1964 in Canada

"See also:"
1963 in Canada,
other events of 1964,
1965 in Canada and the
Timeline of Canadian history.

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Incumbents

*Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II
*Governor General: Georges Vanier
*Prime Minister: Lester B. Pearson
*Premier of Alberta: Ernest Manning
*Premier of British Columbia: W.A.C. Bennett
*Premier of Manitoba: Duff Roblin
*Premier of New Brunswick: Louis Robichaud
*Premier of Newfoundland: Joey Smallwood
*Premier of Nova Scotia: Robert Stanfield
*Premier of Ontario: John Robarts
*Premier of Prince Edward Island: Walter Shaw
*Premier of Quebec: Jean Lesage
*Premier of Saskatchewan: Woodrow Lloyd then W. Ross Thatcher

Events

*March 26: The White Paper on Defence is tabled.
*March 27: Several towns in coastal British Columbia, including Prince Rupert, Tofino, Port Alberni and Zeballos, suffer damage from tsunamis associated with the Good Friday Earthquake in Alaska. Overall damage is estimated at $10 million.
*April: Canadians are issued Social Insurance cards for the first time
*April 22: Saskatchewan election: Ross Thatcher's Liberals win a majority, defeating Woodrow Lloyd's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
*March 13: Canada begins a decades-long peacekeeping mission in Cyprus
*March 23: George Stanley first describes and sketches the proposal for Canada's new flag that is eventually accepted
*May 2: Northern Dancer wins the Kentucky Derby
*May 22: W. Ross Thatcher is sworn in as Premier of Saskatchewan
*May 27: The Prime Minister unveils the "Pearson Pennant", his preferred, but ultimately unsuccessful, design for a new national flag.
*June 15: The Great Flag Debate begins in the House of Commons.
*July 16: Canada extends its exclusive fishing zone to 12 miles off-shore
*Summer: At the Olympic Games held in Tokyo, Japan, Canada wins only a single gold medal
*September 10: After almost three months of debate in the Commons, the flag question is referred to an all-party committee.
*September 17: The flag committee meets for the first time.
*October 5: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip begin an eight-day visit to Canada.
*October 22: The flag committee makes its final selection of the design that will become the national flag.
*November 30: John Diefenbaker launches a filibuster to try to prevent the introduction of a new Canadian flag
*December 16: Bill creating the new Flag of Canada passed in the House of Commons after much controversy
*Canada pulls its peacekeepers out of Zaire
*Stanley Cup: Toronto Maple Leafs win 4–3 over the Detroit Red Wings
* Grey Cup: British Columbia Lions win 34–24 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
*Glenn Gould gives up doing live performances
*Governor General Georges Vanier hosts the "Canadian Conference of the Family"
*Innis College founded at the University of Toronto

Arts and literature

:New books
*"Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man": Marshall McLuhan
*"The Circle Game": Margaret Atwood
*"The Laughing Rooster": Irving Layton
*"Flowers for Hitler": Leonard Cohen
*"The Stone Angel": Margaret Laurence:Awards
* See 1964 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
*Stephen Leacock Award: Harry J. Boyle, "Homebrew and Patches Clarke Irwin"
*Vicky Metcalf Award: John F. Hayes:Television
*October 4: The controversial news show "This Hour Has Seven Days" premieres on CBC

Births

*January 10 — Brad Roberts, musician (Crash Test Dummies)
*January 31 — Sylvie Bernier, Olympic diver
*February 1 — Sharon Bruneau, bodybuilder
*February 10 — Victor Davis, Olympic swimmer (d. 1989)
*April 1 — Scott Stevens, ice hockey player
*May 13 — Robert Marland, rower
*June 14 — Randall Thompson, boxer
*June 21 — Rick Duff, boxer
*July 24 — Erminia Russo, volleyball player
*August 17 — Colin James, musician
*September 2 — Keanu Reeves, actor
*August 9 — Brett Hull, ice hockey player
*August 17 — Colin James, musician
*August 26 — Dave Boyes, rower
*August 30 — Milena Gaiga, field hockey player
*September 14 — Terrence Paul, rower
*September 18 — Kelly-Ann Way, track cyclist and road bicycle racer
*September 22 — Wayne Yearwood, basketball player and coach
*September 23 — Diana Dutra, female boxer
*September 25 — Ray Lazdins, discus thrower
*October 14 — David Kaye, voice actor
*October 26 — Marc Lépine, murderer
*October 29 — May Allison, long-distance runner
*November 9 — Leah Pells, track and field athlete
*November 15 — David Caplan, politician
*November 16 — Diana Krall, jazz musician
*December 19 — Laurie Kane, golfer
*December 27 — Kevin Patterson, writer
*Gary Barwin — author
*Gloria Reuben — actor
*Paul Bernardo — murderer
*Maurice Vellekoop — artist and illustrator

Deaths

*February 18: Joseph-Armand Bombardier, inventor of the snowmobile
*April 4: Sarah Ramsland, the first woman ever elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
*June 9: William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, newspaper and financial tycoon
*December 14: Roland Beaudry, politician