1885 in Canada

Events from the year 1885 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

Monarch – Victoria

Federal government

Governor General – [Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Canadian Parliament|5th Marquess of Lansdowne|Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice]
Prime Minister – John A. Macdonald
Chief Justice – William Johnstone Ritchie
Parliament – 5th

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

Premiers

Territorial governments

Lieutenant governors

Events

March 26 – Louis Riel and the Métis battle the North-West Mounted Police at Duck Lake
March 30 – North-West Rebellion: The Looting of Battleford begins. It will continue until April 24 when the Militia reach the town.
April 2 – North-West Rebellion: In the Frog Lake Massacre, Cree warriors kill nine settler civilians and take 70 captive
April 24 – North-West Rebellion: Battle of Fish Creek fought between Canadian Militia and the Métis
May 2 – North-West Rebellion: Battle of Cut Knife
May 9–12 – North-West Rebellion: Battle of Batoche the Métis are defeated in battle
May 15 – Riel surrenders near Batoche, District of Saskatchewan, and is arrested
May 28 – North-West Rebellion: Battle of Frenchman's Butte
June 3 – North-West Rebellion: Battle of Loon Lake. The last Cree resistance is shattered.
July 2 – Big Bear captured.
July 6 – Riel is charged with six counts of high treason.
July 20 – The trial of Louis Riel begins in Regina, District of Assiniboia
July 20 – The Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 was enacted. The act imposed a $50 head tax on Chinese immigrants, with the exceptions of diplomats, government representatives, tourists, merchants, "men of science", and students. The act came after a big wave of Chinese immigrants going to Canada.
August 1 – Riel is found guilty and sentenced to death
September 9 – The Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench dismisses Riel's appeal
September 15 – Northwest Territories election
October 22 – The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council refuses to hear Riel's appeal
October 31 – Newfoundland election: Robert Thorburn's Reforms win a majority
November 7 – The Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway at Craigellachie, British Columbia. John A. Macdonald receives a telegram announcing that the first train from Montreal in Quebec is approaching the Pacific.
November 16 – Riel is hanged in Regina.
November 27 – Hangings at Battleford: Wandering Spirit, Round the Sky, Bad Arrow, Miserable Man, Iron Body, Little Bear, Crooked Leg and Man Without Blood are hanged for murders committed during the Frog Lake Massacre and the Looting of Battleford. It is the largest mass execution in Canadian history.

Full date unknown

Banff Hot Springs Reserve is established. It will be renamed Rocky Mountains Park in 1887 – the first national park in Canada – and then Banff National Park in 1930.
Canada outlaws the potlatch ceremony among Northwest Coast tribes. The law, often ignored, is repealed in 1951.

Births

January to June

January 11 – Gordon Daniel Conant, lawyer, politician and 12th Premier of Ontario
January 13 – Alfred Fuller, businessman
February 4 – Cairine Wilson, Canada's first female Senator
April 3 – Allan Dwan, film director, producer and screenwriter
April 9 – Frank Patrick O'Connor, businessman, politician and philanthropist
May 8 – Thomas B. Costain, journalist and historical novelist
June 27 – Arthur Lismer, painter and member of the Group of Seven

July to December

July 23 – Izaak Walton Killam, financier
July 31 – Charles Avery Dunning, politician, Minister and university chancellor
October 23 – Lawren Harris, Group of Seven painter
November 5 – Edgar Sydney Little, politician
December 5 – Ernest Cormier, engineer and architect
December 24 – Abraham Albert Heaps, politician and labor leader

Deaths

January 13 – Gilbert Anselme Girouard, politician
February 23 – Joseph-Édouard Cauchon, politician
April 8 – Susanna Moodie, writer
May 8 – James Colledge Pope, politician and 5th Premier of Prince Edward Island
June 8 – Ignace Bourget, bishop of the Diocese of Montreal
July 17 – Jean-Charles Chapais, politician
August 18 – Francis Hincks, politician
November 5 – David Anderson, Church of England priest and bishop of Rupert's Land
November 16 – Louis Riel, politician and Métis leader