1985 in Canada

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Events from the year 1985 in Canada.

Incumbents

• Monarch: Elizabeth II
• Governor General: Jeanne Sauvé
• Prime Minister: Brian Mulroney
• Premier of Alberta: Peter Lougheed then Don Getty
• Premier of British Columbia: Bill Bennett
• Premier of Manitoba: Howard Pawley
• Premier of New Brunswick: Richard Hatfield
• Premier of Newfoundland: Brian Peckford
• Premier of Nova Scotia: John Buchanan
• Premier of Ontario: Bill Davis then Frank Miller then David Peterson
• Premier of Prince Edward Island: James Lee
• Premier of Quebec: René Lévesque then Pierre-Marc Johnson then Robert Bourassa
• Premier of Saskatchewan: Grant Devine

See 1985 Canadian incumbents for more

Events

January to March

• January 26 - Frank Miller elected leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party replacing Bill Davis
• January 30 - The federal government relaxes laws requiring businesses to use the metric system
• February 8 - Frank Miller becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Bill Davis after the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership election
• February 11 - The federal and Newfoundland governments sign the Atlantic Accord paving the way for joint development of Newfoundland's offshore oil and gas reserves
• February 12 - Minister of National Defence Robert Coates resigns after it is revealed that he visited a strip-club while on government business in Germany
• February 13 - Denis Lortie is found guilty of murder for his attack on the Quebec National Assembly that killed three
• February 28 - Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel is found guilty of publishing false news and fomenting racial intolerance
• March - Willard Phelps becomes premier of Yukon, replacing Chris Pearson
• March - At the so-called Shamrock Summit between Prime Minister Mulroney and President Ronald Reagan the two agree on cooperation on Missile Defence and free trade
• March 12 - Heavily armed Armenian terrorists storm the Turkish embassy in Ottawa. They kill a security guard and hold a dozen people hostage for four hours
• March 21 - Rick Hansen launches his Man in Motion world tour to raise money for spinal cord research
• March 29 - 10 are killed after two military planes collide near CFB Edmonton.

April to June

• April 24 - The Supreme Court rules the Lord's Day Act violates Canadians' freedom of religion
• May - Tony Penikett becomes government leader of Yukon, replacing Willard Phelps
• May 2 - Ontario election: Frank Miller's PCs win a minority, but David Peterson's Liberals will form a coalition with the NDP, forcing Miller to resign
• May 9 - The Supreme Court rules that Orders in Council are subject to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• May 31 - A tornado in Barrie, Ontario kills twelve in the 1985 Barrie tornado outbreak.
• June 23 - Air India flight 182 explodes en route from Toronto to London; Sikh terrorists are blamed.
• June 26 - David Peterson becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Frank Miller

July to December

• September 1 - The wreck of the RMS Titanic is found off the coast of Newfoundland
• September 6 - The Canadian Encyclopedia is launched
• September 17 - The tunagate scandal erupts
• September 20 - Lincoln Alexander becomes the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, the first Black person to hold a vice regal position in Canadian history
• September 25 - The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology opens in Drumheller, Alberta
• October 3 - Pierre-Marc Johnson becomes premier of Quebec, replacing René Lévesque
• November 1 - Don Getty becomes premier of Alberta, replacing Peter Lougheed
• November 5 - Nick Sibbeston becomes government leader of the Northwest Territories, replacing Richard Nerysoo
• December 2 - In the Quebec election, Robert Bourassa's Liberals gain a majority, defeating the Parti Québécois.
• December 12 - Robert Bourassa becomes premier of Quebec for the second time, replacing Pierre-Marc Johnson
• December 12 - The worst airplane accident in Canadian history occurs when Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes on take-off from Gander International Airport. 256 people are killed.
• December 23 - Nahanni earthquake, largest of a number earthquakes occurs in Nahanni region of NWT.
• Corel is founded in Ottawa.

Unknown

• The Mulroney government establishes the Court Challenges Program.

Arts and literature

New books

• Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale
• Colin Thatcher: Backrooms: A Story of Politics
• Brian Moore: Black Robe
• Erin Mouré: Domestic Fuel
• Farley Mowat: My Discovery of America

Awards

• See 1985 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: G. Ursell, Perdue, or How the West Was Lost
• Gerald Lampert Award: Paulette Jiles, Celestial Navigation
• Pat Lowther Award: Paulette Jiles, Celestial Navigation

• Stephen Leacock Award: Ted Allan, Love Is a Long Shot
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Edith Fowke

Television

• The last episode of The Friendly Giant on CBC Television
• The first episode of the children's series The Raccoons on CBC Television

Music

• February 10 - A supergroup of Canadian musicians, Northern Lights, gathers to record the charity single Tears Are Not Enough for famine relief in Ethiopia.

Births

• January 4 – Robbie Dixon, skier
• January 14 – Katie Thorlakson, football (soccer) player
• February 28 – Fefe Dobson, singer and songwriter
• June 23 – Holly Lincoln, football (soccer) player
• June 24 – Isabelle Rampling, synchronized swimmer
• July 23 – Tessa Bonhomme, hockey player
• August 26 – Sean Denison, basketball player
• September 8 – Justin Bradley, actor
• September 27 – Massimo Bertocchi, decathlete
• November 11 – Kalan Porter, singer-songwriter

Deaths

January to June

• January 30 - F. R. Scott, poet, intellectual and constitutional expert (b.1899)
• February 2 - Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux, musician and composer (b.1938)
• February 5 - Georges-Émile Lapalme, politician (b.1907)
• February 16 - Marian Engel, novelist (b.1933)
• March 17 - Athole Shearer, actress (b.1900)
• April 17 - Walter Weir, politician and 15th Premier of Manitoba (b.1929)
• April 21 - Foster Hewitt, radio pioneer (b.1902)
• April 22 - Jacques Ferron, physician and author, founder of the Parti Rhinocéros (b.1921)

July to December

• July 3 - Frank J. Selke, ice hockey manager (b.1893)
• August 20 - Donald O. Hebb, psychologist (b.1904)
• September 6 - Isabel Meighen, wife of Arthur Meighen, 9th Prime Minister of Canada (b.1883)
• October 28 - Eric Coy, discus thrower and shot putter (b.1914)

Full date unknown

• Wilfrid Eggleston, journalist and chief censor for Canada from 1942 until 1944 (b.1901)

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