Timeline of Ontario History - Canada, Sovereign Realm, 1931 To 1982

Canada, Sovereign Realm, 1931 To 1982

• 1931 - The Statute of Westminster makes all existing Dominions fully independent of the United Kingdom and provides that all new Dominions (thereafter termed more frequently as Commonwealth realms) shall be fully independent upon the grant of realm status; each realm became a sovereign state that differed from most others merely in having as head of state the same person as other countries did (a situation similar to the period between 1603 and 1707, when Scotland and England had the same monarch but each had their own fully independent governments). Canada, however, continued to rely on the British parliament to—at Canada's request—amend the constitution, because the federal and provincial governments could not agree on an amending formula, among other federal-provincial conflicts (e.g., there was no Canadian citizenship until 1 January 1947 and Canadians were still labelled by Canadian law as "British Subjects" prior to that date; court cases from provincial courts could by-pass the Supreme Court of Canada for direct appeal to the Privy Council in London, which also had power to overrule the Canadian Supreme Court, until 1947. The provinces did not want Ottawa to have the last word in judicial disputes, and did not want a Canadian citizenship that would be distinct from imperial citizenship.)
• 1937–Premier Mitchell Hepburn uses the Ontario Provincial Police to suppress an CIO strike at General Motors in Oshawa after the federal government refuses to suppress it. Hepburn is unsuccessful in keeping the CIO out of Ontario.
• 1943–George Drew and the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario are elected, beginning 42 years of Conservative government.
• 1951 – In response to a civil rights movement which originated in opposition to racial discrimination in Dresden, Ontario, the government of Leslie Frost passes Canada's first Fair Employment Practices Act, which forbids discrimination on the basis of race, creed, colour, nationality, ancestry or place of origin. However, the act is enforced administratively, with prosecution only a last resort.
• 1951 – The Frost government passes Ontario's first equal pay legislation, the Female Employees Fair Remuneration Act.
• 1954 – The Frost government introduces Canada's first Fair Accommodation Practices Act. Like the Fair Employment Practices Act it is enforced administratively, with prosecution only a last resort.
• 1955 – The first conviction under the Fair Accommodation Practices Act, of Kay's Cafe in Dresden, the site of the original complaint of racial discrimination in Dresden, is overturned on appeal.
• 1956 – First successful prosecution under the Fair Accommodation Practices Act, again of Kay's Cafe in Dresden
• 1962 – Passage of the Ontario Human Rights Code, which amalgamates and extends previous laws about civil rights.
• 1966 – The government of John Robarts introduces universal health insurance within the province.
• 1967 - The Ontario Pavilion is opened at Expo 67 in Montreal, and Ontario gets its unofficial theme song: "A Place to Stand, A Place to Grow."
• 1967 - GO Transit commuter rail network begins operation in the Toronto region.
• 1970 - The provincially funded TVOntario goes on the air.
• 1971 - Ontario Place theme park opens in Toronto created by the Government of Ontario
• 1976 - The CN Tower in Toronto is completed and opens to the public.
• 1979 - A train derailment in Mississauga causes the largest evacuation of a city in North American history.
• 1980 - Terry Fox ends his Marathon of Hope charity run across Canada early due to illness near Thunder Bay