1942 in Canada
Events from the year 1942 in Canada.
Incumbents
Crown
- Monarch – George VI
Federal government
- Governor general – Alexander Cambridge
- Prime minister – William Lyon Mackenzie King
- Chief Justice – Lyman Poore Duff
- Parliament – 19th
Provincial governments
Lieutenant governors
- Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John C. Bowen
- Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – William Culham Woodward
- Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Roland Fairbairn McWilliams
- Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – William George Clark
- Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Frederick F. Mathers then Henry Ernest Kendall
- Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Albert Edward Matthews
- Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Bradford William LePage
- Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Eugène Fiset
- Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Archibald Peter McNab
Premiers
- Premier of Alberta – William Aberhart
- Premier of British Columbia – John Hart
- Premier of Manitoba – John Bracken
- Premier of New Brunswick – John McNair
- Premier of Nova Scotia – A.S. MacMillan
- Premier of Ontario – Mitchell Hepburn then Gordon Daniel Conant
- Premier of Prince Edward Island – Thane Campbell
- Premier of Quebec – Adélard Godbout
- Premier of Saskatchewan – William John Patterson
Territorial governments
Commissioners
- Controller of Yukon – George A. Jeckell
- Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Charles Camsell
Events
- January 10 - Elizabeth Monk and Suzanne Pilon become the first female lawyers in Quebec
- February 26 - Japanese Canadians are interned and moved further inland.
- April 27 - A national plebiscite is held on the issue of conscription. Most English-Canadians are in favour, while most French-Canadians are not.
- July - The Official Food Rules is published, for the first time.
- August - The National Resources Mobilization Act is repealed as a result of the April plebiscite.
- August 19 - Dieppe Raid
- September 9 - The Canadian government establishes the Wartime Information Board, a government agency responsible for pro-conscription propaganda.
- October 14 - A German U-boat sinks the ferry SS Caribou, killing 137.
- October 21 - Gordon Conant becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Mitchell Hepburn
- December 12 - A fire at the Knights of Columbus Hall in St John's, Newfoundland kills 99.
Arts and literature
Sport
- April 18 - Toronto Maple Leafs win their Fourth Stanley Cup by defeating the Detroit Red Wings 4 game to 3 after being down to the Red Wings 3–0. The deciding Game 7 was played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto
- April 20 - Manitoba Junior Hockey League's Portage la Prairie Terriers won their only Memorial Cup by defeating the Ontario Hockey Association's Oshawa Generals 3 games to 1. The deciding Game 4 was played at Shea's Amphitheatre in Winnipeg
- December 5 - Toronto RCAF Hurricanes won their only Grey Cup by defeating the Winnipeg RCAF Bombers 8 to 5 in the 30th Grey Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto
Births
January to March
- January 12 - Hilary Weston, businessperson and 26th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
- January 16 - René Angélil, husband and manager of Céline Dion
- January 19 - John Reynolds, politician
- February 5 - Tim Sale, politician
- February 19 - Norm Sterling, politician
- February 20 - Phil Esposito, ice hockey player
- February 22 - Gerard Jennissen, politician
- March 3 - Menaka Thakka, dancer
April to June
- April 8 - Harold Gilleshammer, politician
- April 10 - Nick Auf der Maur, journalist and politician
- April 21 - Pierre Lorrain, Canadian lawyer and politician
- April 22 - Sandra Birdsell, novelist and short story writer
- April 26 - Sharon Carstairs, politician and Senator
- May 1 - Becky Barrett, politician
- May 3 - Earl McRae, journalist, apparent heart attack
- May 8 - Pierre Morency, Canadian poet and playwright
- June 9 - John Gerretsen, politician
- June 10 - Preston Manning, politician
- June 21 - Jeannette Lavell, Native rights advocate
- June 25 - Michel Tremblay, novelist and playwright
July to September
- July 1 - Geneviève Bujold, actress
- July 4 - Len Harapiak, politician
- July 11 - Terry Carisse, singer, guitarist, and songwriter
- July 11 - Nancy Zerg, poet
- July 22 - Anita Neville, politician
- July 24 - Gloria George, Native leader
- August 10 - Jim Downey, politician
- August 18 - Jim Abbott, politician
- August 24 - Gary Filmon, politician and 19th Premier of Manitoba
- August 24 - Tony Hunt, artist
- August 30 - Rick Salutin, novelist, playwright and critic
- September 4 - George Baker, politician and Senator
- September 13 - Michael Breaugh, politician
- September 13 - Michel Côté, businessman and politician
October to December
- October 10 - Roy Miki, poet and scholar
- October 11 - Dianne Brushett, politician
- November 1 - Ralph Klein, politician and 12th Premier of Alberta
- November 19 - Jim Ernst, politician
- November 20 - Raymond Bonin, politician
- December 1 - Charlie Penson, politician
- December 19 - John Godfrey, educator, journalist and politician
- December 30 - Matt Cohen, writer
Full date unknown
- Dermot O'Reilly, musician, producer and songwriter
- Jay Roberts, football player, lung cancer
Deaths
- January 16 - Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, 10th Governor General of Canada
- January 30 - Frederick W. A. G. Haultain, politician and 1st Premier of the Northwest Territories
- February 4 - Louis-Adolphe Paquet, theologian
- March 11 - Raoul Dandurand, politician
- March 15 - Edgar Nelson Rhodes, politician, Minister and Premier of Nova Scotia
- March 21 - J. S. Woodsworth, politician
- April 24 - Lucy Maud Montgomery, author
- May 18 - Herménégilde Boulay, politician
- June 17 - Charles Fitzpatrick, lawyer, politician and 5th Chief Justice of Canada
- October 6 - Ella Cora Hind, journalist and women's rights activist
- December 26 - Frank Dawson Adams, geologist
Historical Documents
Official study details objectives, heroism and failures of combined commando raid on Dieppe, France
Canadian soldier in Dieppe raid describes prisoner-of-war camp life in Germany
"Considerable excitement and tension" - HMCS Oakville rams U-boat while on convoy duty in Caribbean Sea
"Blasted from a cosy state room to a cold, icy water" - Survivors' tales of torpedoed Sydney–to–Port-aux-Basques ferry Caribou
To maintain status quo with Vichy France, Allies manoeuvre to get Free French forces off St. Pierre and Miquelon
Minister of Finance says Canadians not working for themselves or their families, but for victory
In U.S. government profile of Allies, Canada noted for contributions like 2 billion pounds of food and "54% of everyone's income"
"Has Canada fully mobilized her material resources man and woman power to wage total war?" - Opposition Leader's 7-point plan
PM King broadcasts enhanced plan of men's, women's and youth's service to achieve "total effort for total war"
"The most sacred understanding" - PM King asks voters for release from pledge of no conscription for overseas military service
Canadians vote "yes" in conscription plebiscite by large majorities in 8 provinces, with strong "no" in Quebec
Eviction from coastal British Columbia creates many social problems for people of Japanese origin
Young interned Japanese-Canadians seek pen pals to "sling some ink our way"
Japanese Canadian George Tanaka experiences feeling of freedom in Toronto, along with both sympathy and racism
Canadian diplomat in Washington strongly suspects U.S. government is eavesdropping on his communications
Drills and training part of Manitoba's Air Raid Precaution campaign, though federal government calls it unnecessary
As part of Victory Bonds campaign, Winnipeg stages "If Day" mock German invasion including arrest of premier and mayor
"Death and Destruction!" - Victory Bonds promotion page shows Hamilton, Ont. after bomber attack
Hamilton hydro commission prohibits commercial and decorative lighting, and dims street lights to 60%
"Environments created by war foster dangerous inclinations and tendencies" - PM King urges temperance as part of war effort
"Prophet of a new idea" - Journalist Bruce Hutchison's tribute to late CCF leader and co-founder J.S. Woodsworth
"There is work for everyone" - Whitehorse, Yukon transformed by industrial development
Wife of U.S. Army general enjoys settling in Whitehorse
Brief film of Alberta oil sands being quarried and refined
After three decades and 1.6 billion feet of lumber cut, Fort Frances, Ont. mill closes with banquet and dance for employees
Future Netherlands queen Juliana's Ottawa maternity suite declared outside Canadian jurisdiction for birth of her third child