1946 in Canada
Years in Canada: | 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 |
Centuries: | 19th century · 20th century · 21st century |
Decades: | 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s |
Years: | 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 |
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Events from the year 1946 in Canada.
Incumbents
Federal government
- Governor General – Alexander Cambridge (until April 12) then Earl Alexander of Tunis[1]
- Prime Minister – William Lyon Mackenzie King
- Chief Justice – Thibaudeau Rinfret (Quebec)
- Parliament – 20th
Lieutenant governors
- Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John C. Bowen
- Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – William C Woodward (until October 1) then Charles Arthur Banks
- Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Roland Fairbairn McWilliams
- Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – David Laurence MacLaren
- Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Henry Ernest Kendall
- Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Albert Edward Matthews (until December 26) then Ray Lawson
- Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Joseph Alphonsus Bernard
- Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Eugène Fiset
- Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Reginald John Marsden Parker
Premiers
- Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
- Premier of British Columbia – John Hart
- Premier of Manitoba – Stuart Garson
- Premier of New Brunswick – John McNair
- Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Macdonald
- Premier of Ontario – George A. Drew
- Premier of Prince Edward Island – J. Walter Jones
- Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis
- Premier of Saskatchewan – Tommy Douglas
Events
- January 21 – The Bluenose sinks off Haiti.
- May 14 – The Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 is passed. It creates a Canadian citizenship separate from the British.
- May 31 – All Japanese-Canadians ordered deported to Japan.
- April 12 – Sir Harold Alexander appointed the new Governor General of Canada, replacing the Earl of Athlone.
- June 23 – The 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake affects Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia.
- June 27 – Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 is enacted, defining a Canadian citizen and including a reference to being a British subject.
- July 15 – A royal commission investigates a Soviet spy ring in Canada. Secret information was found to be leaked and among the Canadians held suspect was the one parliamentary delegate of the Labor-Progressive (Communist) Party.
- August 3 – A Canadian wheat agreement provided for British purchases of large amounts of Canadian wheat at prices considerably below the world market.
- October 14 – Canada Savings Bonds introduced for the first time.
- November 8 - Viola Desmond refuses to leave her seat in a movie theatre and is arrested.
- The Canadian Army Command and Staff College is established.
Sport
- April 9 - The Montreal Canadiens won their sixth Stanley Cup by defeating the Boston Bruins four games to one. The deciding Game 5 was played at the Montreal Forum.
- April 27 - The Manitoba Junior Hockey League's Winnipeg Monarchs won their third (and final) Memorial Cup by defeating the Ontario Hockey Association Toronto St. Michael's Majors 4 games to 3. All games were played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
- November - The New York Knicks won the first National Basketball Association game by defeating the Toronto Huskies 68-66 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
- November 30 - The Toronto Argonauts won their seventh Grey Cup by defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 28 to 6 in the 34th Grey Cup at Varsity Stadium in Toronto.
Births
January to March
- January 10 – Alexis Nihon, Jr., real estate businessman, Olympic wrestler for The Bahamas (1968) (d.2013)
- January 15 – Veronica Tennant, ballet dancer and dance and performance film producer and director
- January 17 – Domenic Troiano, rock guitarist (d.2005)
- January 22 – Serge Savard, ice hockey player
- January 30 – Jean-Paul Daoust, writer
- February 6 – Kate McGarrigle, folk music singer-songwriter (d.2010)
- March 1 – Gerry Boulet, rock singer (d.1990)
- March 5 – Richard Bell, musician (d.2007)
- March 6 – Marcel Proulx, politician
- March 7 – Elaine McCoy, politician (d. 2020)
- March 11 – Paul DeVillers, politician
- March 22 – Rivka Golani, viola player
April to June
- April – Doug Christie, lawyer and free speech activist (d.2013)
- April 11 – Donald Orchard, politician
- April 15 – David Chatters, politician
- April 26 – Lorne Nystrom, politician
- April 28 – Ginette Reno, author, composer, singer and actress
- May 17 – Joan Barfoot, novelist
- May 30 – Don Ferguson, actor and comedian
- June 6 – Judy Jarvis, dancer
- June 17 – Ernie Eves, politician and 33rd Premier of Ontario
- June 24 – David Collenette, politician
- June 25 – Andy Anstett, politician
- June 25 – Roméo Dallaire, senator, humanitarian, author and retired general
July to September
- July 1 – Rosalie Abella, jurist
- July 5 – Pierre-Marc Johnson, lawyer, physician, politician and 24th Premier of Quebec
- July 10 – Roger Abbott, comedian (d.2011)
- July 19 – Dennis Mills, politician and businessman
- August 8 – Richard Johnston, politician, educator and administrator
- August 29 – Leona Gom, poet and novelist
- September 4
- Eric Malling, television journalist (d.1998)
- Greg Sorbara, politician
- September 9 – Lawrence MacAulay, politician
October to December
- October 16 – Elizabeth Witmer, politician
- October 28 – Sharon Thesen, poet
- November 4 – Robert Davidson, artist
- November 12 – Peter Milliken, lawyer and politician
- November 17 – Petra Burka, figure skater, Olympic bronze medallist, World Champion and coach
- November 17 – Bob McBride, singer (d.1998)
- November 22 – Anne Wheeler, film and television writer, producer and director
- November 26 – Andreas Schroeder, poet, novelist and nonfiction writer
- December 14 – Paul Forseth, politician
- December 17 – Eugene Levy, actor, television director, producer, musician and writer
Deaths
- February 15 – Ernest Howard Armstrong, journalist, politician and Premier of Manitoba (b.1864)
- February 21 – Howard Ferguson, politician and 9th Premier of Ontario (b.1870)
- August 17 – John Patrick Barry, politician and lawyer (b.1893)
- September 9 – Aimé Boucher, politician and notary (b.1877)
- October 23 – Ernest Thompson Seton, author and wildlife artist (b.1860)
- December 6 – Charles Stewart, politician and 3rd Premier of Alberta (b.1868)
- December 25 – Charles Ernest Gault, politician (b.1861)
- December 27 – John Babington Macaulay Baxter, lawyer, jurist and 18th Premier of New Brunswick (b.1868)
- December 29 – James Thomas Milton Anderson, politician and 5th Premier of Saskatchewan (b.1878)
Full date unknown
- John Queen, politician (b.1882)
Historical Documents
Canadian issues in postwar Germany include pacification and recovery, export trade, reparations, and punishment of war crimes[2]
British Prime Minister asks PM King not to withdraw occupation forces from Germany, arguing U.K. should not be expected to do all[3]
"Purely and simply the extermination of allied airmen" - evidence that captured flyers accused of "terroristic attacks" were murdered[4]
Testimony against SS physician conducting biological experiments at Dachau concentration camp[5]
Nazis fought "an intellectual battle, the goal of which was the destruction of Christianity and the church"[6]
"A giant quantity of valuables" - testimony that SS profited from clothing, jewellery and other belongings of murdered Jews[7]
PM King announces royal commission to report on leaks of secrets, including to "a foreign mission in Ottawa"[8]
Soviets say PM's announcement tied to "unbridled anti-soviet campaign[...]in the Canadian press and on[...]radio"[9]
"In knowledge, with a sense of proportion" - editorial says there should be no hysteria in hunt for communists[10]
In charge to jury at first espionage trial, judge says conspiracy "touches the very nerve centre of our national existence"[11]
Royal Commission on Espionage final report alleges "spy rings" include federal government employees and military officers[12]
Parsing reaction to Churchill's Iron Curtain speech, Lester Pearson finds U.S. hardening toward U.S.S.R. "depressing if not dangerous"[13]
Real possibility that food situation in Europe, India, China and elsewhere will worsen from "low caloric intake" to starvation[14]
To help end world crisis, Canadians should conserve food and expect less meat, dairy, beer and spirits[15]
Canadian Wheat Board supports giving U.K. priority for wheat over UN Relief and Rehabilitation Administration[16]
"Selective attraction[, not] repulsion" - Senate committee wants end to Immigration Act centred on exclusion ("Asiatic" excepted)[17]
Once veterans' employment has been seen to, Canadians should expect refugee Poles, Ukrainians, Mennonites and ethnic Germans[18]
English woman and baby make voyage with 1,000 other war brides to Halifax and take train to her husband in Calgary[19]
Canadian citizenship, separate from British subject status, created by act specifying how it can be earned and lost, plus status of aliens[20]
Head of U.S. atomic research criticizes U.S.A.-U.K.-Canada agreement to jointly develop atomic energy for peace[21]
U.S.A. asks that Loran network, useful for navigation, guided missiles and early warning, continue in North (request accepted)[22]
Responses from several reserves (Nanaimo to Shubenacadie) to Parliament's query about treaty rights, bands, schools, franchise etc.[23]
Joey Smallwood advocates Newfoundland entering Confederation by laying out federal government's "New Deal" offer to provinces[24]
Film: sleighs loaded and pulled by tractor across Great Slave Lake to Yellowknife[25]
References
- Lentz, Harris M. Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. Routledge. p. 142. ISBN 978-1-134-26490-2.
- Letter of Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs to Head, Military Mission[...], Germany (January 29, 1946), Chapter II, Peace Settlement in Europe; Part 2, Germany; Section A, Occupation and Control, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 80. Accessed 19 August 2020 https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=11361 (scroll down to "III. Canadian Interests in Germany")
- Telegram to Secretary of State for External Affairs (January 3, 1946), Chapter II, Peace Settlement in Europe; Part 2, Germany; Section A, Occupation and Control, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 77. Accessed 19 August 2020 https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=11358
- "Forty-Sixth Day: Wednesday, 30th January, 1946," The Trial of German Major War Criminals, Sitting at Nuremberg, Germany, Vol. 5, pgs. 295-8. Accessed 24 August 2020 http://www.nizkor.com/hweb/imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-05/tgmwc-05-46-07.shtml
- "One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth Day: Saturday, 3rd August, 1946," The Trial of German Major War Criminals, Sitting at Nuremberg, Germany, Vol. 20, pgs. 258-9. Accessed 24 August 2020 http://www.nizkor.com/hweb/imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-20/tgmwc-20-194-04.shtml (scroll down to "Dr. Rascher")
- "Twenty-Ninth Day: Tuesday, January 8th, 1946," The Trial of German Major War Criminals, Sitting at Nuremberg, Germany, Vol. 4, pgs. 46-7. Accessed 24 August 2020 http://www.nizkor.com/hweb/imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-04/tgmwc-04-29-01.shtml (scroll down to "Pastoral Letter")
- "Affidavit of Oswald Pohl" (translation; July 15, 1946), Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression; Supplement A, pgs. 805-7 (PDF pgs. 830-2). Accessed 5 August 2020 https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/NT_Nazi-conspiracy.html (click Supplement A)
- Department of External Affairs press release (February 15, 1946), Chapter XII, Relations with Individual Countries; Part 18, Soviet Union, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 1245. Accessed 19 August 2020 https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=12363
- Telegram of Chargé d'Affaires (Moscow, February 21, 1946), Chapter XII, Relations with Individual Countries; Part 18, Soviet Union, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 1247. Accessed 19 August 2020 https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=12365
- "Let's Avoid Hysteria" (excerpts), Ottawa Journal (March 22, 1946). Accessed 24 August 2020 https://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/norman/archives/newspaperormagazinearticle/5561en.html
- Canadian Press, "Mazerall Is Found Guilty In Soviet Espionage Plot[...]," The Montreal Gazette, Vol. CLXXV, No. 122 (May 23, 1946), pg. 1. Accessed 24 August 2020 https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19460523&printsec=frontpage
- Canadian Press, "Soviet 5th Column in Canada Charged; Probe Reveals Spy Activities," The Winnipeg Tribune, 57th Year, No. 166 (July 15, 1946), pg. 1. Accessed 24 August 2020 https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3A1843166
- Despatch of Lester Pearson (Washington, March 11, 1946), Chapter XII, Relations with Individual Countries; Part 18, Soviet Union, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 1248. Accessed 19 August 2020 https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=12366
- Memorandum of Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs (February 19, 1946), Chapter VII, Food Crisis, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 343. Accessed 19 August 2020 https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=11663
- Privy Council Office, "World Food Problem" memorandum (February 7, 1946), Chapter VII, Food Crisis, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 339. Accessed 19 August 2020 https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=11657
- Letter of Canadian Wheat Board chief commissioner (February 3, 1946), Chapter VII, Food Crisis, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 337. Accessed 19 August 2020 https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=11365
- "Report; The Act," Proceedings of the Standing Committee on Immigration and Labour (August 13, 1946), pg. 310. Accessed 7 October 2020 https://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.com_SOC_2002_3_1/382?r=0&s=1
- Memorandum of Second Political Division (January 3, 1946), Chapter IV, Immigrants and Refugees; Part 1, General, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 211. Accessed 19 August 2020 https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=11403
- Eswyn Lyster, "My Journey to Canada on the Mauretania II," Canadian War Brides. Accessed 24 August 2020 http://www.canadianwarbrides.com/lystere-2.asp
- "An Act respecting Citizenship, Nationality, Naturalization and Status of Aliens" (June 27, 1946). Accessed 1 September 2020 https://historyofrights.ca/wp-content/uploads/statutes/CN_Citizenship.pdf
- United States Department of State, "Memorandum by the Commanding General, Manhattan Engineer District[...]" (February 13, 1946), Foreign Policy Aspects of United States Development of Atomic Energy, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946; Volume I, General; The United Nations, pgs. 1204-7. Accessed 25 August 2020 http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/FRUS/FRUS-idx?type=turn&entity=FRUS.FRUS1946v01.p1226&id=FRUS.FRUS1946v01
- Cabinet Defence Committee, "Extension of Loran Program" memorandum (May 3, 1946), Chapter XI, Relations with the United States; Part 3, Defence; Section A, Sovereignty in the Arctic, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 12, pg. 906. Accessed 19 August 2020 https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/faitc-aecic/history/2013-05-03/www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp@intRefid=11974
- "Appendices," Special Joint Committee of the Senate and the House of Commons Appointed to Examine and Consider the Indian Act; Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, No. 21 (August 13, 1946), pg. vii. Accessed 7 October 2020 https://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.com_SOCHOC_2002_2_1/927?r=0&s=1
- Letter-to-the-editor of Joseph R. Smallwood, The (St. John's, Newfoundland) Daily News (March 13, 1946). Accessed 25 August 2020 http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/nfldhistory/SmallwoodLetter10.htm
- British Pathé, "Northern Canada." Accessed 10 May 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-QFvsv63ZU