1971 in Canada

Events from the year 1971 in Canada.

Incumbents

• Monarch: Elizabeth II
• Governor General: Roland Michener
• Prime Minister: Pierre Trudeau
• Premier of Alberta: Harry Strom 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 then Bill Davis
• Premier of Prince Edward Island: Alexander B. Campbell
• Premier of Quebec: Robert Bourassa
• Premier of Saskatchewan: Ross Thatcher then Allan Blakeney

Events

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 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

Hurricane Beth hit Nova Scotia in August

• 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

• 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.

Births

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 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)
• December 25 - Justin Trudeau, politician

Deaths

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

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