1950 in Canada

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – George VI

Federal government

• Governor General – the Viscount Alexander of Tunis
• Prime Minister – Louis St. Laurent
• Chief Justice – Thibaudeau Rinfret (Quebec)
• Parliament – 21st

Provincial governments

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

Territorial governments

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
• 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
  • Tom Benner, sculptor (d. 2022)
  • John Manley, lawyer, businessman and politician, Deputy Prime Minister
• January 13 - Joe Fontana, politician
• January 17 - Jean Poirier, politician
• January 18 - Gilles Villeneuve, motor racing driver (d. 1982)
• February 2 - Kevin Gillis, writer, producer and director
• 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, Inuk 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 12 - David Onley, broadcaster and Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (d. 2023)
• June 19 - Rosie Shuster, comedy writer and actress
• June 21 - Anne Carson, poet, essayist, translator and professor of Classics and comparative literature
• June 25 – Barbara Gowdy, novelist
• June 27 - Rick Cluff, radio journalist (d. 2024)

July to September

• July 2 - Lee Maracle, writer and academic (d. 2021)
• July 5 - Deepak Obhrai, politician (d. 2019)
• 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
• 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)
• October 19 - Charles Ballantyne, politician, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (b. 1867)
• November 11 - John Knox Blair, politician, physician and teacher (b. 1873)

Full date unknown

• William Sanford Evans, politician (b. 1869)

References

References

1. "King George VI {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia".
2. (4 February 2014). "Heads of States and Governments Since 1945". Routledge.
3. (15 June 2016). "Lucille LEMAY - Olympic Archery {{!}} Canada".