List of massacres in Canada
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This is a list of events in
massacres. Massacre is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "the indiscriminate and brutal slaughter of people or (less commonly) animals; carnage, butchery, slaughter in numbers"; it also states that the term is used "in the names of certain massacres of history".[1]
- For single perpetrator events and shooting sprees, see Lists of rampage killers and Category:Spree shootings in Canada
- For school shootings, see Category:School shootings in Canada and Category:School killings in Canada
- For North American First Nations massacres, see List of Indian massacres.
- For terrorism, see Terrorism in Canada.
- For serial killers, see List of serial killers in Canada.
List
Name | Date | Location | Dead/Injured/ Captives | Mechanism of injury | Perpetrator suicide | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lachine massacre | August 5, 1689 | Lachine, Quebec | 24–250 | Tomahawk,[2] fire and other unspecified weapons | No | Part of King William's War |
Massacre Island, Ontario
|
June 6, 1736 | Lake of the Woods | 21 | Arrows and various edged weapons including knives | No | There is some dispute about which island in Lake of the Woods was the actual site of the massacre. |
Battle at Port-la-Joye | July 11, 1746 | Port-la-Joye, Île Saint-Jean. The location now known as Hillsborough River (Prince Edward Island). | 34 / 0 | Unknown | No | Acadian and Mi'kmaqs killed 34 unarmed British (27 soldiers and 7 sailors). Part of King George's War |
Battle of Grand Pré | February 10, 1747 | Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia | 67 / 0 / 40 | Flintlock muskets, bayonets and various close-quarters weapons | No | Acadian and Mi'kmaqs took est. 40 prisoners after attack. Part of King George's War |
Raid on Dartmouth
|
May 13, 1751 | Dartmouth, Nova Scotia | 7–20 / 0 / 6–14 | Miscellaneous including various edged weapons | No | One of seven raids by Mi'kmaqs on British and New England forces, usually very violent with deaths and scalpings. Part of Father Le Loutre's War |
St. Francis Raid | October 4, 1759 | Odanak, Quebec | 30–200 / unk / 7–20 | Military arms including muskets, bayonets and tomahawks | No | Raid by Robert Rogers' Rangers, which was pursued and depleted before crossing back into New England. Part of Seven Years' War |
Bloody Falls massacre | July 17, 1771 | The location now known as Kugluktuk, Nunavut
|
20 | Various small arms including knives and other edged weapons | No | Alleged massacre of a group of Copper Inuit by Matonabbee and his accompanying party of Dene, witnessed by Samuel Hearne |
Chilcotin War | April 30, 1864 | Bute Inlet, British Columbia | 19 | Firearms including rifles | No | Massacre of 14 employees of Alfred Waddington by various Tŝilhqot'in people who had been working on road construction without compensation for two years. |
Cypress Hills Massacre | June 1, 1873 | Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan | 23 Official, Estimated 200 | Firearm | No | Mass murder perpetrated by American bison and wolf hunters, and American and Canadian whisky traders and cargo haulers, against a camp of Assiniboine people. One of the main contributing reasons for the formation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. |
Black Donnellys massacre | February 4, 1880 | Lucan Biddulph, Ontario | 5 | Firearms, pitchfork, axe, shovel, clubs and a wooden stake | No | Murder of five members of the Donnelly family by an armed mob, after which their farm was burned down. The event was the culmination of long-standing conflict between the family and other residents. None of the mob were ever convicted. |
Frog Lake Massacre | April 2, 1885 | Frog Lake, Alberta | 9 | Firearms | No | Part of the North-West Rebellion |
Mass shooting Smoky Lake, Alberta | October 22, 1930 | Smoky Lake, Alberta
|
5 | Firearms (shotgun) | No | Four members of the Walanski family and neighbour Wasyl Darichuk were killed. George Dwernychuk hanged March 3, 1931, Provincial Jail, Ft. Saskatchewan[3] |
CPA Flight 108 bombing | September 9, 1949 | Cap Tourmente, Quebec | 23 | dynamite time bomb | Failed attempt by one of the conspirators | Whole plane destroyed to kill one of the conspirators' wife (so he could marry his mistress) and obtain life insurance money. |
Buffalo Narrows axe slayings
|
January 30, 1969[4] | Buffalo Narrows, Saskatchewan
|
7 | Axe | No | Seven members of the Pederson family were killed with an axe in their beds by a schizophrenic man, Frederick Moses McCallum.[5] |
Blue Bird Café fire | September 1, 1972 | Montreal, Quebec
|
37 | Fire | No | The Blue Bird Café fire was a nightclub fire on September 1, 1972, in Montreal, Quebec. In all, 37 people were killed as a result of arson. |
Lennoxville massacre | March 24, 1985 | Lennoxville, Quebec
|
5 | Firearm | No | Part of the Quebec Biker war , 4 convicted of first degree murder
|
École Polytechnique massacre | December 6, 1989 | Montreal, Quebec | 15 / 14 | Firearm | Yes | Marc Lépine killed 14 women and injured 14, before taking his own life. School shooting. |
Concordia University massacre | August 24, 1992 | Montreal, Quebec | 4 / 1 | Firearm | No | School shooting. 4 killed, 1 injured.[6] |
Giant Mine Murders (Royal Oak Mines Labour Dispute) | September 18, 1992 | Yellowknife, Northwest Territories | 9 | Bombing | No | Bombing during labour dispute. One of Canada's deadliest mass murders.[7][8] |
Vernon massacre | April 6, 1996 | Vernon, British Columbia | 9 / 2 | Multiple firearms | Yes | Estranged husband murdered wedding party.[9][10] |
Shedden massacre | April 8, 2006 | Shedden, Ontario | 8 | Multiple firearms | No | Gang killing of own gang members. |
2014 Edmonton shooting | December 29, 2014 | Edmonton, Alberta | 7 | Firearm | Yes | 53-year-old Phu Lam murders his ex-wife and six relatives on December 29, the worst mass murder in Edmonton's history |
2014 Calgary stabbing | April 15, 2014 | Calgary, Alberta | 5 | Knife | No | Five people stabbed to death at a house party by Matthew de Grood during a psychotic episode. |
Quebec City mosque shooting | January 29, 2017 | Quebec City, Quebec | 6 / 19 | Multiple firearms | No | Islamophobic attack on the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City by Alexandre Bissonnette. Ultimately, charges of terrorism were not brought forth as Bissonnette had acted independently of a terrorist organization.[11] |
Toronto van attack
|
April 23, 2018 | Toronto, Ontario
|
11 / 15 | Vehicle | No | A van was driven along a Yonge Street sidewalk on April 23, 2018, by Alek Minassian. At least 26 were injured, including 11 fatally.[12][13] |
2020 Nova Scotia attacks | April 18–19, 2020 | Multiple locations, Nova Scotia | 23 (including the perpetrator) / 3 | Multiple firearms, fire | No | Perpetrator Gabriel Wortman committed multiple shootings using illegal firearms and set fires at 16 locations in Nova Scotia, killing 13 with firearms and 9 in fires (22 people total) and injuring three others before the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) shot and killed him in Enfield, NS. |
London, Ontario truck attack
|
June 6, 2021 | London, Ontario | 4 / 1 | Vehicle | No | A terrorist attack occurred on June 6, 2021, when a vehicle was used to strike a Muslim family at the intersection of Hyde Park and South Carriage roads, south of Gainsborough Road. The suspect is 20-year-old London resident Nathaniel Veltman. Four died, one was injured.[14] |
2022 Saskatchewan stabbings | September 4, 2022 | James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, Saskatchewan | 12 (including the perpetrator) / 18 | Multiple knives | Yes | On September 4, 2022, 28 people were stabbed, ten of whom were killed, in at least thirteen locations in the James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, Saskatchewan, Canada.[15] One suspect, Damien Sanderson, who was later reclassified as a victim,[16] was found dead near one of the stabbing locations on September 5, 2022.[17] The perpetrator, Myles Sanderson, was apprehended on September 7, 2022, near Rosthern, Saskatchewan and died later from overdosing on cocaine.[18][19] |
2022 Vaughan shooting | December 18, 2022 | Vaughan, Ontario | 6 (including the perpetrator) / 1 | Firearm | No | On December 18, 2022, a mass shooting occurred at the Bellaria Residences condominium tower in Vaughan, a suburb north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Six people were killed, including the gunman, 73-year-old Francesco Villi, who was shot and killed by responding police officers. Another person was hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. |
2024 Ottawa stabbing | March 6, 2024 | Ottawa, Ontario | 6 / 1 | 'Knife-like' edged weapon | No | On March 7, 2024, six people were stabbed to death and one was injured in the Barrhaven suburb of Ottawa[20] |
See also
References
- ^ "massacre." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. December 23, 2014.
- ^ Richter (1992), p. 160
- ^ Nov. 24, 1930: Mass murderer hanged after being found guilty in shortest trial, Edmonton Journal, Nov. 24, 2014
- ^ "Seven murder counts laid in northern axe deaths". The Phoenix. January 31, 1968. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
- ^ "Generations of grief: Family still reeling 50 years after little-known mass axe murder". Bridget Yard · CBC News. February 2, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ^ BOVSUN, MARA. "Crazy professor Valery Fabrikant kills 4 in Concordia University rampage – NY Daily News". nydailynews.com. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- ^ Foot, Richard (July 5, 2016). "Giant Mine Murders". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada.
- ^ Zelniker, Rachel (September 14, 2022). "A city divided". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
- ^ Talreja, Sujata (April 24, 1996). "Massacre In Vernon". Outlook India Magazine. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ "B.C. community remembers massacre victims". CBC. April 6, 2006. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ "Why accused in Quebec City mosque shooting isn't likely to face terrorism charges". CBC News Montreal. CBC/Radio-Canada. February 2, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
- ^ "Driver Plows Van Into Toronto Pedestrians, Kills 10". WSJ."Alek Minassian: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". April 23, 2018.
- Toronto.com. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. November 12, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
- ^ "4 killed in London, Ont. collision likely targeted for being Muslim, police say".
- ^ Saskatchewan RCMP provide update on multiple stabbings, search for suspects | LIVE, Global News, September 4, 2022, retrieved September 4, 2022
- ^ Sarisohn, Jason Hanna,Hannah (October 7, 2022). "Myles Sanderson was the only killer in Canada mass stabbings, and his brother was a victim, police say". CNN. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Suspect in Sask. stabbings found dead, while 2nd accused still at large: RCMP". CBC News. September 5, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
- ^ "Myles Sanderson, suspect in Sask. stabbing rampage, arrested". CBC News. September 7, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
- ^ "Sask. mass killer Myles Sanderson died of 'acute cocaine overdose': pathologist". CTV News. February 27, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
- ^ "Six Sri Lankans knifed to death in Canadian capital in rare case of mass murder". Reuters. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
Sources
- Richter, Daniel K. (1992). The Ordeal of the Longhouse: The Peoples of the Iroquois League in the Era of European Colonization. UNC Press Books. .