1961

From the big scrapbook of time, here’s a look at Canada in 1961--

The 1961 Monarch Richelieu four-door hardtop retails for $3,850 before tax. Canadians have lost their love for big automobiles and the grand name will be retired at the end of the model year.

Uncle Bobby will be one of the first network stars on CFTO. His show, Kids Corner will be seen across Canada from 1962 to 1979 on CTV.

January 1: Folks in Toronto have a new television station to watch as CFTO—Canada’s Foremost, Toronto’s Own—takes to the airwaves on Channel 9. It is an independent station but will become part of the CTN network on October  1^st.

January 17: Prime Minister Diefenbaker and US President Dwight Eisenhower sign a $3 billion deal to develop hydroelectric power on the Columbia River. Residents of British Columbia and Washington will be sleep easier once flooding is under control.

January 18: Mark Douglas John Messier is born in Edmonton, Alberta. He will grow up to be a one of hockey’s greatest legends, being the only man to ever lead two teams to Stanley Cup victories.

January 26: It’s a boy for Walter and Phyllis Gretzky of Brantford Ontario. Their firstborn son, Wayne Douglas will lace up and skate his way into history as the world’s finest hockey player. “The Great One” will be induced into the Hockey Hall of Fame and appointed to the Order of Canada.

The Canadian Bank of Commerce in Brandon, Manitoba

February 3: Ottawa gives its blessing and the Canadian Bank of Commerce will wed the Imperial Bank of Canada. The new name will be the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

The Right Honourable John G. Diefenbaker sits to the left of Her Majesty.

March 8: Prime Minister Diefenbaker is in London for the Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference. Dief blasts South Africa for its practise of apartheid.

Massey College is named in honour of Vincent Massey, the first Canadian to be appointed as Governor General.

March 14: Massey College is founded as the graduate studies centre at the University of Toronto.  Robertson Davies will be the first Master.

April 16: The Chicago Blackhawks skate their way to the Stanley Cup by beating the Detroit Redwings four games to two.

May 8: Greg Thomey is born in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The kid will grow up to be a comedian and dramatic actor, best known for his outrageous performances on the CBC comedies CODCO and This Hour has 22 Minutes.

US President Kennedy (left) and Prime Minister Diefenbaker (centre).

May 16: Newly elected president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, is in Ottawa with his wife, Jacqueline. At the white tie dinner held in their honour in Rideau Hall, Kennedy will tell the guests, “Geography has made us neighbours but history has made us friends.”

May 16: Kevin McDonald is born in Montreal. He will grow up to become a comedian best known for his role in the immortal CBC-TV comedy classic, Kids in the Hall.

May 27: Northern Dancer is born at Windfields Farm in Oshawa, Ontario. When he is three years old, the bay colt will win the Triple Crown and go on to be the most successful thoroughbred racing sire horse in history. Northern Dancer will die on November 16, 1990.

May 30: At odds with James Coyne, Governor of the Bank of Canada, over fiscal policy, the government demands his resignation. The governor refuses.

May 30: One of the worst rainstorms in history is recorded in Buffalo Gap, Saskatchewan as 25 centimetres of rain falls in less than an hour.

June 1: The Dominion Bureau of Statistics counts noses. Now we know that there are 18, 238,247 of us living in the ten provinces and two territories.

CUSO doesn't send money, it sends volunteers. By 2011, more than 15,000 volunteers will have served with CUSO in more than 40 countries.

June 6: The Canadian University Overseas Service, better known as CUSO, is founded at McGill University in Montreal. The non-profit organization recruits university students across Canada to make a difference in poverty stricken nations.

June 9: Michael Andrew Fox is born in Edmonton. He will change the Andrew to “J” and become a famous actor appearing on television and the silver screen. Stricken with Parkinson’s disease; he will retire from his craft in 1999 and devote his time to finding a cure for the debilitating illness. He will return to TV in 2013.

The Voodoo will serve from 1961 to 1987.

June 12: The Department of National Defense will do a little horse trading. The DND will receive 66 McDonnell CF-101 Voodoos from the US in exchange for American control of the Pinetree Line—a series of radar stations running roughly across Canada and the United States at the 50^th parallel of latitude—the stations are designed to protect North America from Soviet nuclear attack. 

The CF-104 will be built by Canadair in Montreal.

June 12: A Mutual Air Program for the purchase of 200 CF-104 Starfighters is announced.

June 13: National Capital Commission creates a 16,590-hectare Greenbelt. Nature's buffer surrounds Ottawa. In 2011, the Greenbelt will have grown to 203.5 square kilometres, making it the largest urban park in the world.

1961 Suzuki Bellel with Diesel engine.

June 22: The Bladen Commission releases its report on the state of the domestic automobile industry. As a result, Volvo, Renault, Peugeot, Isuzu and Toyota will open assembly plants in Canada.

A federal excise stamp is proof that tax has been paid in full.

June 22: Ottawa rescinds the Federal Excise Tax on cars. It is welcome news throughout the auto industry and will spur sales.

The Governor of the Bank of Canada and his wife, Meribeth, walk to the Bank of Canada. Mr. Coyne will die in 2012 at the age of 102.

July 13: The Governor of the Bank of Canada resigns to protest the Diefenbaker government’s loose monetary policies. James Coyne is of the opinion that expansionism is fiscally unsound. The press calls the very public disagreement The Coyne Affair.

July 14, 1961: in Castlegar, British Columbia, the thermometer hits a nation-wide record high of 53.4C with the Humidex factored in. The record will almost be equaled on July 5^th, 2007 when the temperature in Carmen, Manitoba reaches 53C.

1921 Brock Six

July 22: Automotive pioneer William Stansill dies in his hometown of Courtland, Ontario. He was the genius behind the Brock Six built in Amherstburg, Ontario and the sleek and racy London Six automobile of which 98 were built before the company slid into bankruptcy in 1925.

August 3: The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Party is no more. Delegates to the political convention in Ottawa change the name to the New Democratic Party and elect silver-tongued Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas to be its leader.

August 26: Prime Minister Diefenbaker is on hand at the CNE Fairgrounds to officially open the Hockey Hall of fame and the Sports Hall of Fame. Among those attending the ceremony are hockey heroes Maurice “Rocket” Richard and Babe Pratt.  The Hall of Fame will move to downtown Toronto at the corner of Front and Yonge Streets in 1993.

September 7: The threat of nuclear war grows closer. Addressing the House of Commons, Prime Minister Diefenbaker announces funding to train 100,00 men to handle emergency survival operations for the civilian population. Shelters are to be built outside of large urban centres and stocked with emergency supplies of food and medical supplies.

Canada Post will honour Bob Hayward with a stamp in 2011.

September 10: World champion powerboat racer Bob Hayward is killed instantly when his boat, Miss Supertest II, flips over at 280 kilometres-per hour during the Silver Cup Regatta on the Detroit River. The soft-spoken, 33-year old chicken farmer from of Embro, Ontario won the Harmsworth Trophy for the past three years in a row. After Hayward’s death, the international competition is cancelled permanently.

Electrohome has been building televisions in Kitchener Ontario since 1949.  This is a Kirby Console model. The company will get out of  television manufacturing in 1984, though the Electrohome name will be used under license by several Japanese manufacturers well into the 21st Century.

October 1: The CBC gets some competition is the Canadian Television Network, a.k.a. CTN, signs on the air for the first time. Backed by Marconi and Electrohome, the privately owned broadcaster has affiliates in Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver. It will change its name to CTV within months.

k.d. lang in 1989

November 2: Kathryn Dawson Lang is born in Edmonton but grows up in the Prairie town of Consort, Alberta. Known as k.d., she will grow up to become a velvety voiced torch singer, a Juno and Grammy winner and be invested as an Officer in the Order of Canada in 1996.

Protesters and doctors will gather at the provincial legislature in Regina next summer when Medicare becomes law on July 1st.

November 17: The Saskatchewan legislature passes its universal free Medicare bill. To pay for the scheme, the provincial sales tax will jump from three to five percent and citizens will pay $12 a year of $24 per family. Doctors threaten to go on strike.

December 2: The Hamilton Tiger Cats face off with  the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in front of 32,651 fans at the CNE Stadium in Toronto. At the end of regulation play, the score is tied, 14 to 14. It's the first time a Grey Cup match has gone into overtime. Quarterback Ken Ploen makes a touchdown for the Bombers making the final  score 21 to 14.

December 18: Born at 7.30 in the morning in Belleville Ontario, Brian Orser will skate home with Olympic silver in 1984 and 1988, be the World Freestyle Champion from 1984 to 1988 and be made an officer of the Order of Canada.

December 28: The first Bomarc Missile Squadron is formed. Prime Minister Diefenbaker scrapped the Avro Arrow for this joint defense program with the US. The government will dither over whether the Bomarcs on Canadian soil will carry nuclear warheads or not. The controversy will split Diefenbaker’s cabinet and cause the Tories to lose the federal election in 1963.

December 30: Benjamin Sinclair Johnson is born in Falmouth, Jamaica. He will immigrate to Canada when he is fifteen. The world’s fastest man will be the centre of a steroid scandal and be stripped of his 1988 Olympic gold medal when he tests positive.

The mid-sized Ford Fairlane has a wheelbase of 115.5 in 2 934 mm (115.5in).  It is built in Oakville, Ontario.

December 31: The Top Ten selling cars this year are the full sized Chevrolet, the full sized Pontiac, Volkswagen, Ford Fairlane, Ford Falcon, Mercury Comet, Plymouth, Meteor, Dodge and Rambler.

Chrysler Canada’s Valiant is sold as a stand-alone brand, replacing DeSoto in the Chrysler family. In its second year on the market, the compact brand rings up 9,831 sales during the calendar year. The 1961 Valiant V-200 two-door hardtop sells for $2,596 f.o.b. Windsor, Ontario.

1990

From the big scrapbook of time, here’s a look at Canada in 1990-

January 5: The economy of Newfoundland and Labrador reels as seafood processing giant Fishery Products International announces the closure of three plants. More than 1,300 people will lose their jobs.

January 15: Parliament slashes VIA Rail’s budget.  Many routes will be affected by the cuts including the rerouting of The Canadian. Now service from Toronto to Vancouver will be available only three days a week. The famed stainless-steel train with its domed observation cars will make the 4,466-kilometre trek along  the Canadian National route, one far less scenic than the more southern route owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway.

January 24: A national sales tax is tabled in the House of Commons. The Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney intends for Canadians to pay a tax on all goods and services.

January 29: Her Excellency, Jeanne Sauve, steps down as Governor General. Sworn in to serve as the nation’s 24^th Governor General is Ramon John Hnatyshyn. The Saskatchewan native was Minister of Justice in Brian Mulroney’s cabinet. 

February 12: An environmental disaster, a mountain of tires catches fire in the village of Townsend, near Hagersville, Ontario. It is estimated that 14 million tires burning. Thick, dark, toxic smoke will blanket the area, forcing more than 4,000 people out of their homes. The fire will burn for 17 days before firefighters finally extinguish the blaze.

March 8: Paul Quarrington is at Rideau Hall to receive the Governor General's Literary Award for English Fiction with his novel, Whale Music. It is the 51^st year for the award.

March 9: The Lake Meech Accord is in trouble. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier, Clyde Wells, announces his newly elected government will revoke the constitutional amendment package because it will erode the province's powers. 

March 15: Ottawa announces that men practising the Sikh religion may wear their turbans as part of their Royal Canadian Mounted Police uniforms.

A Chinese Head Tax Certificate.

 March 17: Ottawa will give $50 to $500 per person as compensation to Chinese-Canadians who forced to pay $23 million for admission to Canada between 1885-1923.  

 

Rita MacNeil hails from Big Pond on Cape Breton Island. She is the nation's biggest country and folk singer..

 March 18: Rick Moranis hosts the Juno Awards, held at the O’Keefe Centre in Toronto. Rita MacNeil wins a Juno for Best Female Vocalist. Kim Mitchell takes home a Best Male Vocalist Juno. Best Album Juno goes to Alannah Myles and so does the Juno for Single of the Year for her song, Black Velvet.

Bridgetown, Barbados as seen from the harbour. Parliament is the building with the flag.

 March 19: Prime Minister Mulroney is in Bridgetown, Barbados for the Caribbean Commonwealth leaders’ conference.  Canada forgives $182 million worth of debt racked up by Caribbean nations.

 

The $1000 bill will be withdrawn from circulation on May 8th, 2000.

 March 20: Ottawa now requires banks to track large cash deposits in order to keep criminals from laundering money.

 

March 22: Gerald Vincent Bull is assassinated in Brussels. The North Bay, Ontario native was an armament designer and created a “super gun” for the Iraqi military. It is believed he was shot by Mossad agents. Gerald Forsythe’s novel, The Fist of God, recounts the engineer’s life story.

March 29: Federal Environment Minister Lucien Bouchard shows his Green Paper—a document that will address today’s environmental problems.

April 1: Ottawa inks a land claim deal with First Nations people of the Yukon Territory. The settlement includes 41,000 square kilometres of land, mineral rights and $232 million in cash.

This Hydro Quebec dam is located near the Cree settlement of  Chisasibi.

April 3: Quebec Cree Grand Chief Matthew Coon-Come files for an injunction to stop Hydro Quebec from implementing phase two of the $7.5 billion expansion Great Whale Hydro development project on James Bay. Coon-Come says that flooding the 5,000-square kilometres of land will irrevocably harm the environment as well as alter the Cree people’s traditional way of life, Pressure tactics will cause New York State to withdraw from signing multi-billion dollar agreements with Hydro Quebec, effectively killing the mega-project.

April 4: Alannah Myles hit, Black Velvet, climbs to Number One on the American pop singles chart.  The Toronto singer and songwriter will have two other Top 40 hits from her debut album.

April 9: An Angus Reid poll shows the Mulroney Tories have the support of only 15 percent of decided voters. It is the lowest poll on record for a sitting government.

The House of Commons in session.

April 10: After nine months of vicious fighting, the bill for the controversial Goods and Services Tax passes in the House of Commons. The vote is 144 yeas to 114 nays.  The 7% percent will replace the 13.5 percent Manufacturers Sales Tax. The bill now goes to the Senate for approval and then to the Governor General for Royal assent.

April 11: Harold Ballard is dead at the age of 86. The sports legend was the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Maple Leaf Gardens. He leaves behind an estate valued at $50 million—most of it donated to charities.

April 19:The Crown lays charges against five teens for setting a fire at the Tyre King Recycling centre in Hagersville, Ontario. The 14 million scrap tires burned for seventeen days.  

In 1954, Woodward's opened an ultra-modern store in uptown New Westminster, BC.

April 27: Charles Woodward is dead at the age of 66. The business tycoon was head of Woodward's Department Stores Ltd for more than 30 years.  He added 21 stores to the family-owned chain before resigning in 1988 and selling to The Hudson’s Bay Company.

 

May 3: The nine justices of the Supreme Court of Canada rule unanimously that Angelique Lyn Lavallee of Winnipeg acted in self defence when she killed her long-time partner after years of abuse on August 30, 1986. The battered wife syndrome becomes a legitimate defence in murder charges.

May 12: Federal Environment Minister, Lucien Bouchard, is alarmed that changes may be made in the Meech Lake Accord. He resigns from the Tory government. In a few short months he will be back in politics as the leader of the newly formed Bloc Quebecois.

May 16: A tire dump near St. Amable, Quebec catches fire. An estimated 10 million tires burn over the next six days and hundreds are forced from their homes before firefighters can extinguish the blaze. It is estimated that there are 25 million old tires in similar dumps around Quebec. Cement giants Lafarge Canada in St. Constant and Ciment Saint-Laurent in Joliette will sign a contract with officials in Quebec City in 2001 to burn 7.5 million of the old tires, converting them into fuel for their cement plants.

“Sorry Charlie, Starkist doesn’t want tuna with good taste, but tuna that tastes good.”

 May 17: As a result of the ‘tainted tuna scandal’ Star-Kist Canada will shutter its factory and abandon the Canadian market.  In 1985, a million cans of spoiled tuna were processed in the company's cannery in St. Andrews, New Brunswick.  The Federal Minister of Fisheries overrode the inspectors' decision. Only when The Fifth Estate broke the story on its news show were the cans yanked off store shelves. Closure of the plant has put 400 people out of work.

Royal Air Force Panavia Tornados on a training exercise at CFB Goose Bay.

May 22: NATO announces it will cancel the low-level flight training centre for member nations at Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay in Labrador.

This the Oilers' fifth Stanley Cup victory in seven years.

May 24: The Edmonton Oilers beat the Boston Bruins four games to one, to win the Stanley Cup.

May 31: Alberta will sell off half of its Crown corporation, Alberta Government Telephones, established by the Liberal government in 1906. It is estimated that the sale of AGT will bring $1.5 million into the government’s coffers. The company will be known as Telus in 1996.

Senator Waters

June 6: The Honourable Stanley Charles Waters is sworn in as Canada’s first elected Senator. Representing the Reform Party and the people of Alberta, he will press for a “triple E” senate—elected, effective and equal. The idea is not popular and will eventually be abandoned. Senator Waters will die of brain cancer in 1991.

June 10: With only 20 days to go before it dies, the First Ministers gather together to renegotiate and sign a new version of the Lake Meech Accord. Premier Clyde Wells says he will have to take it to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador before signing.

June 12: Rising in the Manitoba legislature, eagle feather in hand, Member of the Legislative Assembly Elijah Harper says “no” to the Lake Meech Accord. The Cree band chief and provincial politician objects to the constitutional package because First Nations people were not consulted.

Miracle Food Mart in Windsor, Ontario.

July 20: Quebec grocery giant Steinberg sells 58 of its Miracle Food Mart and 11 Ultra-Mart stores for $235 million. Most of the stores are in the Greater Toronto Area and will be operated under the A&P or Dominion banners.

Russ Munro reported the D-Day invasion of Normandy in 1944.

June 21: Ross Munro is dead in Toronto at the age of 76.  He was a war correspondent for Canadian Press during World War Two. He was editor and publisher of the Edmonton Journal, Winnipeg Tribune and the Montreal Gazette.

June 23: The Meech Lake Accord is dead. Quebeckers feel left out of national life.

The Right Honourable John Turner was the 17th Prime Minister.

June 23: Former Prime Minister John Turner has stepped down as leader of the Liberal Party. Jean Chretien wins the leadership race on the first ballot at the convention in Calgary.

June 28: Federal Health Minister Perrin Beatty announces Ottawa will spend $112 million on a national AIDS strategy. The money will be used to stop transmission of the disease, search for a cure, and develop education programmes.

July 11: A land dispute between the Mohawk people and officials of the town of Oka, Quebec escalates into armed conflict. Three people will die. Mohawks barricade themselves and the army will bring tanks and throw up a razor wire barrier. The standoff will last 78 days before being peaceably resolved.

Wayne and Shuster were Ed Sullivan's favourite comedy duo--appearing on his CBS variety show 67 times, more than any other performers.

July 18:  Louis Weingarten is dead of brain cancer at the age of 72. Better known to Canadians as Johny Wayne, he was half of the famed comedic duo Wayne & Shuster. They have performed together since the 1930s. There is an old joke that real Canadians are easy to identify—they’re the ones who know which one is Wayne and which one is Shuster. Johnny Wayne will be buried in his hometown of Toronto. 

Joseph Gaétan Robert Gérald (Gerry) Boulet

July 18: Gerry Boulet is dead at the age of 44. The lead singer of Offenbach was described as having “ a voice that grated asphalt at 500 kilometres an hour.” The rock star succumbed to colon cancer in Montreal.

August 25: Novelist Morley Callaghan is dead in Toronto at the age of 87. One of this country’s best short story writers, Morley once knocked out buddy Ernest Hemmingway in a boxing match in Paris. Morley was also the host of the long-running programme Anthology, heard on Saturday nights on CBC Radio.

The 1991 Mercury Grand Marquis. The Mercury brand will be dropped in Canada at the end of the 1999 model year.

September – An eight-day strike at Ford Canada is settled and retooling at the St. Thomas and Oakville plants get under way. The Mercury Grand Marquis and the Ford Crown Victoria will be built in St. Thomas and the new mid-sized vans will be built in Oakville.

Robert Keith"Bob" Rae was Ontario's 21st Premier, serving from 1991 to 1995.

September 6: With 74 orange seats at Queen’s Park, Bob Rae leads the New Democratic Party to a surprise majority victory in the Ontario election.

September 26: The Oka Crisis is over. Mohawk warriors throw their weapons into a fire, burn tobacco in a peace ceremony and walk out of the pine woods. They are detained by the army and arrested by the Surete du Quebec.

September 27: To ensure passage of the Goods & Services Tax, Prime Minister Mulroney enlarges the size of the Senate and appoints a dozen new Tory Senators to the Red Chamber.

Craig Russell as Judy Garland.

October 30: Craig Russell is dead of a stroke at the age of 42. Famous for his impressions of a dozen Hollywood divas—from Mae West to Bette Midler—the movie star and female impersonator will be laid to rest in Port Perry, Ontario.

November 7: Author and English professor Hugh MacLennan is dead in North Hatley, Quebec at the age of 83. Born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, he will be best remembered for his classic novels Barometer Rising and Two Solitiudes. The Tragically Hip pay homage to Hugh with their song Courage—recorded on their 1992 album, Fully Completely.

November 16: Northern Dancer is dead at the age of 29. Inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1965, the 1964 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner was the most successful thoroughbred horse of the 20^th Century. Canada Post will honour the horse with a stamp in 1999.

November 25: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers whip the Edmonton Eskimos at the 78^th Grey Cup. The score is 50 to 11. 

 

December 9:   The widow, Marguerite d'Youville, founder of the Sisters of Charity, a.k.a. the Grey Nuns, is the first Canadian to be canonized by Pope John Paul. St. Margeurite’s feast day will be every October 16.

December 17: By Royal Assent, the GST becomes law and will take effect on January 1, 1991. The national sales tax is set at 7 percent.