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Events from the year 1959 in Canada.

[edit] Incumbents

• Monarch - Queen Elizabeth II
• Governor General - Georges Vanier
• Prime Minister - John Diefenbaker
• Premier of Alberta - Ernest Manning
• Premier of British Columbia - W.A.C. Bennett
• Premier of Manitoba - Duff 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

[edit] Events

• February 20: Avro Arrow project is terminated
• April 1: The St. Lawrence Seaway opens
• June 11: Ontario general election, 1959: Leslie Frost's PCs win a fifth consecutive majority
• June 18: Alberta general election, 1959: 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
• November 18: Canadian content rules are introduced for television
• December 2: York University is founded

[edit] 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.

[edit] Arts and literature

[edit] 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!

[edit] Awards

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

[edit] Sport

• November 1 - Jacques Plante becomes the first ice hockey goalie to wear a protective face mask.

[edit] Births

[edit] 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

[edit] April to June

• April 5 - Stephen Feraday, javelin thrower
• April 6 - Jim Rondeau, politician

Stephen Harper

• April 13 - Genevieve Brunet, road racing cyclist
• April 15 - Kevin Lowe, ice hockey player
• April 22 - Ryan Stiles, actor, comedian, director and voice actor
• 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
• June 4 - Rex Barnes, politician

Chris Hadfield

• June 12 - Scott Thompson, comedian
• June 28 - Brad Fraser, playwright, screenwriter and cultural commentator

[edit] July to December

• August 29 - Chris Hadfield, astronaut, first Canadian to walk in space
• September 29 - Robert Thibault, politician
• October 14 - Dominic Agostino, politician (d.2004)
• November 5 - Bryan Adams, rock singer-songwriter and photographer
• November 17 - Guy André, politician
• November 22 - Geoff Regan, politician

[edit] Deaths

Maurice Duplessis campaigning in the 1952 election

• January 26 - Barbara Hanley, first woman to be elected a mayor in Canada (b.1882)
• February 11 - Harry James Barber, politician (b.1875)
• February 13 - Thomas Laird Kennedy, politician and 15th Premier of Ontario (b.1878)
• March 3 - Philémon Cousineau, politician (b.1874)
• March 17 - Sidney Earle Smith, academic and 7th President of the University of Toronto (b.1897)
• April 8 - George Croil, first Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Canadian Air Force (b.1893)
• June 3 - Filip Konowal, soldier, Victoria Cross recipient in 1917 (b.1888)
• September 7 - Maurice Duplessis, politician and 16th Premier of Quebec (b.1890)
• October 25 - Samuel Lawrence, politician and trade unionist (b.1879)

[edit] Full date unknown

• Edwin Hansford, politician (b.1895)