1998 in Canada

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

History of Canada
This article is part of a series
Year list
Pre-colonization 1534–1763 1764–1866 1867–1914 1914–1945 1945–1960 1960–1981 1982–1992 1992–present
Topics
Constitutional history Cultural history Economic history Former colonies & territories Immigration history Military history Monarchical history National Historic Sites Persons of significance Territorial evolution Bibliography
History of Canada portal

Events from the year 1998 in Canada.

Incumbents

Events

January to March

• January 1 - Toronto and six other communities are merged to form a new megacity. The next day Mel Lastman is sworn in as its first mayor. (Three other Ontario cities were similarly merged on the same date in 2001.)
• January 2 - Three separate avalanches in British Columbia kill a total of nine people.
• January 5 - The Ice Storm of 1998, caused by El Niño, strikes southern Ontario and Quebec, resulting in widespread power failures, severe damage to forests, and a number of deaths.
• January 6 - Alan Eagleson pleads guilty to fraud.
• January 7 - The federal government formally apologizes for the past mistreatment of First Nations.
• January 23 - The Royal Bank and the Bank of Montreal announce plans to merge, which are later scuttled by the federal government.
• February 6 - The Hudson's Bay Company takes over K-Mart Canada, folding it into its Zellers chain.
• February 10 - Canadian National Railway merges with the Illinois Central.
• February 13 - Three girls, all under 18 years of age, are found guilty in Victoria, BC, of killing 14-year-old Reena Virk. Three others plead guilty of assault.
• February 16 - The Supreme Court is asked to rule on the legality of Quebec separatism.
• February 18 - Controversial plans to include a Holocaust memorial in the Canadian War Museum are scrapped.
• February 24 - In the 1998 Canadian budget Finance Minister Paul Martin delivers a balanced budget.
• March 2 - Daniel Johnson, leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, announces his resignation.
• March 6 - The Dionne Quintuplets are given money and an apology by the Ontario government.
• March 6 - British Columbia doctors begin the first of a series of protests against funding shortages.
• March 12 - Quebec and Newfoundland resolve the long-running Churchill Falls dispute.
• March 12 - Mutual Life of Canada acquires MetLife to become Canada's second-largest insurance company.
• March 23 - Senator Andy Thompson is forced to resign his Senate seat after not attending for two years.
• March 24 - The 1998 Nova Scotia election leaves the Liberals and NDP tied for the most seats.
• March 27 - Jean Charest announces that he will seek the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party.
• March 27 - The federal government agrees to compensate hepatitis C victims of tainted blood.

April to June

• April 1 - Floods in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec force 2000 from their homes.
• April 2 - In the final appeal of the Delwin Vriend case, the Supreme Court of Canada strikes down an Alberta Court of Appeal ruling that barred LGBT persons from protection under the province's human rights code.
• April 3 - Members of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary are permitted side arms for the first time.
• April 17 - Dafydd Rhys Williams flies aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, becoming the first non-American to serve as medical officer.
• April 17 - The Toronto Dominion Bank and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce announce plans to merge; however, the merger is later blocked by the government.
• April 25 - The United States announces large tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber.
• April 26–28 - Prime Minister Chrétien pays an official visit to Cuba.
• May 1 - Separatist David Levine is named head of the newly amalgamated Ottawa hospital sparking great controversy.
• Early May - Wildfires burning in Alberta force the evacuation of a number of communities.
• May 14 - Camille Thériault becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Raymond Frenette.
• May 21 - The Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans shuts down the B.C. coho fishery.
• May 29 - The Supreme Court strikes down a ban on pre-election opinion polls.
• June 9 - Three are killed in a gas explosion in Montreal.
• June 10 - One person is killed by an explosion at an Irving Oil refinery.
• June 11 - Eleven are killed in a plane crash at Mirabel Airport
• June 24 - Macmillan Bloedel says that it will end clear cutting of old growth forests.
• July 15 - The B.C. government and the Nisga'a First Nation sign a historic, and controversial, land claims agreement.

July to September

• July 20 - The Southam chain buys the Financial Post from Sun Media.

Canadian Coast Guard Ship Henry Hudson searches for Swissair Flight 111 debris following a crash off the coast of Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia

• August - The Canadian dollar plunges all month.
• August 11 - 8,000 people are evacuated as forest fires threaten Salmon Arm, British Columbia.
• August 20 - The Supreme Court of Canada states Quebec can not legally secede from Canada without the federal government's approval.
• August 28 - The dollar reaches 64.02 US cents.
• September 2 - Pilots for Air Canada launch the first strike in company's history.
• September 2 - Crash of Swissair Flight 111 off Peggys Cove in Nova Scotia.
• September 3 - A three-week lockout begins in Ontario's Catholic school system.
• September 22 - 20,000 protest Canada's new gun registry on Parliament Hill.

October to December

• October 8 - Canada is elected to a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
• October 14 - Canada's first diamond mine opens in the Northwest Territories.
• October 27 - Conrad Black's National Post publishes its first issue.
• November 14 - Former Prime Minister Joe Clark is selected as the new leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
• November 26 - Don Morin is forced to resign as premier of the Northwest Territories.
• November 30 - In the Quebec election the Parti Québécois is re-elected despite narrowly losing the popular vote.
• December 1 - Work on Canada's new gun registry begins.
• December 10 - Jim Antoine becomes premier of the Northwest Territories, replacing Don Morin.
• December 14 - Minister of Finance Paul Martin prohibits Canada's banks from merging.
• December - The Military Police Complaints Commission is established.

Arts and literature

New books

• The Bay of Love and Sorrows: David Adams Richards
• Greater Than Angels: Carol Matas
• The Love of a Good Woman: Alice Munro
• Prières d'un adolescent très très sage: Roch Carrier
• Broken Entries: Race Subjectivity Writing: Roy Miki
• Isaiah Berlin: A Life: Michael Ignatieff
• Coyotes Sing to the Moon: Thomas King
• Toronto Discovered: Robert Fulford
• Body Music: Dennis Lee
• The Colony of Unrequited Dreams: Wayne Johnston
• The Wise and Foolish Virgins: Don Hannah
• Kiss of the Fur Queen: Tomson Highway

Awards

• Carol Shields's Larry's Party wins the Orange Prize for Fiction
• Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Alice Munro: The Love of a Good Woman
• See 1998 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: Margaret Gibson, Opium Dreams
• Geoffrey Bilson Award: Irene N. Watts, Good-Bye Marianne
• Gerald Lampert Award: Mark Sinnett, The Landing
• Marian Engel Award: Sharon Butala
• Pat Lowther Award: Barbara Nickel, The Gladys Elegies
• Stephen Leacock Award: Mordecai Richler, Barney's Version
• Trillium Book Award English: André Alexis, Childhood and Alice Munro, The Love of a Good Woman
• Trillium Book Award French: Daniel Poliquin, L'homme de paille and Stefan Psenak, Du chaos et de l'ordre des choses
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Kit Pearson

Music

• Shania Twain's Come on Over is one of the year's top selling albums in North America
• Les Chansons en or by Céline Dion is released
• Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie by Alanis Morissette

Film

• Titanic, directed by Canadian James Cameron, wins 11 Oscars.

Television

• Canada's Sesame Street switches to showing exclusively Canadian content, renaming itself Sesame Park, as it no longer uses any American made segments from Sesame Street
• Canadian children's television show Rolie Polie Olie debuts.

Dance

• The French government names Karen Kain as an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters

Sport

• February 7–February 22 - Nagano Olympics Canada wins the fourth-most medals, but is embarrassed when their star-filled hockey team fails to win a medal.
• February 12 - The Toronto Maple Leafs buy the Toronto Raptors.
• Grey Cup - Calgary Stampeders win 26–24 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
• Vanier Cup - Saskatchewan Huskies win 24–17 over the Concordia Stingers.

Births

Anastasia Rizikov

• February 26 - Isaac Durnford, actor
• May 16 - Ariel Waller, actress
• December 8 - Anastasia Rizikov, pianist

Full date unknown

• Regan Oey, actor

Deaths

January to March

• January 1 - Arthur Gelber, philanthropist (b.1915)
• January 6 - Lotte Brotte, cellist
• January 12 - Mark MacGuigan, academic and politician (b.1931)
• January 23 - Donald Davis, actor (b.1928)
• January 28 - Eddie Sargent, politician (b.1915)
• February 1 - Sheila Watson, novelist, critic and teacher (b.1909)
• February 20 - Bob McBride, singer (b.1946)
• February 25 - W. O. Mitchell, writer (b.1914)
• March 13 - Bill Reid, artist (b.1920)
• March 16 - Yves Landry, president of Chrysler Canada
• March 17 - Eric Donkin, actor

April to June

• April 3 - Elmer Iseler, choir conductor and choral editor (b.1927)
• April 7 - Nick Auf der Maur, journalist and politician (b.1942)
• April 16 - Marie-Louise Meilleur, supercentenarian, the oldest validated Canadian ever (b.1880)
• April 25 - Jimmy Namaro, jazz musician
• April 27 - John Bassett, publisher and media baron (b.1915)
• May 28 - Phil Hartman, actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic artist (b.1948)
• June 4
  • William Cecil Ross, politician (b.1911)
  • David Walsh, businessman, disgraced head of Bre-X (b.1945)
• June 20 - Bobby Gimby, orchestra leader, trumpeter and singer-songwriter (b.1918)
• June 27 - Joyce Wieland, experimental filmmaker and mixed media artist (b.1931)

July to September

• July 1
  • Emery Barnes, Canadian football player and politician (b.1929)
  • Florence Doane, Olympic athlete
• July 6 - Loris Russell, paleontologist
• July 16 - Lucien Lamoureux, politician and Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons (b.1920)
• July 18 - Forence Barnes, Senator
• August 23 - Harold E. Johns, medical physicist (b.1915)
• September 15 - Louis Rasminsky, third Governor of the Bank of Canada (b.1908)
• September 28 - Eric Malling, television journalist (b.1946)

October to December

• October 1 - Pauline Julien, singer, songwriter, actress and feminist activist (b.1928)
• October 13 - Gérard Charles Édouard Thériault, general and Chief of the Defence Staff (b.1932)
• October 17
  • Robert Dickson, Supreme Court justice
  • Mary O'Brien, feminist
• November 9 - Roland Hewgill, actor
• November 13 - Michel Trudeau, student (b.1975)
• November 22 - Jack Shadbolt, painter (b.1909)
• December 9 - Shaughnessy Cohen, politician (b.1948)
• December 16 - John Gallagher, geologist and businessman (b.1916)
• December 23
  • David Manners, actor (b.1900)
  • Pierre Vallières, journalist and writer (b.1938)
• December 24 - Syl Apps, pole vaulter and ice hockey player (b.1915)
• December 31 - Apak Angilik, film maker

Full date unknown

• John Hayes, harness racing driver, trainer and owner (b.1917)
• Stanley Brehaut Ryerson, historian, educator and political activist (b.1911)

See also

	Canada portal
	History of Canada portal

• History of Canada
• List of years in Canada
  

v t e   History of Canada Year List 18000 BCE–1500 CE 1534–1763 1763–1866 1867–1914 1914–1945 1945–1960 1960–1981 1982–1992 1992–present Topics Bibliography Canadians - (Persons of significance) Constitutional Crown & Aboriginals Cultural Economic Etymology Events of significance Former colonies & territories Historic Sites Immigration Military - (Conflicts - Operations - Peacekeeping - Victories) Monarchical Population by year Territorial evolution Provinces & territories British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba Ontario Quebec New Brunswick Nova Scotia Prince Edward Island Newfoundland and Labrador Yukon Northwest Territories Nunavut (Name etymologies) Cities Brampton Charlottetown Fredericton Halifax RM Hamilton Lethbridge Moncton Montreal Northwest Territories capital cities Ottawa Quebec City Regina Saskatoon Toronto Vancouver Winnipeg (Name etymologies) Category Portal WikiProject

v t e List of years in Canada Pre-Confederation Prehistory–1866 Prehistory to 1 BC 1st millennium 1000s 1400s 1500s 1600s 1610s 1620s 1630s 1640s 1650s 1660s 1670s 1680s 1690s 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 Post-Confederation 1867–present 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Canadian electoral calendars 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Category Portal WikiProject