1957 in Canada explained

Events from the year 1957 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – Elizabeth II^[1]

Federal government

• Governor General – Vincent Massey^[2]
• Prime Minister – Louis St. Laurent (until June 21) then John Diefenbaker
• Chief Justice – Patrick Kerwin (Ontario)
• Parliament – 22nd (until 12 April) then 23rd (from 14 October)

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• • • • • • • • • • Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John J. Bowlen Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Frank Mackenzie Ross Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – John Stewart McDiarmid Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – David Laurence MacLaren Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Leonard Outerbridge (until December 16) then Campbell Leonard Macpherson Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Alistair Fraser Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Louis Orville Breithaupt (until December 30) then John Keiller MacKay 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 – Robert Stanfield Premier of Ontario – Leslie Frost Premier of Prince Edward Island – Alex Matheson Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis Premier of Saskatchewan – Tommy Douglas

Territorial governments

Commissioners

• • Commissioner of Yukon – Frederick Howard Collins Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Robert Gordon Robertson

Events

• January 1 – The first Canadian peacekeepers arrive in Egypt after the Suez Crisis
• January 17 –, Canada's third and last aircraft carrier, is commissioned
• March 6 – Quebec's Padlock Law is ruled unconstitutional
• March 20 – The seven-month-long Murdochville Strike begins
• March 28 – The Canada Council is established
• April 2 – Elvis Presley performs in Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
• April 3 – Elvis Presley performs in Ottawa.
• April 15 - White Rock secedes from Surrey, British Columbia, following a referendum.
• April 27 - The SS Moyie takes her final voyage.
• June 10 – Federal election: John Diefenbaker's PCs win a minority, defeating Louis Saint Laurent's Liberals
• June 21 – John Diefenbaker becomes prime minister, replacing Louis Saint Laurent
• July 31 – The DEW Line begins operation
• August 31 – Elvis Presley performs at Empire Stadium in Vancouver.
• September 12 – Canada and the United States sign the NORAD agreement
• October 4 – The first prototype Avro Arrow is presented to the media. The rollout is completely overshadowed by the flight of Sputnik I the same day.
• October 12 – Foreign Minister Lester B. Pearson wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Suez Crisis
• October 14:
  • Elizabeth II opens the Canadian parliament, the first monarch to do so^[3]
  • Thanksgiving is moved to its current date, the second Monday in October
• Equalization payments are established.

Sport

• April 16 – The Montreal Canadiens win their ninth Stanley Cup by defeating the Boston Bruins 4 games to 1. The deciding Game 5 was played at the Montreal Forum
  • May 6 – The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Flin Flon Bombers win their only Memorial Cup by defeating the independent Ottawa-Hull Canadiens 4 games to 3. The deciding Game 7 was played at the Regina Exhibition Stadium June 14 – Édouard Carpentier (Édouard Ignacz Weiczorkiewicz) defeats Lou Thesz to become the 2nd Canadian NWA World Heavyweight Champion
• November 30 – The Hamilton Tiger-Cats win their 2nd Grey Cup by defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 32–7 in the 45th Grey Cup at Varsity Stadium in Toronto

Arts and literature

New works

• F. R. Scott – The Eye of the Needle: Satire, Sorties, Sundries
• Mordecai Richler – A Choice of Enemies
• W.L. Morton – Manitoba: The Birth of a Province
• Farley Mowat – The Dog Who Wouldn't Be
• Northrop Frye – Anatomy of Criticism

Awards

• See 1957 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Stephen Leacock Award

Robert Thomas Allen The Grass Is Never Greener

Television

• Front Page Challenge premiers on CBC

Births

January to June

• January 8 - Wendy Mesley, broadcast journalist
• January 22 – Mike Bossy, ice hockey player (d. 2022)
• January 28 – Michael Baker, politician (d. 2009)
• February 17 – Loreena McKennitt, singer, composer, harpist and pianist
• March 10 – Shannon Tweed, actress
• March 24 - Olivia Chow, politician and widow of Jack Layton
• April 20 – Bryan Illerbrun, football player (d. 2013)
• April 29 – Leona Dombrowsky, politician
• May 4 – Kathy Kreiner, alpine skier and Olympic gold medallist
• May 14 – Gilles Bisson, politician
• May 17 – Todd Hardy, leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party from 2002 to 2009 (d. 2010)
• June 12
  • Mike Bullard, comedian and broadcaster (d. 2024)
  • Benedict Campbell, actor
• June 28 – Lance Nethery, ice hockey player

July to September

• July 2 – Bret Hart, wrestler and actor
• July 6 – Ron Duguay, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• July 9 – George Nagy, swimmer
• July 15 – Craig Martin, soccer player and coach
• July 22 - Michèle Dionne, wife of Jean Charest, 29th Prime Minister of Quebec
• July 26 – Mark Paré, National Hockey League linesman
• August 6 – Francesca Gagnon, singer
• August 11 – Tony Valeri, politician
• August 15 – David L. Anderson, politician
• August 15 - Richard Ayres, Business owner, Mechanic, Carpenter, Great Father
• August 16 – Mark Evans, rower and Olympic gold medallist
• August 16 – J. Michael Evans, rower and Olympic gold medallist
• August 20 – Cindy Nicholas, athlete and politician
• August 23 – Georges Farrah, politician
• August 26 – Rick Hansen, paraplegic athlete and activist for people with spinal cord injuries
• September 10 – Darrell Dexter, politician and 27th Premier of Nova Scotia
• September 23 – Sylvie Garant, model

October to December

• October 9 – Art Boileau, long-distance runner
• October 26 – Glen Murray, politician
• October 30 – Joseph Cordiano, politician and Minister
• November 12 – Andrée A. Michaud, writer
• November 16 – Ferg Hawke, ultra-distance runner
• November 18 – Kim Rudd, politician and businesswoman (d. 2024)
• November 20 – Sophie Lorain, actress, director and producer
• November 22 – Glen Clark, politician and 31st Premier of British Columbia
• November 30 – Colin Mochrie, comedian and actor
• December 4 – Rob Shick, ice hockey referee
• December 5 – Paul Steele, rower and Olympic gold medallist
• December 6 – Louis Jani, judoka
• December 12 – Robert Lepage, playwright, actor and film director
• December 31 – Sonya Biddle, actress and politician (d. 2022)

Full date unknown

• Daniel J. Caron, national librarian of Library and Archives Canada
• Robert Poulin, murderer responsible for the St. Pius X High School shooting (d. 1975)
• Nancy Richler, novelist

Deaths

• January 16 – Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, 16th Governor General of Canada (b. 1874)
• August 21 – Nels Stewart, ice hockey player (b. 1902)
• August 26 – Joseph Tyrrell, geologist, cartographer and mining consultant (b. 1858)
• October 21 – Arthur Puttee, politician (b. 1868)
• October 31 – Martha Black, politician and the second woman elected to the House of Commons of Canada (b. 1866)
• December 10 – Roland Fairbairn McWilliams, politician and Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba (b. 1874)
• December 29 – Humphrey T. Walwyn, naval officer and Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1879)

See also

• 1957 in Canadian television
• List of Canadian films

Notes and References

1. Web site: Queen Elizabeth II The Canadian Encyclopedia . www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca . 4 December 2022.
2. Book: Lentz . Harris M. . Heads of States and Governments Since 1945 . 4 February 2014 . Routledge . 978-1-134-26490-2 . 142 . en.
3. News: Long . Tania . Tania Long . Queen in Coronation Gown Opens Ottawa Parliament; Ermine and Television QUEEN IS RADIANT AT OTTAWA RITES Chamber Long Filled Duke in Uniform Heat Becomes Oppressive . The New York Times . 15 October 1957 . Page 1, columns 2-5 . 29 May 2023.