1917 in Canada
overview of Canada-related events during the year of 1917
Events from the year 1917 in Canada.
Incumbents
Crown
Monarch – George V
Federal government
Governor General – Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire
Prime Minister – Robert Borden
Chief Justice – Charles Fitzpatrick (Quebec)
Parliament – 12th (until 6 October)
Provincial governments
Lieutenant governors
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Robert Brett
Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Francis Stillman Barnard
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – James Albert Manning Aikins
Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Josiah Wood (until June 29) then Gilbert Ganong (June 29 to October 31) then William Pugsley (from November 6)
Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – MacCallum Grant
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Strathearn Hendrie
Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Augustine Colin Macdonald
Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Pierre-Évariste Leblanc
Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Richard Stuart Lake
Premiers
Premier of Alberta – Arthur Sifton (until October 30) then Charles Stewart
Premier of British Columbia – Harlan Brewster
Premier of Manitoba – Tobias Norris
Premier of New Brunswick – George Johnson Clarke (until February 1) then James A. Murray (February 1 to April 4) then Walter Foster
Premier of Nova Scotia – George Henry Murray
Premier of Ontario – William Hearst
Premier of Prince Edward Island – John Mathieson (until June 21) then Aubin Arsenault
Premier of Quebec – Lomer Gouin
Premier of Saskatchewan – William Melville Martin
Territorial governments
Commissioners
Commissioner of Yukon – George Norris Williams (acting)
Gold Commissioner of Yukon – George P. MacKenzie
Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Frederick D. White
Elections
Provincial
June 7 – Alberta election: Arthur Sifton's Liberals win a fourth consecutive majority. Louise McKinney and Roberta MacAdams are elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, the first two women elected to a legislature in the British Empire.
June 26 – Saskatchewan election: William Martin's Liberals win a fourth consecutive majority.
Federal
December 17: Robert Borden's Conservatives win a second consecutive majority in the Federal election
Events
January to June
February 1 – James Alexander Murray becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing George Johnson Clarke
April 4 – Walter Foster becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Murray
April 9 – April 14 – Battle of Vimy Ridge.
April 17 – Leon Trotsky, en route from New York to Russia, is detained in Halifax. He will spend the next month in Amherst Internment Camp before being released.
June 21 – Aubin Arsenault becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing John Mathieson
July to December
July 1: Canada celebrates its 50th Dominion Day.
August: The government introduces conscription triggering the Conscription Crisis of 1917
September 20: The Income War Tax Act receives royal assent, establishing a "temporary" tax, which remains in force to this day.
September 20: The Wartime Elections Act gives female relatives of servicemen the vote.
“1917 in Canada” enters the record as overview of Canada-related events during the year of 1917. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Canada, overview and Canada-related can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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