Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

1970 in Canada

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1970 in Canada

Events from the year 1970 in Canada.

Contents

Crown

  • Head of state (monarch) – Queen Elizabeth II (consort – Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh)

    • Federal government

  • Governor general – Roland Michener (viceregal consort – Norah Michener)
  • Prime minister – Pierre Trudeau

    • Lieutenant governors

  • Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Grant MacEwan
  • Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – John Robert Nicholson
  • Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Richard Spink Bowles (until September 2) then William John McKeag
  • Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Wallace Samuel Bird
  • Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Ewart John Arlington Harnum
  • Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Victor de Bedia Oland
  • Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – William Ross Macdonald
  • Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – John George MacKay
  • Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Hugues Lapointe
  • Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Robert Hanbidge (until February 2) then Stephen Worobetz

    • Premiers

  • Premier of Alberta – Harry Strom
  • Premier of British Columbia – W.A.C. Bennett
  • Premier of Manitoba – Edward Schreyer
  • Premier of New Brunswick – Louis Robichaud (until November 12) then Richard Hatfield
  • Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood
  • Premier of Nova Scotia – G.I. Smith (until October 28) then Gerald Regan
  • Premier of Ontario – John Robarts
  • Premier of Prince Edward Island – Alexander B. Campbell
  • Premier of Quebec – Jean-Jacques Bertrand (until May 12) then Robert Bourassa
  • Premier of Saskatchewan – Ross Thatcher

    • Commissioners

  • Commissioner of Yukon – James Smith
  • Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Stuart Milton Hodgson

    • January to June

  • January 1 - The cities Fort William and Port Arthur are merged to create Thunder Bay, Ontario
  • January 16 - The federal government announces plans to convert the nation to the metric system
  • February 2 - Canada becomes an official observer at the Organization of American States
  • February 5 - An oil tanker runs aground in Chedabucto Bay, Nova Scotia causing a major oil spill
  • February 17 - The use of phosphates in laundry detergent is banned
  • March 2 - Keith Spicer is appointed as the first Official Languages Commissioner
  • March 7 - A total solar eclipse affects the Maritimes
  • March 20 - The Francophonie is established with Canada as a founding member
  • May 1 - The Capitol Cinema, Ottawa's only movie palace, is closed and later demolished
  • May 12 - Robert Bourassa becomes Premier of Quebec after his Liberals defeat the Union Nationale party
  • May 22 - The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission issues the first Canadian content rules for television and radio
  • May 29 - The Hudson's Bay Company moves its headquarters from London to Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • June 26 - The federal voting age is lowered from 21 to 18

    • July to December

  • July 5 - 109 people are killed in the crash of an Air Canada DC-8.
  • August 2 - Three Canadians are killed when a ferry collides with a Soviet freighter off British Columbia
  • August 17 - Arthur Erickson is awarded at Expo '70 for his design of the Canadian pavilion
  • August 20 - The Sudbury, Ontario tornado event, with winds up to 100 miles per hour, hits Sudbury and Field, Ontario. It was one of the worst tornadoes in Canadian history — killing six people, injuring 200, and causing C$17 million dollars in property damage.
  • October - Canada establishes formal relations with the People's Republic of China.
  • October 5 - October Crisis: British Trade Commissioner James Cross is kidnapped by the FLQ.
  • October 5 - Award-winning news & current affairs program, 24Hours starts on CBWT in Winnipeg.
  • October 10 - October Crisis: Quebec Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte is kidnapped by FLQ.
  • October 16 - October Crisis: Pierre Trudeau introduces the War Measures Act to deal with the FLQ threat. Trudeau also addresses the nation in a televised speech explaining why he invoked the War Measures Act.
  • October 17 - October Crisis: The body of Pierre Laporte is found in the trunk of a car.
  • October 28 - Gerald Regan becomes Premier of Nova Scotia after his Liberals defeat George Smith's Conservatives in the 1970 election.
  • November 6 - Police raid the hiding place of the FLQ's Chenier cell, arresting Bernard Lortie for the kidnapping and murder of Pierre Laporte.
  • November 12 - Richard Hatfield becomes Premier of New Brunswick after his Conservatives defeat Louis Robichaud's Liberals in the 1970 election.
  • December 3 - October Crisis: James Cross is released unharmed by FLQ
  • December 28 - October Crisis: The FLQ kidnappers of Pierre Laporte are caught.

    • Full date unknown

  • The Royal Commission on the Status of Women reports to Parliament
  • TVOntario begins broadcasting
  • INCO builds the world's tallest smokestack at Copper Cliff, Ontario
  • The Pierre Laporte Bridge opens in Quebec City, at the time it is Canada's longest bridge
  • The Don't Make a Wave Committee, the predecessor organization to Greenpeace, is founded in Vancouver
  • The first ACTRA Awards are held
  • Louis Cyr Monument

    • New books

  • The Collected Works of Billy the Kid - Michael Ondaatje
  • S th story I to: trew adventure - bill bissett
  • Fifth Business - Robertson Davies
  • The Journals of Susanna Moodie - Margaret Atwood
  • Il est par là, le soleil - Roch Carrier
  • The National Dream - Pierre Berton
  • La Rivière sans repos - Gabrielle Roy
  • Counterblast - Marshall McLuhan

    • New plays

  • The Ecstasy of Rita Joe - George Ryga

    • Awards

  • See 1970 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
  • Stephen Leacock Award: Farley Mowat, The Boat Who Wouldn't Float
  • Vicky Metcalf Award: Farley Mowat

    • Film

  • Paul Almond's Act of the Heart opens

    • Music

  • June 23 - The first Juno Awards for Canadian music are held.

    • Sport

  • February 16 - Police recover the Grey Cup after it was stolen the previous December.
  • April 5 - Bobby Orr becomes the first National Hockey League (NHL) defencemen to win the scoring title.
  • May 2 - Montreal is awarded the 1976 Summer Olympics.
  • May 22 - The Vancouver Canucks join the National Hockey League.
  • The first Arctic Winter Games commence in Yellowknife.

    • January to March

  • January 6 - David Saint-Jacques, astronaut
  • January 19 - Donald Haddow, swimmer
  • January 24 - Lynn Coady, novelist and journalist
  • February 18 - Raine Maida, singer and songwriter
  • February 23 - Marie-Josée Croze, actress
  • March 18 - Ian Bird, field hockey player
  • March 29 - Krista Sutton, actress

    • April to June

  • April 8 - J. R. Bourne, actor
  • April 11 - Trevor Linden, ice hockey player
  • May 3 - Marie-Soleil Tougas, Quebec actress and TV host (d.1997)
  • May 4 - Karla Homolka, convicted murderer
  • May 8 - Naomi Klein, journalist, author and activist
  • May 11 - Heather Stefanson, politician
  • May 12 - Mike Weir, golfer
  • May 19 - Mario Dumont, politician
  • May 20 - Jason York, ice hockey player
  • June 2 - Patricia Noall, swimmer and Olympic bronze medalist
  • June 3 - Julie Masse, pop singer
  • June 12 - Gordon Michael Woolvett, actor
  • June 23 - Kerri Buchberger, volleyball player

    • July to September

  • July 14 - Michelle Sawatzky, volleyball player
  • August 6 - Michael Strange, boxer
  • August 9 - Rod Brind'Amour, ice hockey player
  • August 16 - Tina Connelly, track and field athlete
  • August 16 - Daren Millard, sportscaster
  • August 19 - James Rajotte, politician
  • September 1 - Mitsou, pop singer, businesswoman, television and radio host and actress
  • September 7 - Keltie Duggan, swimmer
  • September 19 - Kathryn Humphreys, CityNews sports anchor
  • September 24 - Isabelle Turcotte Baird, triathlete

    • October to December

  • October 5 - Tina Poitras, race walker
  • October 8 - Heather Jones, field hockey player
  • November 9 - Chris Jericho, wrestler, actor, author, radio and television host and rock musician
  • November 10 - Sue Reid, field hockey player
  • November 12 - Sarah Harmer, singer-songwriter and activist
  • November 15 - Jeff Adams, wheelchair athlete, multiple Paralympic medalist and World Champion
  • December 15 - Michael Shanks, actor
  • December 19 - Jonathan Cleveland, swimmer and Olympic bronze medalist
  • December 22 - Ted Cruz, politician, and U.S. Senator from Texas since 2013
  • December 23 - Catriona Le May Doan, speed skater, double Olympic gold medalist and World Champion
  • December 25 - Stu Barnes, ice hockey player and coach

    • Full date unknown

  • Maher Arar, engineer and rendition victim

    • Deaths

  • January 23 - Nell Shipman, actress, screenwriter, producer and animal trainer (b.1892)
  • January 29 - Lawren Harris, Group of Seven painter (b.1885)
  • February 21 - Louis-René Beaudoin, politician and Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons (b.1912)
  • February 27 - Marie Dionne, one of the Dionne quintuplets (b.1934)
  • March 23 - Del Lord, film director and actor (b.1894)
  • May 9 - Andrew Watson Myles, politician (b.1884)
  • May 31 - Terry Sawchuk, ice hockey player (b.1929)
  • June 12 - John Keiller MacKay, soldier, jurist and 19th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (b.1888)
  • June 22 - William Melville Martin, politician and Premier of Saskatchewan (b.1876)
  • October 17 - Pierre Laporte, Quebec politician and Minister, kidnapped and murdered by Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) (b.1921)
  • September 12 - Jacob Viner, economist (b.1892)

    • References

    1970 in Canada Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA