Events from the year 1917 in Canada.
Incumbents
Crown Monarch – George V
Federal government Governor General – Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire Prime Minister – Robert Borden Chief Justice – Charles Fitzpatrick (Quebec) Parliament – 12th (until 6 October)
Provincial governments
Lieutenant governors Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Robert Brett Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Francis Stillman Barnard Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – James Albert Manning Aikins Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Josiah Wood (until June 29) then Gilbert Ganong (June 29 to October 31) then William Pugsley (from November 6) Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – MacCallum Grant Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Strathearn Hendrie Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Augustine Colin Macdonald Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Pierre-Évariste Leblanc Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Richard Stuart Lake
Premiers Premier of Alberta – Arthur Sifton (until October 30) then Charles Stewart Premier of British Columbia – Harlan Brewster Premier of Manitoba – Tobias Norris Premier of New Brunswick – George Johnson Clarke (until February 1) then James A. Murray (February 1 to April 4) then Walter Foster Premier of Nova Scotia – George Henry Murray Premier of Ontario – William Hearst Premier of Prince Edward Island – John Mathieson (until June 21) then Aubin Arsenault Premier of Quebec – Lomer Gouin Premier of Saskatchewan – William Melville Martin
Territorial governments
Commissioners Commissioner of Yukon – George Norris Williams (acting) Gold Commissioner of Yukon – George P. MacKenzie Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Frederick D. White
Elections Provincial
June 7 – Alberta election: Arthur Sifton's Liberals win a fourth consecutive majority. Louise McKinney and Roberta MacAdams are elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, the first two women elected to a legislature in the British Empire. June 26 – Saskatchewan election: William Martin's Liberals win a fourth consecutive majority.
Federal December 17: Robert Borden's Conservatives win a second consecutive majority in the Federal election
Events
January to June February 1 – James Alexander Murray becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing George Johnson Clarke April 4 – Walter Foster becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Murray April 9 – April 14 – Battle of Vimy Ridge. April 17 – Leon Trotsky, en route from New York to Russia, is detained in Halifax. He will spend the next month in Amherst Internment Camp before being released. June 21 – Aubin Arsenault becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing John Mathieson
July to December July 1: Canada celebrates its 50th Dominion Day. August: The government introduces conscription triggering the Conscription Crisis of 1917 September 20: The Income War Tax Act receives royal assent, establishing a "temporary" tax, which remains in force to this day. September 20: The Wartime Elections Act gives female relatives of servicemen the vote. October 26 – November 10: Second Battle of Passchendaele. October 30: Charles Stewart (1868–1946) becomes premier of Alberta, replacing Arthur Sifton November 1 to 30: Swanson Bay, British Columbia, records of precipitation for the month, which remains the highest officially recorded for one calendar month in North America.National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Weather Extremes for the Western States December 6: Halifax Explosion kills 1,900 people and injures 9,000. The largest ever man-made explosion pre-Hiroshima atomic bomb.
Arts and literature Tom Thomson paints The Jack Pine, one of Canada's most widely recognized and reproduced artworks.
Sport March 26 – The Pacific Coast Hockey Association's Seattle Metropolitans become the first American team to win the Stanley Cup by defeating the National Hockey Association's Montreal Canadiens 3 games to 1. The Metropolitans won their only Cup in front of their home crowd at Seattle Ice Arena November 26 – The National Hockey League (NHL) is established in Montreal, with 4 teams from the National Hockey Association (Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, and Quebec Bulldogs) The owners would form a new team in Toronto due to a dispute Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone, the Toronto Hockey Club (Toronto Maple Leafs) December 19 – Montreal Wanderers defeat the Toronto Arenas in the first NHL game.
Births
January to June January 6 – Sydney Banks, broadcaster and producer (d.2006) January 11 – John Robarts, lawyer, politician and 17th Premier of Ontario (d.1982) April 11 – Danny Gallivan, radio and television broadcaster and sportscaster (d. 1993) April 25 – George R. Gardiner, businessman, philanthropist and co-founder of the Gardiner Museum (d.1997) May 12 – Frank Clair, Canadian Football League coach (d.2005) May 19 – Robert Gordon Robertson, civil servant and 7th Commissioner of the Northwest Territories (d.2013) May 21 – Raymond Burr, actor (d.1993) May 22 – Lude Check, ice hockey player (d.2009) May 24 – Ross Thatcher, politician and 9th Premier of Saskatchewan (d.1971) June 17 – Dufferin Roblin, businessman, politician and 14th Premier of Manitoba (d.2010) June 18 – Arthur Tremblay, politician and Senator (d.1996) June 29 – Archie Green, folklorist and musicologist (d.2009)
July to December July 17 – John Hayes, harness racing driver, trainer and owner (d. 1998) September 12 – Pierre Sévigny, soldier, author, politician and academic (d. 2004) September 15 – Alf Pike, ice hockey player and coach (d. 2009) September 26 – Réal Caouette, politician (d. 1976) November 2 – Ann Rutherford, actress (Gone with the Wind, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty). (d. 2012) November 11 – Abram Hoffer, orthomolecular psychiatrist (d. 2009) November 28 – Jacob Froese, politician (d. 2003) December 6 – Irv Robbins, Canadian-American entrepreneur (d. 2008)
Full date unknown Kent Rowley, labour activist and union organizer (d. 2013) Jack Singer, businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
Deaths
January to June January 8 – Ward Bowlby, lawyer and politician, reeve of Berlin, Ontario (born 1834) January 14 – Alexander Cameron, physician and politician (b.1834) February 17 – Ralph Smith, coal miner, labour leader and politician (b.1858) February 26 – George Johnson Clarke, lawyer, journalist, politician and 14th Premier of New Brunswick (b.1857) April 21 – George Thomas Baird, politician, Senator for Victoria, New Brunswick (b. 1847) June 13 – Louis-Philippe Hébert, sculptor (b.1850)
July to December July 5 – Percival Molson, athlete and soldier (b.1880) July 8 – Tom Thomson, artist (b.1877) July 15 – Lemuel John Tweedie, politician and 9th premier of New Brunswick (b.1849) August 6 – Richard McBride, politician and Premier of British Columbia (b.1870)
August 29 – Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey, 9th governor general of Canada (b.1851) October 31 – Gilbert Ganong, businessman, politician and Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick (b.1851) November 10 – Thomas Simpson Sproule, politician and Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada (b.1843) October 30 – Talbot Papineau, lawyer and soldier (b.1883) December 10 – Mackenzie Bowell, politician and 5th prime minister of Canada (b.1823)
References