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]