2007 in Canada

Events from the year 2007 in Canada.

Incumbents

Events

January to March

• January 5 - The domed roof of BC Place Stadium in Vancouver collapses.
• January 11 - A major blizzard rips through Central Saskatchewan.
• February 3 - At a Calgary Flames game, young Cree singer Akina Shirt becomes the first person to perform "O Canada" in an Aboriginal language at a major league sporting event.
• February 8 - Ontario provincial by-election in Burlington; Markham; and York South–Weston electoral districts.
• February 19 - During a live interview on CKRS in Saguenay, Quebec, talk radio host Louis Champagne attacks Parti Québécois candidate Sylvain Gaudreault and leader André Boisclair, both openly gay, in an interview with PQ candidate Alexandre Cloutier, asking "In Jonquière, listen, aren’t you going to face the question, 'Is the Parti Québécois a club of fags?'"
• February 20 - The Canadian government, along with American billionaire Bill Gates, announce the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative, a $139 million dollar plan to fight the AIDS virus.
• March 13 - Canada 2006 Census data is released; the population of Canada in 2006 was 31,612,897. Notably, the census also indicates that for the first time in Canadian history, the three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) have a combined population of over 100,000.
• March 26 - Quebec general election.

April to June

• April 3 - Royal Assent is granted to the Veterans' Bill of Rights.
• April 27 - Three new Laval metro stations are inaugurated. (see Montreal Metro)
• April 30 - Prince Andrew, fourth in line to the Canadian throne, arrives in Canada to undertake duties in Halifax, Toronto and Cambridge
• May 3 - Fixed election dates introduced. The Prime Minister can no longer advise the Governor General to call an election unless a non-confidence motion is passed.
• May 18 - Governor General Michaëlle Jean appoints Pierre Duchesne as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
• May 22 - The general election in Manitoba is won by the governing New Democrats.
• May 23 - Jordan Manners is the first Torontonian killed in a school shooting.
• May 28 - Prince Edward Island election. Robert Ghiz's Liberals win a majority, defeating Premier Pat Binns's Conservatives
• June 2 - Prince Henry, third in line to the Canadian throne, arrives at CFB Suffield to train for a possible deployment to Afghanistan
• June 2 - Princess Anne arrives in Saskatchewan to undertake various official duties
• June 7 - Pierre Duchesne becomes Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, replacing Lise Thibault
• June 12 - Robert Ghiz becomes Premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Pat Binns
• June 18 - Passenger Protect went into effect
• June 22 - CTVglobemedia's takeover of CHUM Limited (excepting Citytv, which is slated for sale to Rogers Communications) is completed.
• June 29 - A national Aboriginal Day of Protest, including blockades of several major transportation routes in Ontario and Quebec, is held to protest the state of First Nations relations with the federal government.

July to September

• July 13 - Conrad Black is found guilty on three charges of fraud and one charge of obstruction of justice in Chicago.
• July 19 - Jesse Imeson begins a murderous rampage in Ontario, prompting an international manhunt.
• August - First incident of severed feet finding on British Columbia coast.
• August 23 - Quebec Provincial Police admit to inserting "agents provocateurs" into the group protesting against the Montebello meeting.
• August 28 - Steven Truscott is acquitted by the Court of Appeal for Ontario in a hearing to review his 1959 conviction for the murder of Lynne Harper.
• September 5 - The Governor General appoints David Onley as Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, replacing James Bartleman
• September 11 - Stephen Harper becomes the first Canadian Prime Minister since Confederation to address the Parliament of Australia.
• September 17 - Three by-elections in Quebec in Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, and Outremont.

October to December

• October 1 - General election in Northwest Territories.
• October 1 - The Governor General appoints Steven Point as Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, replacing Iona Campagnolo
• October 9 - The general election in Newfoundland and Labrador is won by the governing Progressive Conservatives.
• October 10 - The general election in Ontario is won by the governing Liberals.
• October 13 - Roger Duguay is chosen as the new leader of the New Brunswick New Democratic Party at the party's leadership convention.
• October 14 - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) taser a man, who died shortly thereafter, at the Vancouver Airport. The incident is videotaped and eventually released to the public.
• October 17 - Floyd Roland is selected as the new Premier of the Northwest Territories.
• October 25 - The Government of Canada announces the creation of the Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area, the largest freshwater marine protected area in the world.
• October 31 - The Conservative Party of Canada drops Mark Warner as its candidate in the pending Toronto Centre byelection, citing unspecified differences.
• October 31 - Rogers Communications officially takes ownership of Citytv.
• November 1 - A provincewide Amber Alert is issued in Ontario after a newborn baby is abducted from the Sudbury Regional Hospital in Greater Sudbury. A Kirkland Lake resident, Brenda Batisse, is arrested later the same evening; the baby is recovered safely.
• November 7 - The general election in Saskatchewan is won by the opposition Saskatchewan Party.
• November 21 - Brad Wall is sworn in as Premier of Saskatchewan, succeeding Lorne Calvert.
• November 30 - A fire destroys much of the beachfront shopping area in the resort town of Wasaga Beach, Ontario.

Arts and literature

Music

• March 30 - Final concert by influential Canadian rock band Rheostatics.

New books

• Todd Babiak, The Book of Stanley
• David Chariandy, Soucouyant
• Barbara Fradkin, Dream Chasers
• Barbara Gowdy, Helpless
• Don Hannah, Ragged Islands
• Nalo Hopkinson, The New Moon's Arms
• Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine
• Bob Mersereau, The Top 100 Canadian Albums
• Michael Ondaatje, Divisadero
• M. G. Vassanji, The Assassin's Song
• Michael Winter, The Architects Are Here
• Alissa York, Effigy

Literary awards

• Heather O'Neill's 2006 novel Lullabies for Little Criminals wins the 2007 edition of Canada Reads
• Barbara Fradkin's 2006 novel Honour Among Men wins the 2007 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel
• Elizabeth Hay's 2007 novel Late Nights on Air wins the 2007 Scotiabank Giller Prize
• 2007 Governor General's Awards: TBA

Television

Sport

The Saskatchewan Roughriders celebrate their Grey Cup victory

• January 9-15 - 2007 Canadian Figure Skating Championships
  • Men's medalists - Jeffrey Buttle, Gold; Christopher Mabee, Silver; Emanuel Sandhu, Bronze.
  • Women's medalists - Joannie Rochette, Gold; Mira Leung, Silver; Lesley Hawker, Bronze.
  • Pairs' medalists - Jessica Dubé / Bryce Davison, Gold; Valérie Marcoux / Craig Buntin, Silver; Anabelle Langlois / Cody Hay, Bronze.
  • Dance medalists - Marie-France Dubreuil / Patrice Lauzon, Gold; Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir, Silver; Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje, Bronze.
• March 23 - Marie-France Dubreuil / Patrice Lauzon won the silver medal in Ice Dancing at the World Figure Skating Championships in Tokyo.^[1]
• November 25 - The Saskatchewan Roughriders win the 95th Grey Cup.

Births

Deaths

January to March

• January 6 - Charmion King, actress (b.1925)
• January 8 - Yvonne De Carlo, actress, dancer and singer (b.1922)
• January 15 - James Hillier, scientist and inventor, jointly designed and built first electron microscope (b.1915)
• January 15 - Percy Saltzman, meteorologist and television personality, first weatherman in Canadian television history (b.1915)^[2]
• January 18 - Julie Winnefred Bertrand, supercentenarian, oldest living Canadian and oldest verified living recognized woman at the time of her death (b.1891)
• January 19 - Denny Doherty, singer and songwiter (b.1940)
• January 20 - Cyril Lloyd Francis, politician and Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons (b.1920)
• January 20 - Richard Vollenweider, limnologist (b.1922)
• January 23 - John Majhor, radio and television host (b.1953)
• January 26 - Gump Worsley, ice hockey player (b.1929)
• February 14 - Ryan Larkin, animator, artist and sculptor (b.1943)
• February 17 - Dermot O'Reilly, musician, producer and songwriter (b.1942)
• February 19 - Celia Franca, ballet dancer and founder and artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada (b.1921)
• February 27 - Myron Wolf Child, youth activist, public speaker and politician (b.1983)
• March 2 - Doris Anderson, author, journalist and women's rights activist (b.1925)
• March 23 - Agnes Benidickson, first female Chancellor of Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario (b.1920)

April to June

• April 10 - Charles Philippe Leblond, pioneer of cell biology and stem cell research (b.1910)
• April 14 - June Callwood, journalist, author and social activist (b.1924)
• April 23 - Jim Walding, politician (b.1937)
• April 28 - Lloyd Crouse, businessman, politician and Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (b.1918)
• April 28 - Bertha Wilson, jurist and first female Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (b.1923)
• May 7 - Myfanwy Pavelic, artist (b.1916)
• June 15 - Richard Bell, musician (b.1946)
• June 21 - Peter M. Liba, journalist and Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba (b.1940)
• June 24 - Chris Benoit, wrestler (b.1967)
• June 27 - William Hutt, actor (b.1920)

July to September

• July 11 - Ed Mirvish, businessman, philanthropist and theatrical impresario (b.1914)
• July 15 - Bluma Appel, philanthropist and patron of the arts (b. c1920)
• July 31 - Margaret Avison, poet (b.1918)
• August 17 - Elmer MacFadyen, politician (b.1943)
• August 22 - Gilles Beaudoin, politician and mayor of Trois-Rivières (b.1919)
• August 23 - William John McKeag, politician and Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba (b.1928)
• August 24 - Andrée Boucher, politician and 39th Mayor of Quebec City (b.1937)
• September 8 - George Crum, conductor, pianist, vocal coach and musical arranger (b.1926)
• September 23 - Ken Danby, artist (b.1940)

October to December

Oscar Peterson

• October 24 - David Adams, ballet dancer (b.1928)
• October 30 - Robert Goulet, singer and actor (b.1933)
• November 24 - Antonio Lamer, lawyer, jurist and 16th Chief Justice of Canada (b.1933)
• November 27 - Jane Rule, novelist and non-fiction writer (b.1931)
• November 29 - James Barber, cookbook author and television chef (b.1923)
• December 4 - Norval Morrisseau, artist (b.1932)
• December 23 - Oscar Peterson, jazz pianist and composer (b.1925)

References