1879 in Canada
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| Years in Canada: | 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 |
| Centuries: | 18th century · 19th century · 20th century |
| Decades: | 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s |
| Years: | 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 |
| Part of a series on the |
| History of Canada |
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Events from the year 1879 in Canada.
Incumbents
Crown
- Head of state (monarch) – Queen Victoria (consort – Vacant)
Federal government
- Governor general – John Campbell (viceregal consort – Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll)
- Prime minister – John A. Macdonald
Provincial governments
Lieutenant governors
- Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Albert Norton Richards
- Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Joseph Édouard Cauchon
- Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Edward Barron Chandler
- Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Adams George Archibald
- Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Donald Alexander Macdonald
- Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Robert Hodgson (until July 10) then Thomas Heath Haviland
- Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Luc Letellier de St-Just (until July 26) then Théodore Robitaille
Premiers
- Premier of British Columbia – George Anthony Walkem
- Premier of Manitoba – John Norquay
- Premier of New Brunswick – John James Fraser
- Premier of Nova Scotia – Simon Hugh Holmes
- Premier of Ontario – Oliver Mowat
- Premier of Prince Edward Island – Louis Henry Davies (until April 25) then William Wilfred Sullivan
- Premier of Quebec – Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière (until October 31) then Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau
Territorial governments
Lieutenant governors
- Lieutenant Governor of Keewatin – Joseph Édouard Cauchon
- Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories - David Laird
Events
- February 4 - Prince Edward Island election: William Wilfred Sullivan's Conservatives win a third consecutive majority
- March 12 - Sir John A. Macdonald introduces protective tariffs on manufactured goods being imported into Canada, a transcontinental railway, and immigration to the west in his National Policy.
- April 25 - Sir William Wilfred Sullivan becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Sir Louis Davies
- June 5 - Ontario election: Sir Oliver Mowat's Liberals win a third consecutive majority
- (date unknown) - The Toronto Industrial Exhibition opens for the first time, precursor to the Canadian National Exhibition
- October 31 - Sir Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau becomes premier of Quebec, replacing Henri-Gustave de Lotbinière
- December 16 - Manitoba election
- December 19 - The Alberta Canada Cannibal. Swift Runner was executed for murdering and then eating eight members of his own family over the previous winter. He believed he was possessed by Wendigo, a terrifying mythological creature with a ravenous appetite for human flesh.
It wasn't an isolated case. During the late 1800s and into the 20th Century, fear of Wendigo (or Windigo) haunted northern Alberta communities, resulting in several grisly deaths. All other deaths he can document were cases of "Wendigo executions," where others have killed the person believed to be possessed. They were acts of self-preservation, attempts to protect their community.
Births
January to June
- January 15 - Mazo de la Roche, author (d.1961)
- January 17 - Richard Gavin Reid, politician and 7th Premier of Alberta (d.1980)
- January 25 - Humphrey T. Walwyn, naval officer and Governor of Newfoundland (d.1957)
- February 14 - Eli Burton, physicist
- March 20 - Maud Menten, medical scientist (d.1960)
- May 25 - Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, business tycoon, politician and writer (d.1964)
- June 12 - Charles Dow Richards, judge, politician and 18th Premier of New Brunswick (d.1956)
July to December
- August 1 - Eva Tanguay, singer and entertainer (d.1947)
- August 16 - Samuel Lawrence, politician and trade unionist (d.1959)
- October 6 - James Langstaff Bowman, politician and Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons (d.1951)
- October 9 - William Warren, lawyer, politician, judge and Prime Minister of Newfoundland (d.1927)
- November 3 - Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Arctic explorer and ethnologist (d.1962)
- November 11 - Violet McNaughton, feminist
- November 25 - Joseph-Arsène Bonnier, politician (d.1962)
- December 24 - Émile Nelligan, poet (d.1941)
Deaths
- January 4 - Pierre-Alexis Tremblay, politician (b.1827)
- January 16 - Octave Crémazie, poet (b.1827)
- April 4 - Jean-Baptiste Thibault, missionary and a Father of Confederation (b.1810)
- October 7 - William Henry Pope, lawyer, politician, judge and a Father of Confederation (b.1825)
