1971 in Canada

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 – William John McKeag

Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Wallace Samuel Bird (until October 2) then Hédard Robichaud (from October 8)

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 – Stephen Worobetz

Premiers

Premier of Alberta – Harry Strom (until September 10) then Peter Lougheed

Premier of British Columbia – W.A.C. Bennett

Premier of Manitoba – Edward Schreyer

Premier of New Brunswick – Richard Hatfield

Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood

Premier of Nova Scotia – Gerald Regan

Premier of Ontario – John Robarts (until March 1) then Bill Davis

Premier of Prince Edward Island – Alexander B. Campbell

Premier of Quebec – Robert Bourassa

Premier of Saskatchewan – Ross Thatcher (until June 30) then Allan Blakeney

Commissioners

Commissioner of Yukon – James Smith

Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Stuart Milton Hodgson

January to June

February 16 - The Fuddle Duddle incident.

March 1 - Bill Davis becomes premier of Ontario, replacing John Robarts

March 4 - Prime Minister Trudeau weds Margaret Sinclair

March 31 - FLQ terrorist Paul Rose is sentenced to life in prison

April 5 - The first CANDU reactor begins operation at Gentilly, Quebec

April 14 - a riot begins at Kingston Penitentiary. Prisoners seize control and a four-day siege ensues.

May 4 - A sinkhole destroys much of Saint-Jean-Vianney, Quebec, and kills 31

May 22 - Ontario Place opens in Toronto

June 1 - Census Day for the 1971 Census of Canada, which finds Canada's total population to be 21,568,311.

June 3 - The controversial Spadina Expressway project is cancelled

June 11 - Jack Davis becomes Canada's first Minister of the Environment, heading the new department of Environment Canada

June 14 - The Victoria Charter proposing constitutional reforms is written by the first ministers. It was later rejected by Robert Bourassa.

June 23 - Saskatchewan election: Allan Blakeney's NDP wins a majority, defeating Ross Thatcher's Liberals

June 30 - Allan Blakeney becomes premier of Saskatchewan, replacing Ross Thatcher

July to December

July 22 - Ross Thatcher, leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party dies in office"

July 29 - The Bluenose II is donated to the province of Nova Scotia

August 16 - Hurricane Beth hits Nova Scotia

August 28 - Canada's first gay rights demonstration, organized by George Hislop, takes place on Parliament Hill

August 30 - Alberta election: Peter Lougheed's PCs win a majority, defeating Harry Strom's Social Credit Party, which had governed for 36 years

September 10 - Peter Lougheed becomes premier of Alberta, replacing Harry Strom

October 4 - Petroleum is found under Sable Island

October 21 - Ontario election: Bill Davis's PCs win an eighth consecutive majority

November 1 - The Toronto Sun begins publication

November 1 - The Body Politic, Canada's first significant gay magazine, publishes its first issue.

November 2 - Gerhard Herzberg wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

November 12 - Paul Joseph Cini hijacks an Air Canada plane. He is later arrested without incident

December 1 - A moving Montreal Metro train crashes into a second parked train, killing one person.

December 26 - An Air Canada plane is hijacked and flown to Cuba.

Full date unknown

Ontario Universities Application Centre founded

The first edition of The Canadian Rockies Trail Guide is published

Conrad Black and David Radler buy the Sherbrooke Record

Statistics Canada is formed to replace the Dominion Bureau of Statistics

An animation studio, Nelvana Limited, is founded by animators Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert, and Clive A. Smith in Toronto. [1]

Arts and literature

July 1 - Joyce Wieland's "True Patriot Love" opens at the National Gallery of Canada. It is the Gallery's first solo exhibition devoted to the work of a living Canadian woman artist.

August 15 - The first Banff Festival of the Arts opens.

New works

Alice Munro: Lives of Girls and Women

Margaret Atwood: Power Politics

Milton Acorn: I Shout Love and On Shaving Off His Beard

Mordecai Richler: St. Urbain's Horseman

Joan Haggerty: Daughters of the Moon

Gordon R. Dickson: Tactics of Mistake

Brian Fawcett: Friends

Awards

See 1971 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

Stephen Leacock Award: Robert Thomas Allen, Wives, Children & Other Wild Life

Vicky Metcalf Award: Kay Hill

Sport

Harold Ballard gains full control of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup.

January to June

January 18 - Seamus O'Regan, broadcast journalist and television co-host

January 23 - Carla Robinson, television journalist

January 27 - Patrice Brisebois, ice hockey player

February 17 - Martyn Bennett, musician (d.2005)

March 8 - Bob Boughner, ice hockey player

March 20 - Janis Kelly, volleyball player

March 27 - Nathan Fillion, actor

April 2 - Conrad Leinemann, beach volleyball player

April 9 - Jacques Villeneuve, motor racing driver

June 15 - Bif Naked, rock singer-songwriter, poet, cartoonist and actress

June 26 - Christine Nordhagen, wrestler

June 26 - Edward Parenti, swimmer

July to September

July 2 - Evelyn Lau, poet and novelist

July 10 - Adam Foote, ice hockey player

July 17 - Cory Doctorow, blogger, journalist and science fiction author

July 20 - Sandra Oh, actress

July 30 - Tom Green, actor, rapper, writer, comedian and media personality

September - Chris Klein-Beekman, aid worker killed in Iraq (d.2003)

September 6 - Fiona Milne, rower and World Champion

October to December

October 1 - Guylaine Cloutier, swimmer

October 7 - Todd Smith, Ontario MPP

October 15 - Jamie Nicholls, Politician

October 21 - Johanne Bégin, water polo player

October 30 - Peter New, actor and screenwriter

November 24 - Keith Primeau, ice hockey player

December 9 - Petr Nedvěd, ice hockey player

December 14 - Scott Koskie, volleyball player

December 23 -

Corey Haim, actor (d. 2010)

Estella Warren, actress, former fashion model, and former synchronized swimmer

December 25 - Justin Trudeau, politician

January to June

January 5 - Douglas Shearer, sound designer and recording director (b.1899)

February 4 - Brock Chisholm, doctor and first Director-General of the World Health Organization (b.1896)

March 25 - Anne Savage, painter and art teacher (b.1896)

April 5 - Maurice Brasset, politician and lawyer (b.1884)

April 14 - Hector Authier, politician, lawyer and news reporter/announcer (b.1881)

April 17 - Carmen Lombardo, singer and composer (b.1903)

April 19 - Earl Thomson, athlete and Olympic gold medalist (b.1895)

May 2 - John Horne Blackmore, politician (b.1890)

May 3 - Georges Poulin, hockey player (b. 1887)

June 19 - Albert A. Brown, politician and lawyer (b.1895)

July to December

July 10 - Samuel Bronfman, businessman (b.1889)

July 22 - W. Ross Thatcher, politician and 9th Premier of Saskatchewan (b.1917)

September 4 - James Gladstone, first Status Indian to be appointed to the Canadian Senate (b.1887)

November 17 - Arthur Roebuck, politician and labour lawyer (b.1878)

November 25 - Leonard W. Murray, naval officer (b.1896)

Full date unknown

David Florida, pioneer in space research