryan Guard staged a demonstration in downtown Calgary on Good Friday and United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racism.[39] [40] [41] More than 40[42] supporters of the Aryan Guard faced a crowd of more than 200 anti-racist protesters, including anarchists, communists and union leaders, who prevented the Guard from reaching their planned meeting place at the Mewata Armouries. Police then formed a human barrier between the two groups and blocked the movement of the counter-protesters while escorting the Aryan Guard down Stephen Avenue and up the steps of City Hall, where they waved flags proclaiming "White Pride Worldwide".[43] Members of the Aryan Guard also taunted local anti-racism activists whose home was fire bombed on February 12, 2008, while they and their four children were inside.[44] |
Through its various annexations, the following localities are now in Calgary.[45]
Fight against racism is far from over"
, Red Deer Advocate. March 25, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-06-18.