1953 in Canada

Events from the year 1953 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – Elizabeth II

Federal government

• Governor General – Vincent Massey
• Prime Minister – Louis St. Laurent
• Chief Justice – Thibaudeau Rinfret (Quebec)
• Parliament – 21st (until 13 June) then 22nd (from 12 November)

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John J. Bowlen
• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Clarence Wallace
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Roland Fairbairn McWilliams (until August 1) then John Stewart McDiarmid
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – David Laurence MacLaren
• Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Leonard Outerbridge
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Alistair Fraser
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Louis Orville Breithaupt
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Thomas William Lemuel Prowse
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Gaspard Fauteux
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – William John Patterson

Premiers

• Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
• Premier of British Columbia – W.A.C. Bennett
• Premier of Manitoba – Douglas Campbell
• Premier of New Brunswick – Hugh John Flemming
• Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood
• Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Macdonald
• Premier of Ontario – Leslie Frost
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – J. Walter Jones (until May 25) then Alex Matheson
• Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Tommy Douglas

Territorial governments

Commissioners

• Commissioner of Yukon – Wilfred George Brown
• Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Hugh Andrew Young (until November 15) then Robert Gordon Robertson

Events

• January 1 – The National Library of Canada is founded.
• January 9 – Marguerite Pitre becomes the thirteenth, and last, woman hanged in Canada when she is executed in Montréal.
• January 27 – The Canadian Dental Association approves the use of fluoride in drinking water
• May 25 – Alex Matheson becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing J. Walter Jones
• June 2 – Elizabeth II is crowned Queen of Canada. In Korea the Canadian Army celebrates the coronation by firing red, white, and blue smoke shells at the enemy.
• July 13 – The Stratford Festival of Canada opens
• July 27 – The Korean War ends. In total 314 Canadians were killed and 1211 wounded.
• August 10 – Federal election: Louis Saint Laurent's Liberals win a fifth consecutive majority.
• October 12 – Wilfrid Laurier Memorial unveiled
• October 15 – The Trans Mountain Oil Pipeline is completed
• October 25 – Canada's first privately owned television station, CKSO, broadcasts in Sudbury.
• The federal Immigration Act is amended to prohibit homosexuals entry into Canada. This amendment was repealed in 1977.

Arts and literature

Awards

• See 1953 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Stephen Leacock Award: Lawrence Earl, The Battle of Baltinglass

Sport

• April 16 – The Montreal Canadiens win their seventh Stanley Cup by defeating the Boston Bruins 4 games to 1. The deciding Game 5 was played at the Montreal Forum
• May 6 – The Ontario Hockey Association's Barrie Flyers win their second Memorial Cup by defeating the Manitoba Junior Hockey League's St. Boniface Canadiens 4 games to 1. The deciding Game 5 was played at Wheat City Arena in Brandon, Manitoba
• November 28 – The Hamilton Tiger-Cats win their first Grey Cup by defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 12–6 in the 41st Grey Cup played at Toronto's Varsity Stadium

Births

January to June

• January 7
• Dionne Brand, poet, novelist and non-fiction writer
• Morris Titanic, ice hockey player and coach
• January 19 – Richard Legendre, tennis player and politician
• January 29 – Pierre Jacob, politician
• February 5 – Eric Robinson, politician
• February 15
• David Chomiak, politician
• Gerald Keddy, politician
• February 16 – Lanny McDonald, ice hockey player
• February 17 – Borys Chambul, discus thrower
• February 18 – Robbie Bachman, drummer (d. 2023)
• February 20 – Gaëtan Dugas, early AIDS patient who was incorrectly identified as the "Patient Zero" who brought the epidemic to the United States (d.1984)
• March 10 – Debbie Brill, high jumper
• March 13 – Stephanie Berto, track and field athlete
• March 17 – Lewis Camden, politician
• April 2 – Janet Nutter, diver
• April 17 – Dany Laferrière, novelist and journalist
• April 18 – Rick Moranis, comedian, actor and musician
• May 11 – Celine Lomez, actress and singer
• May 14 – Tom Cochrane, singer-songwriter and musician
• May 21 - Kathleen Wynne, 25th premier of Ontario
• June 23
• Raymonde April, photographer
• Albina Guarnieri, politician and Minister

July to September

• July 3 – Dave Lewis, ice hockey player and coach
• July 9 – Margie Gillis, dancer and choreographer
• July 15
• Richard Margison, operatic tenor
• Mila Mulroney, wife of the 18th Prime Minister of Canada, Brian Mulroney
• July 22 – Paul Quarrington, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker and musician
• July 25 – Barbara Haworth-Attard, children's author
• July 29 – Geddy Lee, singer, bassist and keyboardist
• August 11 – Greg Duhaime, middle-distance runner
• August 17 – Robert Thirsk, engineer and astronaut
• August 27 – Alex Lifeson, guitarist
• September 16 – Nancy Huston, novelist and essayist
• September 29 - Jean-Claude Lauzon, Quebec filmmaker (d. 1997)
• September 30 – S. M. Stirling, science fiction and fantasy author

October to December

• October 7 – Linda Griffiths, actress and playwright (d.2014)
• October 12 – Daniel Louis, film producer
• October 14 – Debbie Nightingale, film and television producer
• October 24
• Charles Colbourn, computer scientist and mathematician
• Jim Pettie, ice hockey player (d.2019)
• October 29 – Denis Potvin, ice hockey player
• November 7 – Lynne Naylor, designer, animator, director, and producer
• November 26 – Pam Barrett, politician (d.2008)
• November 28 – John Majhor, radio and television host (d.2007)
• December 7 – Carmen Rinke, boxer
• December 13 – Bob Gainey, ice hockey player and coach
• December 18 – Daniel Poliquin, novelist and translator
• December 23 – Holly Dale, film and television director and film producer

Deaths

• January 2 – Gordon Daniel Conant, lawyer, politician and 12th Premier of Ontario (b.1885)
• January 5 – Mitchell Hepburn, politician and 11th Premier of Ontario (b.1896)
• February 16 – Norman Hipel, politician and Minister (b.1890)
• March 20 – John Livingstone Brown, politician (b.1867)

• May 4 – James Tompkins, priest and educator (b.1870)
• September 19 – Gordon Graydon, politician (b.1897)
• November 29 – Sam De Grasse, actor (b.1875)
• December 26 – David Milne, painter, printmaker and writer (b.1882)

See also

• 1953 in Canadian television
• List of Canadian films

References