1990 in Canada

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Events from the year 1990 in Canada.

Incumbents

• Monarch: Elizabeth II
• Governor General: Jeanne Sauvé then Ray Hnatyshyn
• Prime Minister: Brian Mulroney
• Premier of Alberta: Don Getty
• Premier of British Columbia: Bill Vander Zalm
• Premier of Manitoba: Gary Filmon
• Premier of New Brunswick: Frank McKenna
• Premier of Newfoundland: Clyde Wells
• Premier of Nova Scotia: John Buchanan then Roger Bacon
• Premier of Ontario: David Peterson then Bob Rae
• Premier of Prince Edward Island: Joe Ghiz
• Premier of Quebec: Robert Bourassa
• Premier of Saskatchewan: Grant Devine

Events

January to June

• January 5 - 1300 jobs are lost in Newfoundland when Fishery Products International decides to close three plants
• January 15 - Massive cuts to Via Rail come into effect leading to the rerouting of The Canadian and many intercity trains
• January 24 - The Tories introduce legislation that would create the Goods and Services Tax (GST), a national sales tax
• January 24 - Jean Charest resigns from cabinet after he was found to have spoken with a judge
• January 29 - Ramon John Hnatyshyn replaces Jeanne Sauvé as governor general
• January 29 - A controversial resolution is passed by the city council of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, declaring the city "English-only"
• February: The federal government announces that it will privatize Petro-Canada; the legislation to do so is introduced in October.
• February 12 - A massive tire fire begins near Hagersville, Ontario. It takes 17 days to put out.
• March 9 - Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Clyde Wells confirms he will rescind Newfoundland's approval of the Meech Lake Accord
• March 15 - The federal government decides that Sikhs may wear turbans while serving as Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers
• March 16 - Le député du Parti libéral ontarien de la circonscription provinciale de Ottawa-Sud Dalton McGuinty Senior s'étient à l'âge de 63 ans alors qu'il était en fonction de sa circonscription.
• March 22 - Canadian arms designer Gerald Bull is assassinated in Brussels
• May 12 - The Bloc Québécois Party is formed as several MPs led by Lucien Bouchard quit the Tories and Liberals
• June 6 - Stanley Charles Waters is the first elected senator]
• June 12 - Elijah Harper prevents Manitoba accepting the Meech Lake Accord
• June 23 - Meech Lake Accord officially dead
• June 23 - Jean Chrétien elected leader of the Liberal Party of Canada at a leadership convention held in Calgary

July to December

• July 11 - The Oka crisis begins
• September 6 - Bob Rae's Ontario New Democratic Party wins a surprise majority in Ontario.
• September 12 - Roger Bacon becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing John Buchanan
• September 26 - Oka crisis ends peacefully
• September 27 - Brian Mulroney temporarily increases the size of the Senate to ensure passage of the GST
• October 1 - Bob Rae become premier of Ontario, replacing David Peterson
• November 1 - Brian Mulroney launches the Citizen's Forum on Canada's Future to get Canadians' input on constitutional reform
• December 10 - Jean Chrétien is returned to the House of Commons after winning a by election for the New Brunswick riding of Beauséjour
• December 17 - The GST becomes law

Full date unknown

• Canada Post Systems Management Limited founded
• Richard Taylor wins the Nobel Prize in Physics for verifying the Quark Theory

Arts and literature

• March 6 - The National Gallery of Canada acquires Barnett Newman's Voice of Fire for $1.8 million causing a storm of controversy.

New works

• Swann by Carol Shields published
• The Evening News by Arthur Hailey
• A Tenured Professor by John Kenneth Galbraith
• TekWar by William Shatner
• Magic Casement by Dave Duncan
• Golden Fleece by Robert J. Sawyer
• Medicine River by Thomas King
• The Magic Machine: A Handbook of Computer Sorcery by Alexander Dewdney
• Whylah Falls by George Elliott Clarke
• The Wild Blue Yonder by Audrey Thomas
• L'Oursiade by Antonine Maillet

Awards

• See 1990 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: Sandra Birdsell, The Missing Child
• Geoffrey Bilson Award: Kit Pearson, The Sky Is Falling
• Gerald Lampert Award: Steven Heighton, Stalin's Carnival
• Marian Engel Award: Carol Shields
• Pat Lowther Award: Patricia Young, The Mad and Beautiful Mothers
• Stephen Leacock Award: W.O. Mitchell, According to Jake and the Kid
• Trillium Book Award: Alice Munro, Friend of My Youth
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Bernice Thurman Hunter

Music

• RPM number-one hits of 1990
• RPM number-one albums of 1990

Sport

• November 25 - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers win the Grey Cup, defeating the Edmonton Eskimos 50 to 11.
• Edmonton Oilers win the Stanley Cup four games to one over the Boston Bruins. It is their fifth cup victory in seven years.
• Doug Flutie returns to Canada to play with the BC Lions.

Births

• May 13 - Jane Creba, murder victim (d.2005)
• August 7 - Jake Allen, hockey goaltender
• September 7 - Megan McNeil, singer (d.2011)
• October 23 - Dalmar Abuzeid, actor
• December 10 - Reda Agourram, soccer player

Deaths

January to June

• January 7 - Bronko Nagurski, American football player (b.1908)
• March 16 - Dalton McGuinty Senior, politician and father of premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty and the politician David McGuinty (b.1926)
• March 22 - Gerald Bull, engineer and artillery designer (b.1928)
• April 11 - Harold Ballard, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs (b.1903)

July to September

• July 18
  • Johnny Wayne, comedian and comedy writer (b.1918)
  • Gerry Boulet, Quebec rock singer (Offenbach) (b.1946)
• August 25 - Morley Callaghan, novelist, short story writer, playwright, and television and radio personality (b.1903)
• September 6 - Stan Roberts, politician (b.1927)
• September 11 - Lela Brooks, speed skater and world record holder (b.1908)

October to December

• October 22 - Carl Klinck, literary historian and academic (b.1908)
• October 30 - Craig Russell, female impersonator (b.1948)
• November 2 - Frederick Thomas Armstrong, politician (b.1907)
• November 9 - Hugh MacLennan, author and professor of English (b.1907)
• December 7 - Jean Paul Lemieux, painter (b.1904)
• December 24 - Tammy Homolka, murder victim (b.1975)
• December 31 - Robina Higgins, track and field athlete (b.1915)

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