1959 in Canada

Events from the year 1959 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

Monarch – Elizabeth II

Federal government

Governor General – Vincent Massey then Georges Vanier
Prime Minister – John Diefenbaker
Chief Justice – Patrick Kerwin
Parliament – 24th

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

Premiers

Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
Premier of British Columbia – W.A.C. Bennett
Premier of Manitoba – Dufferin Roblin
Premier of New Brunswick – Hugh John Flemming
Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood
Premier of Nova Scotia – Robert Stanfield
Premier of Ontario – Leslie Frost
Premier of Prince Edward Island – Alex Matheson then Walter Shaw
Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis then Paul Sauvé
Premier of Saskatchewan – Tommy Douglas

Territorial governments

Commissioners

Events

February 20: Avro Arrow project is terminated
April 1: The St. Lawrence Seaway opens
June 11: 1959 Ontario general election: Leslie Frost's PCs win a fifth consecutive majority
June 18: 1959 Alberta general election: Ernest Manning's Social Credit Party wins a seventh consecutive majority
June 20: The Escuminac Disaster results in 35 fishermen drowned or missing and 22 fishing boats sunk.
September 7: Maurice Duplessis, Premier of Quebec, dies in office
September 11: Paul Sauvé becomes premier of Quebec
September 15: Georges Vanier is sworn in as Governor General replacing Vincent Massey. He is the first French Canadian Governor General.
September 16: Walter Shaw becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Alex Matheson
October 12: Isabella Memorial (Montreal) unveiled
November 18: Canadian content rules are introduced for television.
December 2: York University is founded

Full date unknown

National Energy Board of Canada is created.
Steven Truscott falsely convicted of the murder of Lynne Harper. He would be exonerated in 2007.
Vancouver Folk Song Society is founded.

Arts and literature

New books

Mordecai Richler: The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
Hugh MacLennan: The Watch That Ends the Night
Farley Mowat: Grey Seas Under
Max Aitken: Friends
Gordon R. Dickson: ''Dorsai!''

Awards

See 1959 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

Sport

April 18 - Montreal Canadiens won their Eleventh Stanley Cup by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4 games to 1. The deciding Game 5 was played at the Montreal Forum
May 1 - Manitoba Junior Hockey League's Winnipeg Braves won their only Memorial Cup by defeating the Ontario Hockey Association's Peterborough TPT Petes 4 games to 1. The deciding Game 5 was played at Wheat City Arena in Brandon, Manitoba
November 1 – Montreal Canadiens Jacques Plante becomes the first ice hockey goalie to wear a protective face mask during a game against the New York Rangers at the Montreal Forum
November 28 - Winnipeg Blue Bombers won their Fifth Grey Cup by defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21 to 7 in the 47th Grey Cup played at Toronto's CNE Stadium

Births

January to March

January 1 – Sharon Bayes, field hockey player
January 3 – Dwight Duncan, politician and Minister
January 8 – Bill Sawchuk, swimmer
January 11 – Rob Ramage, ice hockey player
January 12 – Helen Vanderburg, synchronized swimmer
May 25 – Rick Wamsley, ice hockey player

April to June

April 5 – Stephen Feraday, javelin thrower
April 6
* Jim Rondeau, politician
* Gail Shea, politician
April 13 – Genevieve Robic-Brunet, road racing cyclist
April 15 – Kevin Lowe, ice hockey player
April 22 – Ryan Stiles, actor, comedian and director
April 30 – Paul Gross, actor, producer, director, singer and writer
April 30 – Stephen Harper, politician and 22nd Prime Minister of Canada
May 14 – Rick Vaive, ice hockey player
May 26 – Brian Peaker, rower and Olympic silver medalist
May 27
* Eugene Melnyk, businessman and sports franchise owner
* Donna Strickland, physicist, recipient of Nobel Prize in Physics
June 2 – Charlie Huddy, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
June 4 – Rex Barnes, politician
June 9 - Louis Hamelin, writer
June 12 – Scott Thompson, comedian
June 20 – Louise Bessette, pianist
June 28 – Brad Fraser, playwright, screenwriter and cultural commentator

July to December

August 29 – Chris Hadfield, astronaut, first Canadian to walk in space
September 29 – Robert Thibault, politician
October 14 – Dominic Agostino, politician
October 20 – Janice McCaffrey, racewalker
November 5 – Bryan Adams, rock singer-songwriter and photographer
November 17 – Guy André, politician
November 22 – Geoff Regan, politician
December 2 – David Alward, 32nd Premier of New Brunswick
December 8 – Mark Steyn, writer and broadcaster

Full date unknown

Carole Laganière, documentary filmmaker
Michael Slobodian, murderer responsible for the Centennial Secondary School shooting

Deaths

January 26 – Barbara Hanley, first woman to be elected a mayor in Canada
February 11 – Harry James Barber, politician
February 13 – Thomas Laird Kennedy, politician and 15th Premier of Ontario
March 3 – Philémon Cousineau, politician
March 17 – Sidney Earle Smith, academic and 7th President of the University of Toronto
April 8 – George Croil, first Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Canadian Air Force
June 3 – Filip Konowal, soldier, Victoria Cross recipient in 1917
June 9 - Lynne Harper, murder victim
September 7 – Maurice Duplessis, politician and 16th Premier of Quebec
October 25 – Samuel Lawrence, politician and trade unionist

Full date unknown

Edwin Hansford, politician