1996 in Canada

Crown

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

Federal government

Governor general – Roméo LeBlanc (viceregal consort – Diana Fowler)

Prime minister – Jean Chrétien

Lieutenant governors

Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Gordon Towers (until April 17) then Bud Olson

Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Garde Gardom

Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Yvon Dumont

Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Margaret McCain

Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Frederick Russell

Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – James Kinley

Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Hal Jackman

Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Gilbert Clements

Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Martial Asselin (until August 8) then Jean-Louis Roux

Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Jack Wiebe

Premiers

Premier of Alberta – Ralph Klein

Premier of British Columbia – Mike Harcourt (until February 22) then Glen Clark

Premier of Manitoba – Gary Filmon

Premier of New Brunswick – Frank McKenna

Premier of Newfoundland – Clyde Wells (until January 26) then Brian Tobin

Premier of Nova Scotia – John Savage

Premier of Ontario – Mike Harris

Premier of Prince Edward Island – Catherine Callbeck (until October 9) then Keith Milligan (October 9 to November 27) then Pat Binns

Premier of Quebec – Jacques Parizeau (until January 29) then Lucien Bouchard

Premier of Saskatchewan – Roy Romanow

Commissioners

Commissioner of Yukon – Judy Gingell

Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Helen Maksagak

Premiers

Premier of the Northwest Territories – Don Morin

Premier of Yukon – John Ostashek (until October 19) then Piers McDonald

January to March

January 14 - A free trade agreement with Israel is announced.

January 15 - The Corel Centre opens in Ottawa.

January 25 - Jean Chrétien launches a major cabinet shuffle. Pierre Pettigrew and Stéphane Dion are brought in, despite not having seats in Parliament.

January 26 - Brian Tobin becomes premier of Newfoundland, replacing Clyde Wells.

January 29 - Lucien Bouchard becomes premier of Quebec, replacing Jacques Parizeau.

February 7 - Bob Rae, former premier of Ontario leaves politics.

February 14 - Mr. Dressup does his last show.

February 15 - At a ceremony marking the first National Flag of Canada Day, Chrétien throttles a protester in Hull, Quebec, launching a small controversy over the "Shawinigan Handshake".

February 17 - Michel Gauthier is elected new leader of the Bloc Québécois.

February 22 - Glen Clark becomes premier of British Columbia, replacing Michael Harcourt.

February 22 - Brian Tobin leads the Newfoundland Liberal Party to victory in the 1996 Newfoundland election.

March to June

March 6 - The federal budget continues the assault on the deficit.

March 26- The Anik E-1 satellite malfunctions.

March 27 - The Quebec budget proposes sweeping cuts to government funding.

April 3 - All members of the Canadian Forces are ordered to spend the entire day searching for documents that may aid the Somalia inquiry.

April 5 - Gunman Mark Chahal kills nine relatives in Vernon, British Columbia before killing himself.

April 11 - The Ontario government announce a 15 per cent reduction in the civil service.

April 22 - John Nunziata is expelled from the Liberal caucus for voting against the budget.

April 23 - Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland agree to replace their provincial sales taxes and the Goods and Services Tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax.

May 8 - The Ontario government cuts provincial income taxes by 30 per cent.

May 10 - Member of Parliament Jan Brown resigns from the Reform Party of Canada.

May 19 - Marc Garneau flies on a second space mission.

May 24 - Conrad Black's Hollinger takes over the Southam newspaper chain.

May 28 - The British Columbia New Democratic Party wins a surprise re-election.

June 10 - The Quebec government reintroduces the "Language police".

June 17 - Sheila Copps, who had resigned over the GST, wins back her Hamilton–Wentworth seat in a by-election.

June 20 - Robert Thirsk flies aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.

June 24 - A riot in Quebec City causes a million dollars in damage.

July to September

July 7-July 11 - A major AIDS conference is held in Vancouver.

July 20-July 21 - Floods in Quebec kill ten.

July 25 - Coach House Press closes.

August 8 - Former Prime Minister Kim Campbell is named consul general to Los Angeles.

August 8 - Jean-Louis Roux appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec.

August 29 - Former B.C. Premier W.R. Bennett is found guilty of insider trading.

October to December

October 4 - Defence Minister David Collenette resigns.

October 10 - Keith Milligan becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Catherine Callbeck.

October 19 - Piers McDonald becomes government leader of Yukon, replacing John Ostashek.

November - SaskTel becomes the first Canadian Internet Service Provider to roll out ADSL.

November - The last federally run Indian residential school (the Gordon Residential School), closed in Punnichy, Saskatchewan.

November 5 - Jean-Louis Roux forced to resign as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec when pictures of him at Nazi rallies in the 1930s are published.

November 27 - Pat Binns becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Keith Milligan.

December 1 - Dalton McGuinty is elected leader of the Ontario Liberal Party.

December 16 - Chrétien formally apologizes for lying about the GST.

Full date unknown

Karen Kain becomes the first Canadian to win the Cartier Lifetime Achievement Award.

General Jean Boyle resigns over Somalia Affair controversy.

Canada sends over a thousand troops to take part in IFOR.

James McGill Statue unveiled.

New books

John Ralston Saul: The Unconscious Civilization

Nancy Huston: Slow Emergencies

Pierre Berton: Farewell to the Twentieth Century

Elisabeth Harvor: Let Me Be the One

Yann Martel: Self

Timothy Findley: You Went Away

Di Brandt: Dancing Naked: Narrative Strategies for Writing Across Centuries

Douglas Coupland: Polaroids from the Dead

Guy Vanderhaeghe: The Englishman's Boy

Awards

Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace

See 1996 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

Books in Canada First Novel Award: Keath Fraser, Popular Anatomy

Geoffrey Bilson Award: Marianne Brandis, Rebellion: A Novel of Upper Canada

Gerald Lampert Award: Maureen Hynes, Rough Skin

Marian Engel Award: Barbara Gowdy

Pat Lowther Award: Lorna Crozier, Everything Arrives at the Light

Stephen Leacock Award: Marsha Boulton, Letters from the Country

Trillium Book Award English: Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces

Trillium Book Award French: Nancy Vickers, Le Pied de Sappho and Alain Bernard Marchand, Tintin au pays de la ferveur

Vicky Metcalf Award: Margaret Buffie

New music

Barenaked Ladies: Born on a Pirate Ship

Bruce Cockburn: The Charity of Night

The Tragically Hip: Trouble at the Henhouse

Sloan: One Chord to Another

Various artists: 20 Years of Stony Plain

Sport

February 27 - The Los Angeles Kings trade Wayne Gretzky to the St. Louis Blues.

March 16- The Montreal Canadiens play their first game at the Molson Centre against the New York Rangers.

July 1 - The Winnipeg Jets leave Canada and become the Phoenix Coyotes.

July 19 - The Atlanta Olympics open, Canadian sprinter Donovan Bailey wins the 100-metre dash.

July 26 - Gretzky signs with the New York Rangers.

November 24 - At the 84th Grey Cup the Toronto Argonauts defeat the Edmonton Eskimos at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton.

January to June

January 18 - Brittany Jones, pair skater

January 20 - Roland McKeown, ice hockey defenceman

February 5 - Megan McKinnon, actress

February 7 - Aaron Ekblad, hockey player

February 18 - Mohammed Fawad Ahmed, Scientist

March 2 - Gig Morton, actor

March 26 - Alaine Chartrand, figure skater

March 30 - Madeleine Peters, actress, singer and dancer

April 26 - Jennifer Gillis, actress, dancer and singer

May 1 - William Nylander-Altelius, ice hockey player

June 12 - Mitchell Gordon, figure skater

June 14 - Madeline Edwards, ice dancer

July to December

July 6 - Robert Naylor, actor

July 19 - Hayleigh Bell, pair skater

August 7 - Liam James, actor

August 9 - Cedric Payne, actor

August 12 - Torri Webster, actress

August 23 - Cesar Flores, actor

August 29 - Linden Porco, actor

September 1 - Alexandra Kamieniecki, Polish figure skater

September 5 - Helaina Cyr, basketball player

September 7 - Bilaal Rajan, author

September 26 - Cesar Corrales, Mexico-born actor and dancer

October 28 - Hanson Boakai, Guinea-born soccer player

November 5 - Victoria Moors, gymnast

November 7 - Julianne Séguin, figure skater

December 10 - Jérémy Gabriel, singer and actor

Full date unknown

Diego Gomes

January to March

January 21 – René Marc Jalbert, soldier

February 7 – Lucien Maynard, leader of Alberta francophones

February 19 – Ernest Manning, politician and 8th Premier of Alberta (born 1908)

February 29 – Sinclair Ross, banker and author (born 1908)

March 28 – Edith Fowke, folk song collector, author and radio presenter (born 1913)

April to June

April 13 – Stewart McLean, politician (born 1913)

April 23 – Jean Victor Allard, general and first French-Canadian to become Chief of the Defence Staff (born 1913)

May 5 – Salli Terri, singer, arranger, recording artist and songwriter (born 1922)

May 9 - Eria Fachin, pop singer (born 1960)

May 22 – Robert Christie, actor and director (born 1913)

June 11 – George Hees, politician and Minister (born 1910)

July to September

July 1 – Harold Greenberg, film producer (born 1930)

July 3 – Rebecca Jane Middleton, murder victim (born 1979)

July 5 – Fred Davis, broadcaster and moderator of Front Page Challenge (born 1921)

July 18 – Robert Needham, journalist

July 22 – Carl Goldenberg, lawyer, arbitrator, mediator and Senator (born 1907)

August 10 – Walter MacNutt, organist (born 1910)

September 22 – Ludmilla Chiriaeff, ballet dancer, choreographer and director (born 1924)

September 23 – Joe Borowski, politician and activist (born 1933)

October to December

October 2 – Robert Bourassa, politician and 22nd Premier of Quebec (born 1933)

October 9 – Colleen Peterson, singer (born 1950)

October 11

Joe Morris, trade unionist and president of the Canadian Labour Congress (born 1913)

William Vickrey, professor of economics and Nobel Laureate (born 1914)

October 14 – Marcel Bourbonnais, politician (born 1918)

October 17 – Laura Sabia, social activist and feminist (born 1916)

October 19 – James Bourque, First Nations activist (born 1935)

October 23

Kurt Freund, physician and sexologist (born 1914)

Thomas Ide, educator and the founding Chairman of TVOntario (born 1919)

October 27 – Arthur Tremblay, politician and Senator (born 1917)

October 28 – Reuben Baetz, politician (born 1923)

November 9 – Joe Ghiz, politician and 29th Premier of Prince Edward Island (born 1945)

November 18 – John Josiah Robinette, lawyer (born 1906)

December 1 – Peter Bronfman, businessman (born 1928)

December 5 – Wilf Carter, country music singer, songwriter, guitarist and yodeller (born 1904)

December 21 – Clarence Gosse, physician and Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (born 1912)

December 24 – Al Adair, politician, radio broadcaster and author (born 1929)

December 29 – Dorothy Livesay, poet (born 1909)

Full date unknown

Leo Landreville, politician and judge implicated in the Northern Ontario Natural Gas scandal (born 1910)