1956 in Canada

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Last updated October 16, 2023

Events from the year 1956 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

Monarch – Elizabeth II ^[1]

Federal government

Governor General – Vincent Massey ^[2]
Prime Minister – Louis St. Laurent
Chief Justice – Patrick Kerwin (Ontario)
Parliament – 22nd

Provincial governments

Territorial governments

Commissioners

Events

February 10 – Wilbert Coffin is hanged
May 1 – The Trades and Labour Congress of Canada merges with the Canadian Congress of Labour to form the Canadian Labour Congress.
May 8 – The controversial bill to create the TransCanada pipeline is introduced in the House of Commons.
May 15 – A CF-100 crashes into a Grey Nuns convent outside of Ottawa killing fifteen.
June 20 – Saskatchewan election: Tommy Douglas's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation wins a fourth consecutive majority
September 30 – Winnipeg connects to TransCanada Telephone System's microwave radio relay via MTS, bringing same day programming from CBC Television.
November 1 – The second Springhill Mining Disaster occurs killing 39.
November 4 – Lester B. Pearson proposes a successful resolution to the Suez Crisis, this will win him a Nobel Peace Prize.
November 20 – Robert Stanfield becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing Henry Hicks
December 9 – Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 (9), a Canadair Northstar, crashes on Slesse Mountain near Chilliwack during heavy weather. The plane carried five members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers and fans on their way home from an all-star game in Vancouver. Bodies were not found until the following late summer due to severe terrain and high altitude and unknown location of the crash. This was one of the worst civilian air disasters in the world at the time.
December 14 – John Diefenbaker is elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
René Lévesque begins hosting Point de Mire

Sport

March 15 - Whipper Billy Watson (William John Potts) becomes the first Canadian to hold the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship by defeating Lou Thesz in Toronto
April 10 - The Montreal Canadiens win their 8th Stanley Cup championship by defeating the Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 1. The deciding Game 5 was played at the Montreal Forum
May 6 - The Ontario Hockey Association's Toronto Marlboros won their third (and second consecutive) Memorial Cup by defeating the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Regina Pats 4 games to 0 (with 1 tie). All games at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto
November 24 - The Edmonton Eskimos win their third (consecutive) Grey Cup by defeating the Montreal Alouettes by the score of 50 to 27 in the 44th Grey Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto

Arts and literature

New books

Milton Acorn – In Love and Anger
Pierre Berton – The Mysterious North
Max Aitken – Men and Power
Leonard Cohen – Let Us Compare Mythologies
Harold Innis – Essays in Canadian Economic History
Farley Mowat – Lost in the Barrens

Awards

See 1956 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
Stephen Leacock Award: Eric Nicol, Shall We Join The Ladies'

Music

Walter Susskind replaces Sir Ernest MacMillan as the director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Pianist Glenn Gould tours the Soviet Union

Births

January to March

January 6 – Peter Stoffer, politician
January 7 – Mike Liut, ice hockey player and coach
January 9 – Gregory Dewar, politician
January 28 – David Faurschou, politician
February 28 – Guy Maddin, screenwriter and film director
February 29 – Steve Ashton, politician
February 29 – Bob Speller, politician (d. 2021)

April to June

April 4 – Evelyn Hart, ballet dancer
April 6 - Normand Corbeil, composer ( Double Jeopardy , Extreme Ops , The Statement , V ) (d. 2013)
April 10 – Thomas Graham, volleyball player
May 7 – Jean Lapierre, television broadcaster, politician and Minister (d. 2016)
May 9 – Wendy Crewson, actress
May 15 – Ian Clyde, boxer
May 19 – James Gosling, software developer, father of the Java programming language
May 29 – Claude Drouin, politician
June 10 – Hugh McMillan, musician
June 11 – Simon Plouffe, mathematician and academic
June 11 – Arthur Porter, physician and academic (d. 2015)
June 15 – David Iftody, politician (d. 2001)
June 15 – Dan Thompson, swimmer
June 18 – Oliver Schroer, fiddler, composer and music producer (d. 2008)
June 22 – Blake Debassige, artist

July to September

July 8 – Terry Puhl, baseball player
July 10 - Robert Ing, forensic scientist and author
July 15 – Barry Melrose, ice hockey player, coach and commentator
July 17 – Bryan Trottier, ice hockey player
July 20 - Jim Prentice, politician, Premier of Alberta 2014–2015 (d. 2016)
August 5 - Jerry Ciccoritti, director
August 7 – Paul Williams, long-distance runner
August 12 – Bruce Greenwood, actor

October to December

October 5 – Brad Farrow, judoka
October 7 – Brian Sutter, ice hockey player and coach
October 17 – Sheela Basrur, medical doctor and Chief Medical Officer of Health in Ontario (d.2008)
October 23 – Geoffrey Kelly, musician
October 24 – Chris Clarke, boxer
December 10 – Marie Bountrogianni, politician and Minister
December 31 – Paul Zed, lawyer, professor and politician

Deaths

January to June

January 6 – Albert James Bradshaw, politician (b. 1882)
January 12 – Sam Langford, boxer (b. 1886)
February 14 – Aylesworth Perry, 6th Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (b. 1860)
March 10 – Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough, businessman, politician and Governor General of Canada (b. 1880)
March 30 – Joseph W. Noseworthy, politician (b. 1888)
March 30 – Thomas Dufferin Pattullo, politician and 22nd Premier of British Columbia (b. 1873)

July to December

August 4 – Joseph Georges Bouchard, politician (b. 1888)
September 11 – Billy Bishop, First World War flying ace (b. 1894)
September 15 – Charles Dow Richards, judge, politician and 18th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1879)
September 18 – Adélard Godbout, politician and 15th Premier of Quebec (b. 1892)
October 7 – Maud Allan, actor, dancer and choreographer (b. 1873)
November 18 – Clarence Chant, astronomer and physicist (b. 1865)
December 3 – Matthew Halton, radio and television journalist (b. 1904)
December 7 – Huntley Gordon, actor (b. 1887)

Related Research Articles

Events from the year 1951 in Canada.

Events from the year 1953 in Canada.

Events from the year 1954 in Canada.

Events from the year 1958 in Canada.

Events from the year 1959 in Canada.

Events from the year 1960 in Canada.

Events from the year 1961 in Canada.

Events from the year 1962 in Canada.

Events from the year 1963 in Canada.

Events from the year 1964 in Canada.

Events from the year 1966 in Canada.

1967 is remembered as one of the most notable years in Canada. It was the centenary of Canadian Confederation and celebrations were held throughout the nation. The most prominent event was Expo 67 in Montreal, the most successful World's Fair ever held up to that time, and one of the first events to win international acclaim for the country. The year saw the nation's Governor General, Georges Vanier, die in office; and two prominent federal leaders, Official Opposition Leader John Diefenbaker, and Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson announced their resignations. The year's top news-story was French President Charles de Gaulle's "Vive le Québec libre" speech in Montreal. The year also saw major changes in youth culture with the "hippies" in Toronto's Yorkville area becoming front-page news over their lifestyle choices and battles with Toronto City Council. A new honours system was announced, the Order of Canada. In sports, the Toronto Maple Leafs won their 13th and last Stanley Cup.

Events from the year 1975 in Canada.

Events from the year 1976 in Canada.

Events from the year 1968 in Canada.

Events from the year 1971 in Canada.

Events from the year 1965 in Canada.

Events from the year 1930 in Canada.

Events from the year 1969 in Canada.

Events from the year 1955 in Canada.

References

↑ "Queen Elizabeth II | 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.

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[1] "Queen Elizabeth II | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 4 December 2022.

[2] Lentz, Harris M. (4 February 2014). Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. Routledge. p. 142. ISBN 978-1-134-26490-2.

[1]

[2]

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v t e 1956 in North America
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