Highlights of the day

  • 1713 France cedes Acadia and Newfoundland to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht.
  • 1940 Women allowed into the chamber of the Québec Legislature for the first time.
  • 1967 Halifax folk singer Denny Doherty and The Mamas & The Papas #1 hit “Dedicated to the One I Love.”

List of Facts for April 11

  • 1713 Treaty of Utrecht ends the War of the Spanish Succession; France recognizes British title to Hudson Bay, cedes Acadia and Newfoundland to Britain, but keeps fishing rights; the French settlers and fishermen of Plaisance (Placentia) relocate to Île Saint-Jean (PEI) and île Royale (Cape Breton Island), where the fortress of Louisbourg is built to protect the French fisheries and the sea lanes to Québec. Acadia’s old capital of Port Royal surrendered to New Englanders in 1710 and stays British as Annapolis Royal. Possession of lands north of the Bay of Fundy (New Brunswick) remain in dispute. Utrecht, Netherlands
  • 1768 Fire destroys one-third of the town of Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1785 Sir John Johnson helps draw up a petition for the United Empire Loyalists, asking for a separate province, with freehold land tenure and British Common Law; origin of Upper Canada and the Province of Ontario. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1786 Thomas Mallard announces in the Royal Gazette that he is starting a weekly passenger and cargo service from Saint John to Fredericton on the schooner Four Sisters. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1806 Bishop Lambert consecrated the Roman Catholic Bishop of St. John’s. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1815 New group of Highlanders arrives at Red River, bringing the number of settlers to 270. Manitoba
  • 1816 Steamboat The General Smyth launched at Saint John; will make its First voyage upriver from Saint John to Fredericton on May 20; First river steamboat in the province. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1839 John Galt dies at Greenock; born at Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland May 2, 1779; Scottish novelist (The Ayrshire Legatees, Lawrie Todd), served as agent of the claimants of Upper Canada for losses incurred during the War of 1812; founder of the Canada Company and the town of Guelph (1827); also father of Quebec politician Alexander Galt. Greenock, Scotland
  • 1848 Sir Edmund Walker Head appointed Lt Gov of New Brunswick; his administration is marked by a peaceful adoption of Responsible Government in the province. Head was former Poor Law Commissioner in London, England.
  • 1853 New Brunswick’s First Labour Day celebrated as Moncton shipbuilder Joseph Salter gives his workers better working conditions and a shorter working day. Moncton, New Brunswick
  • 1872 John A. Macdonald starts a productive fifth session of the First Parliament, until June 14; his Ministry will pass the Dominion Lands Act granting free 65-hectare (160 acre) homesteads in Manitoba (dismayed French and Metis leave for Saskatchewan); the Trade Unions Act making unions legal (repeals Anti-Combination Acts, guarantees right to workers to organize without restraint of trade laws); and an Act creating a Public Archives of Canada; now the National Archives of Canada. Here he is wooing BC to join Confederation. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1882 Dominion government approves fifty applications for tracts of land for colonization purposes in the area now known as Saskatchewan. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1904 Sydney incorporated as a city, the province’s second. Sydney, Nova Scotia
  • 1907 Foley, Welch and Stewart track gangs working northward cross the Boundary in the Similkameen Valley.
  • 1914 Original Algonquin Hotel destroyed by fire; rebuilt the following year. Andrews, New Brunswick
  • 1918 Albert Kemp chairs new Overseas Military Council. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1921 Military - Squadron Leader K. Tailyour killed when his Avro 504 aircraft crashes at Camp Borden; first Canadian Air Force officer to die in a flying accident. Barrie, Ontario
  • 1936 Hockey - Detroit Red Wings beat Toronto Maple Leafs 3 games to 1 for the Stanley Cup. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1940 Women allowed into the chamber of the Québec Legislature for the first time, to hear Premier Godbout’s speech asking for passage of Bill 18, giving the provincial vote to Québec women. Québec, Québec
  • 1954 Military - RCAF Squadron Leader R.G. Christie flies the nearly 4,000 km distance from Vancouver to Ottawa in a record-breaking 3.46 hours in a CF-86 Sabre fighter plane. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1956 Hockey - Toronto Maple Leafs hire Howie Meeker as their new coach, replacing King Clancy, who is promoted to Assistant GM. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1962 Military - National Defence announces plans to build eight frigates and buy three submarines from Britain. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1965 Hockey - Detroit Red Wings’ Norm Ullman scores the fastest two goals - in a record five seconds - in a Stanley Cup playoff game.
  • 1967 Bower Featherstone convicted under the Official Secrets Act of acquiring confidential naval charts; federal civil servant sentenced on April 24 to 2 1/2 years in prison. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1989 Hockey - Philadelphia Flyers’ goalie Ron Hextall scores short-handed into an empty net in an 8-5 victory over Washington Capitals; First NHL goalie to score a playoff goal. In 1987, he was the First goalie to score a regular season goal. Landover, Maryland
  • 1990 Hockey - Harold Ballard dies at age 86; president of Maple Leaf Gardens and the Toronto Maple Leafs since 1961; sole owner since 1972, when he took control after the death of Stafford Smyth; leaves bulk of his $110 million estate to charity in Apr 18 will. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1991 Brian Mulroney protests the US challenge of a Free Trade Tribunal ruling for Canadian pork producers in a letter to President Bush. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Ontario Labour Minister Bob Mackenzie passes Employee Wage Protection Program, giving workers up to $5,000 in owed wages, termination pay; if company goes bankrupt; bill retroactive to Oct 1. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1991 Ottawa to give $15 million compensation to families of victims of 1985 Air India Flight 182 disaster; 80 lawsuits already settled for over $10 million. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1996 Ontario government announces a 15 per cent reduction in the civil service. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1997 Hockey - Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores his 50th goal of the season against Florida Panthers; first player in NHL history to get his 50th goal of the season on a penalty shot.
  • 2000 Environment Minister David Anderson brings in Bill C-5, the Species at Risk Act, aimed at protecting Canada’s endangered wildlife; Act lists some 340 Canadian species as endangered. Ottawa, Ontario Hansard Debate