Highlights of the day

  • 1905 First Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) passenger train into Edmonton.
  • 1939 Canada Signs Agreement Creating the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan
  • 1990 Canada’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) receives Royal Assent and becomes law.

List of Facts for December 17

  • 1640 Religion - The Company of One Hundred Associates agrees to grant the whole of Montréal Island to the Société de Notre Dame de Montréal; except for the mountain and the area to the southwest (Lachine) where fur trading was done. Montréal, Québec
  • 1792 Opening of the First Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. Québec, Québec
  • 1822 Peter Fidler dies at Fort Dauphin, Hudson’s Bay Company fur-trader, explorer and cartographer. Dauphin, Manitoba
  • 1844 Founding of the Institut canadien, a club and reading group serving as a centre of French-Canadian culture and patriotism; soon dominated by members of the radical Parti rouge, who favoured joining the United States; their anti-clerical efforts led the bishop of Montreal to ban the Institut; radical printer Joseph Guibord a member. Montréal, Québec
  • 1859 Rail - Victoria Bridge opens to passenger train traffic; will be formally opened by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, on August 25, 1860; the single-track iron tubular bridge is entirely enclosed, which causes ventilation problems; a slit 20cm wide will be cut the full length of the bridge to let smoke escape. Montréal, Québec
  • 1864 External Affairs - US requires passports for entry from British North America for the First time. USA
  • 1867 British Columbia Legislature meets for the First time at the new capital of Victoria. Victoria, BC
  • 1875 Riot - Violent bread riots break out in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1891 Banking - Founding of the Canadian Bankers Association. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1895 K&S Railway crews attack the rival N&S’s property and personnel at Sandon; Part of the Great Northern (GNR) empire south of the border, the narrow-gauge Kaslo and Slocan line ran from Kaslo into Sandon across a network of over 30 bridges and trestles between 1895 and 1955 totalling about 53 km of track. The Nakusp and Slocan Railway (N&S) ran between Nakusp, New Denver, British Columbia and Sandon, connecting with boats on Arrow Lakes at Nakusp (which connected with the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) mainline at Revelstoke) and Slocan Lake at Rosebary (which connected with the CPR’s Columbia and Kootenay Railway (C&K) at Slocan City). The line was extended to Kaslo with the purchase of the Kaslo and Slocan Railway in 1912. Sandon, BC
  • 1905 Rail - First Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) passenger train into Edmonton. Alberta
  • 1910 Kettle River Valley Railway begins line up Coldwater from Merritt, BC.
  • 1914 George Clark sworn in as Premier of New Brunswick replacing the retiring James Flemming. Fredericton, NB
  • 1917 Federal Election - Robert Borden leads his Unionist government to second consecutive majority victory in the general election; wins 153 seats to 82 for Wilfrid Laurier’s Liberals (62 of which are from Québec); wins only three seats in Québec due to opposition to conscription. Canada
  • 1917 Samuel Jacobs from Montréal the First Jewish Canadian elected to the House of Commons. Montréal, Québec
  • 1921 Coinage - Maple leaf design of the new nickel 5¢ coin proclaimed; originally silver, but soon changed to pure nickel. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1921 Labour - Farmers’ Union of Canada is founded. Saskatchewan
  • 1924 Immigration - BC Iegislature adopts resolution opposing continued Oriental immigration. Victoria, BC
  • 1925 Grain - Majority of Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator Company members vote to amalgamate with the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. Saskatchewan
  • 1939 Second World War - Canada signs agreement creating the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, a $1.281 billion program to train pilots, navigators, wireless operators and gunners from UK, Canada, Australia and NZ; BCATP instructors from the Royal Canadian Air Force will work at 107 schools and 184 ancillary units across Canada, and eventually train 130,000 Allied aircrew. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1939 Second World War - First contingents of the 1st Canadian Division start arriving in Britain for military service. Greenock, Scotland
  • 1940 Second World War - HMCS Wetaskiwin is commissioned for the Royal Canadian Navy. Esquimalt, BC
  • 1941 Second World War - Battle of Hong Kong - Japanese repeat demand for surrender of the colony, but it is summarily refused by the British governor; garrison, which includes 450 Canadians, has no hope of relief, with the sinking of two British battleships off Singapore, and the crippling of the US fleet at Pearl Harbor; invasion comes the following day. Hong Kong, China
  • 1945 Second World War - Mackenzie King’s Cabinet passes three orders-in-council providing for the deportation of five classes of Japanese Canadians. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1946 Cabinet - Paul Martin Sr. sworn in as federal Minister of National Health and Welfare. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1947 Communications - Sept-Îles linked with the world by telephone. Sept-Îles, Québec
  • 1953 Media - Vancouver’s First TV station, CBUT, goes on the air. Vancouver, BC
  • 1960 Health - Québec joins National Hospital Insurance Plan, effective January 1, 1961; last province to agree to the National Health Act. Québec, Québec
  • 1960 Retail - Supreme Court of Canada rules that food stamp premiums are legal. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1964 Symbols - Senate of Canada approves the new National Flag of Canada after Commons passage December 15, 1964. House of Commons votes to keep flying Union Jack as symbol of Canada’s membership in Commonwealth. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1966 Sport - Elaine Tanner, age15, is awarded the the Bobbie Rosenfeld award as Canada’s female athlete of the year, the youngest ever; will also win the Lou Marsh Trophy as Athlete of the Year, and the Velma Springstead Trophy as best female athlete in Canada. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1966 Road - Opening of Québec Autoroute 15. Québec
  • 1968 Terrorism - City of Montréal offers $10,000 reward for the arrest of FLQ terrorist bombers. Montréal, Québec
  • 1969 Currency - Bank of Canada to print new bank notes; portraits of former Prime Ministers to replace Queen; Wilfrid Laurier on the $5, John A. Macdonald on the $10, Mackenzie King on the $50, Robert Borden on the $100. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1969 Youth - Ottawa puts the Company of Young Canadians under stricter management and financial control. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1971 Cinema - Canadian film producer Harry Saltzman and his partner Cubby Broccoli premiere a new James Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever, starring Sean Connery, at Showcase Theaters in the US; worldwide gross for the film is a healthy $116 million. USA
  • 1974 Pierre Laporte posthumously cleared of charges linking him with organized crime; by the Québec Commission on Organized Crime; late Québec Labour Minister killed by FLQ terrorists in 1970. Québec
  • 1982 Fur Trade - Animal rights activists succeed in lobbying the European Economic Community to ban the import of harp and hooded seal pelt; main market for the Canadian fur. Brussels, Belgium
  • 1982 Music - The Who play what is the last concert of our farewell tour at Maple Leaf Gardens; simulcast around North America on pay-per-view satellite-cable TV to closed-circuit arena outlets; video rights sold to Home Box Office and cassettes later put on sale. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1985 Environment - Queen’s Park rules that acid rain polluters must cut sulphur dioxide emissions by 64% in the next eight years. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1988 Hockey - Bryan Murray becomes the 17th NHL coach to win 300 games; with the Washington Capitals. Washington, DC
  • 1990 Constitution - House of Commons creates special 17-member Joint Senate-Commons Committee to devise new amending formula for the Constitution, co-chaired by Senator Gérald Beaudoin and MP Jim Edwards as co-chairs; committee will report June 20, 1991. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 Taxation - Canada’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) receives Royal Assent and becomes law. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Joey Smallwood dies at age 90; led Newfoundland into Confederation; was Premier of Newfoundland for 23 years; wrote I Chose Canada. A native of Gambo, Newfoundland , he died leaving his Encyclopedia of Newfoundland unfinished. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1991 Urban - Québec government unveils Innovatech Grand Montréal, $415 million plan to renew city economy. Montréal, Québec
  • 1992 Brian Mulroney signs the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in a ceremony on Parliament Hill; George Bush and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari sign in separate ceremonies; deal still must be approved in legislatures of 3 countries. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1994 Marriage - Pop diva Céline Dion marries her longtime manager René Angelil. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1996 Crime - 51-year-old Vancouver Red Cross nurse Nancy Malloy and five other International aid workers killed by bandits. Chechnya
  • 1996 Politics - Rodrigue Biron and Gilles Duceppe announce they are candidates to lead the Bloc québécois; Duceppe the eventual winner. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2002 Crime - Québec City police arrest many prominent citizens in a juvenile prostitution bust. Québec, Québec