1964 in Canada - Definition and Overview

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

Incumbents

• Prime Minister - Lester B. Pearson
• Governor General - Georges Vanier

• 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

• 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 Phillip 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 10 - Victor Davis, Olympic swimmer
• April 1 - Scott Stevens, hockey player
• August 17 - Colin James, musician
• September 2 - Keanu Reeves, actor
• August 9 - Brett Hull, hockey player
• August 17 - Colin James, musician
• October 14 - David Kaye, voice actor
• October 26 - Marc Lépine, murderer
• 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

Deaths

• February 18–Joseph-Armand Bombardier, inventor of the snowmobile
• June 9–William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, newspaper and securities tycoon