1950 in Canada
Years in Canada: | 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 |
Centuries: | 19th century · 20th century · 21st century |
Decades: | 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s |
Years: | 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 |
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Historically significant |
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Events from the year 1950 in Canada.
Incumbents
Federal government
Lieutenant governors
- Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John C. Bowen (until February 1) then John J. Bowlen
- Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Charles Arthur Banks (until October 1) then Clarence Wallace
- Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Roland Fairbairn McWilliams
- Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – David Laurence MacLaren
- Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Leonard Outerbridge
- Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – John Alexander Douglas McCurdy
- Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Ray Lawson
- Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Joseph Alphonsus Bernard (until October 4) then Thomas William Lemuel Prowse
- Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Eugène Fiset (until October 3) then Gaspard Fauteux
- Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – John Michael Uhrich
Premiers
- Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
- Premier of British Columbia – Byron Johnson
- Premier of Manitoba – Douglas Campbell
- Premier of New Brunswick – John McNair
- Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood
- Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Macdonald
- Premier of Ontario – Leslie Frost
- Premier of Prince Edward Island – J. Walter Jones
- Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis
- Premier of Saskatchewan – Tommy Douglas
Commissioners
- Commissioner of Yukon – John Edward Gibben (until August 15) then Andrew Harold Gibson
- Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside (until November 14) then Hugh Andrew Young
Events
- January 14 - The first non-stop trans-Canada flight is made
- February 14 - Nancy Hodges of British Columbia becomes the first woman in the Commonwealth elected speaker of a legislature in Canadian history.
- Early May - The Winnipeg Flood along the Red River causes immense damage and one death in Winnipeg
- May 29 - The St. Roch becomes the first vessel to circumnavigate North America
- August 7 - Canada joins a United Nations force to fight in Korean War
- August 22 – August 30 - Rail workers strike shuts down much of the Canadian economy
- October 31 - The oil pipeline linking Edmonton to Sarnia is completed
- November 28 - Canada joins onto the Colombo Plan
- December 18 - Korean War: First Canadian troops arrive in Korea.
Full date unknown
- Cité libre magazine is first published
- British Columbia Provincial Police are disestablished.
Arts and literature
Awards
- See 1950 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and nominees for those awards.
- Stephen Leacock Award: Earle Birney, Turvey
Sport
- April 23 - The Detroit Red Wings win their fourth Stanley Cup by defeating the New York Rangers 4 games to 3. Due to scheduling conflicts at Madison Square Garden, all of the Rangers' home games were played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto
- May 6 - The Quebec Junior Hockey League's Montreal Junior Canadiens win their first Memorial Cup by defeating the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Regina Pats 4 games to 1. All games were held at Montreal Forum.
- November 25 - The Toronto Argonauts win their ninth Grey Cup by defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 13-0 in the 38th Grey Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto
Births
January to March
- January 5
- John Manley, lawyer, businessman, politician and Minister
- Charlie Richmond, sound designer and engineer
- January 13 - Joe Fontana, politician
- January 17 - Jean Poirier, politician
- January 18 - Gilles Villeneuve, motor racing driver (d.1982)
- February 8 - Keith Milligan, politician
- February 9 - Tom Wappel, politician
- February 12 - Michael Ironside, actor, voice actor, producer, film director and screenwriter
- March 6 - Bruce Simpson, pole vaulter
- March 17 - Jackson Davies, actor
- March 23 - Jerry Storie, politician
- March 23 - Ralph Eichler, politician
- March 26 - Martin Short, comedian, actor, writer, singer and producer
April to June
- April 1 - Daniel Paillé, leader of the Bloc Québécois
- April 16 - Robert Dutil, Canadian businessman and politician
- April 19 - Gérard Asselin, politician and MP for Charlevoix and Manicouagan (1993-2011) (d. 2013)
- May 2 - Jose Kusugak, Inuit politician (d. 2011)
- May 10 – Dale Wilson, voice actor
- May 12 - Louise Portal, actress, singer, and director
- May 27 - Brent St. Denis, politician
- June 1 - Perrin Beatty, corporate executive and politician
- June 7 - John Wood, Olympic canoeist (d. 2013)
- June 21 - Anne Carson, poet, essayist, translator and professor of Classics and comparative literature
July to September
- July 5 - Deepak Obhrai, politician
- July 6 - Hélène Scherrer, politician and Minister
- July 7 - Leon Benoit, politician
- July 18 - Jack Layton, politician, leader of New Democratic Party of Canada (2003-2011) and Leader of the Official Opposition (2011) (d.2011)
- July 20 - Lucille Lemay, archer[2]
- August 2 - Sue Rodriguez, advocate for assisted suicide (d.1994)
- August 6 - Carole Pope, rock singer-songwriter
- August 15 - Ron Lemieux, ice hockey player and politician
- August 16 - Stockwell Day, politician
- August 31 - Anne McLellan, academic, politician, Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
- September 8 - Richard Henry Bain, criminal who is charged with the September 4, 2012, Montreal, Quebec, shooting that killed Denis Blanchette.
- September 9 - Janis Babson (d.1961)
- September 16 - Sheila Fraser, Auditor General of Canada
- September 18 - Darryl Sittler, ice hockey player
October to December
- October 17 – Val Ross, writer and journalist (d.2008)
- October 31 - John Candy, comedian and actor (d.1994)
- November 2 - Wendy Lill, playwright and politician
- November 2 - Daryl Reid, politician
- November 5 - Susan Nattrass, sport shooter
- November 8 - Dennis Fentie, politician and 7th Premier of the Yukon
- November 14 - Colleen Peterson, singer (d.1996)
- December 18 - Martha Johnson, pop singer and songwriter
- December 20 - Carolyn Bennett, politician
- December 21 - Lap-Chee Tsui, geneticist
Full date unknown
- David Barr, Commander of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command
- Denis Simpson, singer and actor (d. 2010)
Deaths
January to June
- February 7 - Thomas Langton Church, politician and Mayor of Toronto (b.1870)
- April 7 - Walter Huston, actor (b.1884)
- May 15 - Hervé-Edgar Brunelle, politician and lawyer (b.1891)
- June 28 - James Allison Glen, politician, Minister and Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada (b.1877)
July to December
- July 22 - William Lyon Mackenzie King, lawyer, economist, university professor, civil servant, journalist, politician and 10th Prime Minister of Canada (b.1874)
- July 25 - Gleason Belzile, politician (b.1898)
- August 1 - Humphrey Mitchell, politician and trade unionist (b.1894)
- August 2 - Pierre-François Casgrain, politician and Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada (b.1886)
- November 11 - John Knox Blair, politician, physician and teacher (b.1875)
Full date unknown
- William Sanford Evans, politician (b.1869)
See also
Historical Documents
North Korea invades South and Opposition Leader says Canada is involved through UN role and because of immediacy of modern world [3]
Moral, not strategic, stakes require defeat of North Korea, so that "naked aggression" will not destroy state created by UN [4]
Film: newsreel of Canadian airmen leaving for Korea as U.S. troops fight on defensive near Pusan invasion beachhead [5]
Canada and U.S.A. agree to further defence industry mobilization at level of cooperation seen in Second World War [6]
"It is the function of diplomacy to seek accommodation" - Canada and allies send in diplomats as well as military to end Korean War [7]
Canadian troops arrive by ship at Pusan, Korea and U.S. Army band plays "If I Knew You Were Coming I'd Have Baked a Cake" [8]
"Uneasy equilibrium" - In countering Chinese attack in Korean War, Canada and allies must not provoke U.S.S.R. to start world war [9]
"Growing atmosphere of fear, suspicion, frustration, and isolation" - Authorities in Eastern Bloc countries harass diplomats [10]
"Our first duty to civilization is[...]sufficient military strength" - Prime Minister St. Laurent on liberalism against totalitarianism [11]
For federal-provincial accord on bill of rights, Senate committee says "control within Canada of the Canadian Constitution" is required[12]
Though "coloured troops introduced venereal disease[...]during the war," Canada can hardly refuse Black GIs since U.S. military integration [13]
"There is discrimination against Indians in the matter of immigration[...]and admission of relatives of Indians already settled" [14]
With Canada's "serious shortage of female domestics and nurses' aids," loans should go to Europeans in "this class of immigrant" [15]
"We can ASK...CRUSADE...DEMAND...and WIN" - Alton C. Parker and other Windsor, Ont. Blacks organize to oppose segregation [16]
Photo: Emily General from Six Nations of the Grand River shows Haldimand Treaty to members of UN Commission on Human Rights [17]
"Vast volume of water into every stream" - Signs of major flood event noted before Red River flood surge enters Manitoba [18]
Film: newsreel of Winnipeg flood extent and evacuations [19]
"Small measure of our gratitude for all the help we have had" - Britons donate unique household items to flood victims [20]
"Too willing to accept people at their face value" - RCMP security report on Canadian diplomat Herbert Norman [21]
Film: newsreel of parachute personnel jumping from Dakota aircraft on practice rescue mission out of RCAF Station Trenton [22]
References
- Lentz, Harris M. Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. Routledge. p. 142. ISBN 978-1-134-26490-2.
- "Lucille LEMAY - Olympic Archery | Canada". International Olympic Committee. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
- George Drew, "Supply; Department of National Defence" (June 26, 1950), House of Commons Debates, 21st Parliament, 2nd Session: Vol. 4, pg. 4119. Accessed 29 September 2020 https://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.debates_HOC2102_04/823?r=0&s=2
- "Secretary of State for External Affairs to All Missions Abroad" (August [sic; June?] 28, 1950), Chapter II, Korean Conflict; Part 1, Creation of United Nations' Unified Command, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 16, pg. 16. Accessed 30 September 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=7676
- British Pathé, "Korea; Beach-Head Defences Strengthened" (1950). Accessed 27 July 2020 https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVA5SSPO6P2K69UQ4F1LHRLKI9Y6-CRISIS-IN-KOREA-COINCIDING-WITH-NEWS-OF-ALL-OUT-COMMUNIST-ATTACK
- United States Department of State, Letter to Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair (September 22, 1950), Foreign Relations of the United States, 1950; The United Nations; The Western Hemisphere; Canada, pgs. 585-6. Accessed 29 September 2020 http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/FRUS/FRUS-idx?type=turn&entity=FRUS.FRUS1950v02.p0601&id=FRUS.FRUS1950v02&isize=M
- "17. Excerpts from a broadcast by the Secretary of State for External Affairs over the Trans-Canada Network, December 5, 1950," Documents on the Korean Crisis (1951), pgs. 16-17. Accessed 28 September 2020 http://www.umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/archives/canada_war/tribune/website/clippings/korea/Documents_on_the_Korean_Crisis18.shtml http://www.umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/archives/canada_war/tribune/website/clippings/korea/Documents_on_the_Korean_Crisis19.shtml
- War diary, 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (December 18, 1950), PDF pg. 4. Accessed 28 September 2020 https://archives.ppcli.com/2vp-war-diary-dec-1950 song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18fL82AppJg
- United States Department of State, "Korea: Action in the United Nations" (External Affairs memorandum, December 27, 1950), The Period from November 28 to December 31, 1950[...], Foreign Relations of the United States, 1950; Korea, pgs. 1618-19. Accessed 28 September 2020 http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/FRUS/FRUS-idx?type=turn&entity=FRUS.FRUS1950v07.p1637&id=FRUS.FRUS1950v07
- External Affairs memorandum (March 2, 1950), Chapter I, Conduct of External Relations; Part 1, Diplomatic and Consular Representation; Section D, Iron Curtain Missions: Assessment, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 16, pg. 7. Accessed 29 September 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=7028
- Louis St. Laurent, "The Preservation of Civilization" (October 27, 1950). Accessed 28 September 2020 https://www.nlc-bnc.ca/primeministers/h4-4017-e.html http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/documents/leaders/Louis_St_Laurent/Canada_and_The_Cold_War.html
- "Report" (June 21, 1950), Proceedings of the Special Committee on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, pgs. 305-6. Accessed 7 October 2020 https://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.com_SOC_2102_2_1/409?r=0&s=1
- "Memorandum from Defence Liaison Division to Under Secretary of State for External Affairs" (August 25, 1950), Chapter VIII, Relations with the United States; Part 1, Defence Issues; Section G, Establishment of United States Northeast Command, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 16, pg. 847. Accessed 30 September 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=7868
- "Memorandum of High Commission of India, November 7, 1950: Immigration of Indians into Canada," Chapter VII, Commonwealth Relations; Part 4, Relations with Individual Countries; Section B, India: Immigration, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 16, pg. 706. Accessed 30 September 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=7726
- "Cabinet Document[:] Loans to Immigrants" (May 17, 1950), Chapter IX, Western Europe; Part 1, General; Section E, Immigration, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 16, pg. 964. Accessed 30 September 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=7985
- Central Citizens' Association for the Advancement of Coloured People flyer (November 16, 1950). Accessed 28 September 2020 http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/explore/online/alvin_mccurdy/big/big_32_flyer.aspx
- United Nations, "Indian Tribesmen Visit United Nations," Photo #140569 (May 8, 1950). Accessed 28 September 2020 http://www.unmultimedia.org/s/photo/detail/140/0140569.html
- "Background to Disaster," "Call 320;" A Documentary Record of the 1950 Manitoba Flood and Red Cross Activities in the Disaster, pgs. 7-11. Accessed 28 September 2020 http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/7174/10.html
- British Pathé, "Winnipeg's Flood Peril Grows" (1950). Accessed 27 July 2020 https://www.britishpathe.com/video/winnipegs-flood-peril-grows
- Women's Voluntary Services, "Token Gifts for Canada," The W.V.S. Bulletin, No. 127 (July 1950), pg. 7. Accessed 7 August 2020 http://catalogue.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/calmview/Record.aspx?id=WRVSA%26HC%2fWRVS%2fHQ%2fPUB%2fBUL%2fBUL-1950-07
- "RCMP Report on Norman" (November 27, 1950), "Death of a Diplomat: Herbert Norman & the Cold War," Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History. Accessed 28 September 2020 https://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/norman/archives/governmentdocument/5470en.html
- British Pathé, "Air Rescue Practice Put To The Test" (1950). Accessed 27 July 2020 https://www.britishpathe.com/video/air-rescue-practise-put-to-the-test