1931 in Canada

Events from the year 1931 in Canada.

← 1930 1929 1928 1931 in Canada → 1932 1933 1934
Decades:	1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s
See also:	History of Canada Timeline of Canadian history List of years in Canada

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – George V^[1]

Federal government

• Governor General – Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon (until April 4) then Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough
• Prime Minister – Richard Bedford Bennett
• Chief Justice – Francis Alexander Anglin (Ontario)
• Parliament – 17th

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – William Egbert (until May 5) then William Legh Walsh
• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Robert Randolph Bruce (until July 18) then John William Fordham Johnson
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – James Duncan McGregor
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Hugh Havelock McLean
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Frank Stanfield (until September 25) then Walter Harold Covert (from October 5)
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – William Donald Ross (until October 25) then William Mulock
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Charles Dalton
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Henry George Carroll
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Henry William Newlands (until March 31) then Hugh Edwin Munroe

Premiers

• Premier of Alberta – John Edward Brownlee
• Premier of British Columbia – Simon Fraser Tolmie
• Premier of Manitoba – John Bracken
• Premier of New Brunswick – John Baxter (until May 19) then Charles Dow Richards
• Premier of Nova Scotia – Gordon Sidney Harrington
• Premier of Ontario – George Stewart Henry
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – Walter Lea (until August 29) then James D. Stewart
• Premier of Quebec – Louis-Alexandre Taschereau
• Premier of Saskatchewan – James Thomas Milton Anderson

Territorial governments

Commissioners

• Gold Commissioner of Yukon – George Ian MacLean
• Commissioner of Northwest Territories – William Wallace Cory (until March 31) then Hugh Rowatt

Events

• May 19 – Charles Richards becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing John Baxter
• August 29 – James D. Stewart becomes premier of Prince Edward Island for the second time, replacing Walter Lea
• November 12 – Maple Leaf Gardens opens in Toronto
• September 29 – Striking coal miners clash with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the Estevan riot.
• December 11 – the Statute of Westminster goes into effect: Canada is granted full legislative independence in national and international affairs, with the Crown represented by the Governor General.
• The Beauharnois Scandal breaks out

Sport

• March 27 - The Manitoba Junior Hockey League's Elmwood Millionaires win their only Memorial Cup by defeating Ottawa City Junior Hockey League's Ottawa Primroses 2 games to 1. The deciding Game 3 was played at Ottawa Auditorium
• April 14 - The Montreal Canadiens win their fourth Stanley Cup by defeating the Chicago Black Hawks 3 game to 2. The deciding game was played at the Montreal Forum
• November 12 - Maple Leaf Gardens opens
• December 5 - The Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers win their first and only Grey Cup by defeating the Regina Roughriders 22 to 0 in the 19th Grey Cup played Percival Molson Memorial Stadium in Montreal

Births

January to March

William Shatner

• January 5 - Percy Schmeiser, businessman, farmer, and politician (d. 2020)
• January 6 - Dickie Moore, ice hockey player, businessman and philanthropist (d. 2015)
• January 7 - Elizabeth Kishkon, politician (d. 2018)
• January 19 - Robert MacNeil, Canadian-American journalist (d. 2024)
• January 27 - Mordecai Richler, author, screenwriter and essayist (d. 2001)
• January 30 - John Crosbie, politician and Minister (d. 2020)
• February 16 - Bernie Geoffrion, ice hockey player (d. 2006)
• February 17 - Mark MacGuigan, academic and politician (d. 1998)
• February 26 - C. William Doody, politician and Senator (d. 2005)
• March 10 - Georges Dor, author, composer, playwright, singer, poet, translator and theatrical producer and director (d. 2001)
• March 12 - Danny Lewicki, Canadian professional ice hockey player (d. 2018)
• March 22 - William Shatner, actor and novelist
• March 22 - Monte Kwinter, politician
• March 25 - Jack Chambers, artist and filmmaker (d. 1978)
• March 28 - Jane Rule, novelist and non-fiction writer (d. 2007)
• March 30 - Gérard Bruchési, politician

April to June

• April 2 - Howard Engel, writer and television producer (d. 2019)
• April 9 - Richard Hatfield, politician and 26th Premier of New Brunswick (d. 1991)
• April 13 - Cliff Lumsdon, world champion marathon swimmer (d. 1991)
• April 15 - Helen Maksagak, politician, first woman and first Inuk Northwest Territories Commissioner (d. 2009)
• April 19 - Walter Stewart, writer, editor and journalism educator (d. 2004)
• April 22 - John Buchanan, lawyer, politician and 27th Premier of Nova Scotia
• April 29 - Chris Pearson, 1st Premier of the Yukon (d. 2014)
• May 18 - Clément Vincent, politician (d. 2018)
• May 21 - Jeannine Pelland, former President of the Order of nurses of Quebec^[2]
• May 22 - Arthé Guimond, Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Grouard-McLennan (2000–2006) (d. 2013).
• May 24 - Bruce Owen, politician and lawyer (d. 2022)
• May 25 - Herb Gray, politician, Canada's first Jewish federal cabinet minister
• June 23 - Charles Keith Taylor, politician
• June 25 - Stan Dromisky, politician
• June 27 - Charles Bronfman, businessman and philanthropist
• June 30 - Joyce Wieland, experimental filmmaker and mixed media artist (d. 1998)

July to September

• July 2 - Robert Ito, actor
• July 5 - Peter Silverman, broadcast journalist (d. 2021)
• July 6 - Jean Campeau, Quebec businessman and politician
• July 7 - Charles Alexander Best, politician (d. 1978)
• July 10 - Alice Munro, short-story writer (d. 2024)
• July 15 - Jacques-Yvan Morin, politician (d. 2023)
• July 19 - Allan Slaight, rock and roll radio pioneer, media mogul, and philanthropist (d. 2021)
• July 20 - Gilles Morin, politician
• August 18 - Bramwell Tillsley, General of The Salvation Army
• August 29 - Lise Payette, politician, feminist, writer and columnist
• August 30 - Frank Zakem, politician and businessman (d. 2013)
• August 31 - Jean Béliveau, ice hockey player
• September 23 - Gerald Merrithew, politician (d. 2004)

October to December

Charles Taylor

• October 4 - Werner Israel, physicist (d. 2022)
• October 8 - Isadore Sharp, businessman
• November 5 - Charles Taylor, philosopher
• November 8 – Morley Safer, journalist (60 Minutes) (d. 2016)
• November 13 - Andrée Lachapelle, actress (d. 2019)
• November 28 - George Ramsay Cook, historian (d. 2016)
• November 30 - Harry Enns, politician
• December 10 - Jack Riddell, politician (d. 2024)
• December 15 - John Allen Fraser, politician, Speaker of the House of Commons (d. 2024)

Deaths

Henrietta Edwards

• July 10 - Louise McKinney, first woman sworn into the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and first woman elected to a legislature in Canada and in the British Empire (b. 1868)
• July 28 - Charles Doherty, politician and jurist (b. 1855)
• November 10 - Henrietta Edwards, women's rights activist and reformer (b. 1849)
• December 30 - George Eulas Foster, politician and academic (b. 1847)

Full date unknown

• Fred Dixon, politician (b. 1881)

See also

• List of Canadian films

Historical documents

Greater autonomy enacted in Statute of Westminster, ending (with exceptions) British parliament's power over Canada ^[3]

Before statute's passage, PM Bennett affirms that it will not affect constitution's amending process or division of powers ^[4]

Liberals assert that preserving British parliament's constitution amending power is not subordination, but done "by our own agreement" ^[5]

MP Henri Bourassa says Statute of Westminster incites "national spirit superior to all provincial, religious and racial prejudices" ^[6]

Solicitor General Maurice Dupré backs consultation with provinces in amendment of constitution or imperial statutes ^[7]

Prime Minister's New Year greeting after "a year of difficulty and of testing" that has proven "soundness of our economic structure" ^[8]

Federal budget includes "imposts that will be felt by everyone in the Dominion in a most direct manner" ^[9]

Canada not encouraging immigration, and those who do come should have funds to support them for at least six months ^[10]

Year-end assessment points to Canada's resource and financial assets as well as agriculture troubles and government "extravagance" ^[11]

Census shows there are 74.32 radios per 1,000 population, Toronto has highest number of radios, and B.C. has highest percentage of farms with radios^[12]

Saskatchewan labour groups form political party with platform including nationalization, debt relief and planned economy^[13]

Canadian Communists defiant following arrest of comrades for sedition under Criminal Code Section 98^[14]

Canadian-born evangelist ministers to new immigrants in California with philosophy that no one is alien in eyes of God^[15]

Unlike one-industry cities, Toronto is widely diversified in industrial, commercial and financial enterprises ^[16]

Toronto Star newsletter encourages carriers with success stories, prizes and "One Order a Day" Club^[17]

Cover art: Menu from RMS Empress of Japan voyage^[18]

References

1. "King George V | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
2. "her National Order of Quebec profile (French)". Archived from the original on 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
3. "Statute of Westminster, 1931" (December 11, 1931). Accessed May 25, 2020
4. "Statute of Westminster" (June 30, 1931), House of Commons Debates, 17th Parliament, 2nd Session: Vol. 3, pg. 3199 Accessed 27 May 2020
5. "Statute of Westminster" (June 30, 1931), House of Commons Debates, 17th Parliament, 2nd Session: Vol. 3, pgs. 3202 and 3208 Accessed 27 May 2020
6. "Statute of Westminster" (June 30, 1931), House of Commons Debates, 17th Parliament, 2nd Session: Vol. 3, pg. 3218 Accessed 27 May 2020
7. "Statute of Westminster" (June 30, 1931), House of Commons Debates, 17th Parliament, 2nd Session: Vol. 3, pgs. 3222-3 Accessed 27 May 2020
8. Canadian Press, "Bennett Pledges Service To Dominion in New Year" The Winnipeg Evening Tribune, Vol. XI, No. 1 (January 1, 1931), pg. 1. Accessed 28 May 2020
9. F.C. Mears, "Revenue Budget Devised to Meet $75,000,000 Deficit; Many Tariff Changes; Sales Tax Raised to 4 Per Cent" The (Montreal) Gazette, Vol. CLX, No. 131 (June 2, 1931), pg. 1. Accessed 28 May 2020
10. "Must Have Money; Immigrants to Canada," The (Wellington, N.Z.) Evening Post, Vol. CXI, Issue 93 (April 21, 1931), pg. 7. Accessed 28 May 2020 http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP19310421.1.7 (click on article to expand)
11. W.C. Clark, "The Current Business Situation" The Empire Club of Canada Addresses, pgs. 297-318. Accessed 29 May 2020
12. Dominion Bureau of Statistics, "Radio Sets in Canada, 1931" (1932), pgs. 1, 2, 7. Accessed 27 August 2023
13. "Province-Wide Party Formed at Conference" Regina Leader Post (October 26, 1931), pg. 2. Accessed 28 May 2020
14. Maurice Spector, "Anti-Communist Arrests in Canada" The Militant (August 29, 1931). Accessed 28 May 2020
15. Katharine Maurer's remarks to Woman's Home Missionary Society meeting, in Maria Sakovich, "Deaconess Katharine Maurer: 'A First-class Favourite Anytime'" The Argonaut, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Spring 2011), pg. 15. Accessed 12 June 2021
16. "Toronto To-Day; Ours is a City of Fine Homes, High Finance, Healthy Commerce and Sound Industry" Weekly Building Reporter and Real Estate Review, Vol. 7, No. 18 (Toronto, May 2, 1931), pg. 1. Accessed 28 May 2020
17. The Route-Builder Vol. 1, No. 4 (June 1931). Accessed 28 May 2020
18. "Au revoir dinner menu from the Empress of Japan, from 16 Apr. 1931" The Chung Collection, University of British Columbia Library. Accessed 21 April 2024