Events from the year 1949 in Canada .
Provincial governments [ edit ]
Lieutenant governors [ edit ]
Territorial governments [ edit ]
Joseph Smallwood signs the document bringing Newfoundland into Confederation
Arts and literature [ edit ]
Pauline Marois
Marc Garneau
January 24 - Guy Charron , ice hockey player
February 14 - Denis Rocan , politician
February 23 - Marc Garneau , astronaut, engineer and politician
March 3 - Elijah Harper , politician (d. 2013 )
March 16 - Victor Garber , actor and singer
March 16 - Jane Haist , discus thrower and shot putter
March 25 - Jean Potvin , ice hockey player (d. 2022 )
March 29 - Pauline Marois , social worker, civil servant and 30th premier of Quebec
March 30 - Liza Frulla , politician
Ray Henault
April 4 - Nava Starr , chess player and a Women's International Master
April 6 - Réginald Bélair , politician
April 8 - Claudette Bradshaw , politician
April 14 - Percy Mockler , politician and Senator
April 16 - Sandy Hawley , jockey
April 18 - Jean-Paul Saint-Pierre, politician, Mayor of Russell, Ontario (since 2010) (d. 2014 )
April 26 - Ray Henault , general and Chief of Defence Staff
May 6 - Diane Ablonczy , politician
May 20 - Sheldon Oberman , children's writer (d. 2004 )
May 20 - Dave Thomas , comedian and actor
June 7 - Christopher W. Morris , philosopher and academic
June 21 - Jane Urquhart , writer
June 22 - Wayne Easter , politician
Danny Williams
July 3 - Jan Smithers , actress
July 11 - Liona Boyd , classical guitarist
July 12 - Ted Barris , writer, journalist, professor, and broadcaster
August 4 - Danny Williams , politician and 9th Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador
August 13 - Bobby Clarke , ice hockey player
August 21 - Larry Fisher , murderer (d. 2015 )
August 30 - Don Boudria , politician and Minister
September 6 - Carole-Marie Allard , politician
September 12 - Kevin Major , author
September 26 - Marie Tifo , actress
October to December [ edit ]
Jim Flaherty
October 10 - Michel Létourneau , politician (d. 2019 )
October 24 - Robert Pickton , serial killer and pig farmer (d. 2024 )
October 25 - Laurie Skreslet , mountaineer, first Canadian to reach the summit of Mount Everest
October 27 - Garth Drabinsky , film and theatrical producer and entrepreneur
November 27 - Nick Discepola , politician
November 28 - Paul Shaffer , musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian and composer
November 29 - Stan Rogers , folk musician and songwriter (d. 1983 )
December 13 - Denise Leblanc-Bantey , politician (d. 1999 )
December 19 - Larry Bagnell , politician
December 21 - John Loewen , businessman and politician
December 30 - Jim Flaherty , politician and Minister (d. 2014 )
Historical documents [ edit ]
Illingworth cartoon depicts Stalin -shaped mushroom cloud overshadowing western Europe and North America[ 4]
Joint US-Canadian defence strategy must address not only huge Soviet force in Europe , but its recently revealed atomic weapon capability [ 5]
"This struggle [with Communism] is coming closer and closer" - Canada should be aware that it has U.S.S.R. on its northern border[ 6]
Denial of NATO "automatic commitment " comes from old idea of U.S.A. and Canada as "producers and not consumers of security"[ 7]
Despite disapproval, Canada would strengthen its Article 2 on cultural, economic and social collaboration in draft NATO treaty[ 8]
After prolonged objection to NATO treaty Article 2 by U.S. Senators, they publicly praise it as one reason for ratification[ 9]
U.S.A. undermines Canada's export economy and aid to European recovery , and unfairly criticizes defence spending[ 10]
Discussion of suggested USA-UK-Canada federation, UK's place in Europe, and Europe's economic decline as world industrializes [ 11]
"Spectre of starvation, not only of the body, but also of the mind" - Canadians organize for cultural reconstruction of Europe[ 12]
Canada raises $1 million for aid to devastated countries, including 5,000 school food boxes, 30,000 library books, and artists' equipment[ 13]
PM Nehru explains India's "championship of freedom and racial equality in Asia" and asks Canada's support for liberty and against want[ 14]
National Film Board 's history of independent international distribution bothers Department of External Affairs[ 15]
"(UNESCO should reject) projects not likely to achieve immediately useful results" - Example of Canada's role as helpful fixer[ 16]
Letters of appreciation about (and from) displaced persons brought from Europe by government to work in Canada[ 17]
Cabinet orders immigration officials to "deal favourably" with German husbands, wives, children (under 18) and senior parents of legal residents[ 18]
Given their unpopularity in Canada, External Affairs urged to be judicious about allowing Germans in[ 19]
"Running a war and a wide-open immigration policy at the same time[ – there's] no alternative" - Newspaper columnist on Israel [ 20]
Canadian leadership tries to settle dispute in refugee organization over Jewish emigration to Palestine conflict zone[ 21]
Canadian diplomat on elimination of corruption and black market and other positive changes in China following Communist takeover [ 22]
"Undesirable contacts" - Federal official is leery about stationing Black U.S. troops near Inuit [ 23]
Hydro-electricity, boundary waters, roads and railways: Canada wants information on U.S. interest in northwestern North America [ 24]
Historical and diplomatic reasons for retaining "Alert " name for joint U.S.-Canadian weather station on Ellesmere Island [ 25]
"You are joining a good country" - Prime Minister St. Laurent 's speech on Newfoundland's entry into Confederation [ 26]
"The Catholic Syndicates appear to have shunned [a] settlement" - Violence and unspoken motivation behind Quebec's Asbestos Strike [ 27]
Film: newsreel of strikers, strikebreakers and police in Asbestos, Quebec[ 28]
"The most powerful social and moral authority in the community" - Sociologist says unions are replacing church in Windsor, Ont. [ 29]
Discussions between George Hislop and Jim Egan are roots of Toronto-area gay liberation [ 30]
Fearing recent total war effort may result in permanent checks on individual rights, senator introduces draft bill of rights [ 31]
"A more complete[...]Canadian democracy" - Canadian Jewish Congress promotes national institutions for cultural understanding[ 32]
Massey Commission suggests questions on influences and possibilities to Ernest MacMillan for his critical study of Canadian music [ 33]
"A cultural renaissance[...]from the grass roots" - Calgary Allied Arts Council urges Massey Commission to back community arts[ 34]
"A new and gifted player" - Jazz at the Philharmonic presents Oscar Peterson 's debut at Carnegie Hall , New York[ 35]
Film: newsreel of cruise ship burning in Toronto harbour with scores of lives lost[ 36]
Advertisement: CP Air staged flight to Australia with Honolulu and Fiji stopovers[ 37]
^ "King George VI | The Canadian Encyclopedia" . www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca . Retrieved 4 December 2022 .
^ Lentz, Harris M. (4 February 2014). Heads of States and Governments Since 1945 . Routledge. p. 142. ISBN 978-1-134-26490-2 .
^ "Deaths | ALEXANDER--Archibald G." (PDF) . The New York Times . 4 April 1978. Retrieved 26 April 2019 .
^ Leslie Gilbert Illingworth, (no caption), Daily Mail (September 26, 1949). Accessed 18 September 2020 https://archive.cartoons.ac.uk/record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=ILW1661
^ "Extract from Minutes of Meeting of Cabinet Defence Committee" (November 23, 1949), Chapter XI, Relations with the United States; Part 3, Other Defence Issues; Section B, Joint Defence Plans and Requirements of Armed Forces, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 918. Accessed 22 September 2020
^ Robert W. Keyserlingk, "Between the Iron and the Ice Curtain" (November 10, 1949), The Empire Club of Canada Addresses, pgs. 84-94. Accessed 18 September 2020
^ "Secretary of State for External Affairs to Ambassador in United States" (February 17, 1949), Chapter IV, North Atlantic Security; Part 1, Negotiation of the North Atlantic Treaty, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 290. Accessed 16 September 2020
^ Lester Pearson's memo to Prime Minister (January 4, 1949), Chapter IV, North Atlantic Security; Part 1, Negotiation of the North Atlantic Treaty, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 263. Accessed 16 September 2020
^ Hume Wrong's telegram to Lester Pearson (March 25, 1949), Chapter IV, North Atlantic Security; Part 1, Negotiation of the North Atlantic Treaty, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 339. Accessed 16 September 2020
^ Lester Pearson's memo to Prime Minister (February 9, 1949), Chapter VII, International Economic Relations; Part 3, Canadian-American Finance and Trade, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 518. Accessed 22 September 2020
^ Letter of ambassador to U.K. (August 23, 1949), Chapter VII, International Economic Relations; Part 10, Implications of European Integration, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 683. Accessed 22 September 2020
^ Canadian Council for Reconstruction through UNESCO, "A Report of Activities, July 1947 - March 1949" (April 11, 1949), Submission to Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters, and Sciences. Accessed 17 September 2020
^ United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, "Canadian Council for Reconstruction through UNESCO" allocation (May 10, 1949), Meeting of Experts from Devastated Countries, Paris. Accessed 27 August 2020
^ "Appendix A; Address of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru" (October 24, 1949), House of Commons Debates, 21st Parliament, 1st Session, Vol. 2, pg. 1104. Accessed 29 August 2021
^ "Annex: Relations between the Department of External Affairs and the National Film Board" (June 7, 1949), Chapter XV, National Film Board, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 1069. Accessed 22 September 2020
^ "Secretary of State for External Affairs to Ambassador in France" (September 14, 1949), Chapter III, United Nations; Part 3, Economic and Social Council and Specialized Agencies; Section G, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 249. Accessed 18 September 2020
^ "Appendix 'C'" Proceedings of the Standing committee on Immigration and Labour (March 22, 1949), pgs. 28-35. Accessed 7 October 2020
^ "Immigration; admission of enemy aliens (German nationals)," Cabinet Conclusions (September 13, 1949), pgs. 7–8 Library and Archives Canada. Accessed 15 October 2023
^ "Memorandum from Head, Consular Division" (October 11, 1949), Chapter IX, Immigration; Part 1, Exit and Entry Controls; Section C, Admission of Enemy Aliens, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 735. Accessed 17 September
^ Margaret Aitken, "The Birth of A Nation" (March 3, 1949), The Empire Club of Canada Addresses, pgs. 245-53. Accessed 17 September
^ "Responsibility of I.R.O. for Financing Transport of Jewish Refugees from Europe to Palestine" (January 20, 1949), Chapter III, United Nations; Part 3, Economic and Social Council and Specialized Agencies; Section D, International Refugee Organization, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 237. Accessed 14 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=8849 (see compromises on pgs. 238-9)
^ Chargé d'affaires to Secretary of State for External Relations (excerpts; December 29, 1949), "Death of a Diplomat: Herbert Norman & the Cold War," Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History. Accessed 18 September 2020
^ "Deputy Minister of Mines and Resources to Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs" (April 23, 1949), Chapter XI, Relations with the United States; Part 3, Other Defence Issues; Section F, Use of United States Black Troops in Canada, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 944. Accessed 21 September 2020
^ "Deputy Minister of Mines and Resources to Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs" (November 9, 1949), Chapter XI, Relations with the United States; Part 2, Sovereignty; Section A, Arctic; Sub-Section I, General, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 877. Accessed 18 September 2020
^ "Memorandum from Acting Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs to Secretary of State for External Affairs" (March 7, 1949), Chapter XI, Relations with the United States; Part 2, Sovereignty; Section A, Arctic; Sub-Section IV, Joint Arctic Weather Stations Programme, Documents on Canadian External Relations, Volume 15, pg. 886. Accessed 18 September 2020
^ Louis St. Laurent, "Address by Rt. Hon. Louis S. St-Laurent, Prime Minister of Canada, on the Occasion of the Entry of Newfoundland into Confederation as a Province of Canada" (1949). Accessed 21 September 2020
^ "Aux Barricades!," Time magazine (Canadian edition, May 16, 1949), pg. 16, and "The Struggle in Asbestos," The (Montreal) Gazette (May 16, 1949), pg. 8. Accessed 21 September 2020 http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/docs/asbestos/ (scroll down to the two titles)
^ British Pathé, "Strike Paralyses Canadian Town." Accessed 10 May 2020
^ Canadian Press, "Unions Replacing Church Is Claim" (truncated), The Windsor Daily Star (March 11, 1949). Accessed 21 September 2020 https://projects.windsorpubliclibrary.com/digi/sar/part7.htm (scroll down to article image)
^ "John Grube's Interview with George Hislop" pgs. 28-33. Accessed 18 May 2020
^ "Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms motion" (November 3, 1949), Senate Debates, 21st Parliament, 1st Session: Vol. 1, pgs. 215-18. Accessed 14 September 2020
^ "Canadian Jewish Congress. Submission to the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences" (1949). Accessed 21 September 2020
^ Letter of Vincent Massey (September 21, 1949). Accessed 21 September 2020 https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/lac-bac/sir_ernest_macmillan-ef/www.lac-bac.gc.ca/4/6/m7-203-e.html (scroll down to Letter from Vincent Massey)
^ "Calgary Allied Arts Council. Brief to the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences" (1949). Accessed 21 September 2020
^ R.B., "Jazz Concert; Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson Heard" New York Post. Accessed 21 September 2020
^ British Pathé, "Noronic Cruise Ship Destroyed By Fire" (1949). Accessed 27 July 2020
^ Canadian Pacific Air Lines, "Now Fly to Australia; Canadian Pacific style; sleep on land by night! travel by air in the day!" New York Times (July 12, 1949). Accessed 14 September 2020
1949 in North America
Sovereign states Dependencies and other territories