1971 in Canada

Events from the year 1971 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

Monarch – Queen Elizabeth II

Federal government

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

Premiers

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

Territorial governments

Commissioners

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 – The Kingston Penitentiary riot begins. 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 1 – Census Day for the 1971 Census of Canada, which finds Canada's total population to be 21,568,311.
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
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
July 30 – The Canada-based animation studio Nelvana is established by Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert and Clive A. Smith in Toronto
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 – Air Canada Flight 812 is hijacked. Paul Joseph Cini is later arrested without incident.
December 1 – A moving Montreal Metro train crashes into a second parked train, killing one person.
December 26 – Air Canada Flight 932 is hijacked by Patrick Critton 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

Arts and literature

July 1 - Joyce Wieland's "True Patriot Love" opens at the National Gallery of Canada. It is the Gallery's first solo exhibition devoted to the work of a living Canadian woman artist.
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

January 18 – Ivan Koloff defeats Bruno Sammartino ending Sammartino's seven-and-a-half-year reign and became the first Canadian WWWF World Heavyweight Champion
March 13 – The Toronto Varsity Blues win their fifth University Cup by defeating the Saint Mary's Huskies 5 to 4. All games were played at Sudbury Community Arena
May 18 – The Montreal Canadiens win their 17th Stanley Cup by defeating the Chicago Black Hawks 4 games to 3. Hamilton's Ken Dryden is awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy
May 19 – The Quebec Junior Hockey League's Quebec Remparts win their won their first Memorial Cup by defeating the Western Canada Hockey League's Edmonton Oil Kings 2 game to 0. All games were played at the Colisée de Québec
June 3 – Montreal's Tarzan Tyler becomes one half of the first World Wide Wrestling Federation Tag Team Champions by defeating The Sheik and Dick the Bruiser at the Joe Brown Center in New Orleans
November 20 – The Western Ontario Mustangs win their first Vanier Cup by defeating the Alberta Golden Bears by a score of 15–14 in the 7th Vanier Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto
November 28 – The Calgary Stampeders win their second Grey Cup by defeating the Toronto Argonauts 14 to 11 in the 59th Grey Cup played in Vancouver's Empire Stadium
December 6 – Quebec City's Rene Goulet becomes the second Canadian to win World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Champion by defeating Luke Graham and Tarzan Tyler at Madison Square Garden in New York City

Date unknown

Disc sport pioneer Ken Westerfield immigrates to Canada
Harold Ballard gains full control of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Births

January to June

January 3 - Cory Cross, ice hockey player
January 9
*Hal Niedzviecki, author and critic
*Scott Thornton, ice hockey player
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
February 24 - Brian Savage, ice hockey player and coach
February 25 - Daniel Powter, singer
March 6 - Val Venis, professional wrestler
March 8 - Bob Boughner, ice hockey player
March 20 - Janis Kelly, volleyball player
March 27 - Nathan Fillion, actor
April 1 - Danielle Smith, journalist and politician
April 2 - Conrad Leinemann, beach volleyball player
April 4 - Steph St. Laurent, documentary filmmaker, videographer, photographer, actor, writer, environmentalist, and activist
April 9 - Jacques Villeneuve, motor racing driver
April 19 - Scott McCord, voice actor
June 8 - Jeff Douglas, actor
June 15 - Bif Naked, rock singer-songwriter, poet, cartoonist and actress
June 26 - Christine Nordhagen, wrestler
June 26 - Edward Parenti, swimmer
June 29 - Matthew Good, musician
June 30
* Megan Fahlenbock, voice actress
* Jamie McLennan, retired professional ice hockey goaltender, radio sports analyst

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
August 12
* Patrick Carpentier, racing driver
* Phil Western, musician
August 25 - Peter Oldring, voice actor, improviser, actor and comedian
September - Chris Klein-Beekman, aid worker killed in Iraq
September 6 - Fiona Milne, rower and World Champion

October to December

October 1 - Guylaine Cloutier, swimmer
October 5 - Sam Vincent, voice actor and singer
October 7 - Todd Smith, Ontario MPP
October 15 - Jamie Nicholls, Politician
October 21 - Johanne Bégin, water polo player
November 24 - Keith Primeau, ice hockey player
December 9 - Petr Nedvěd, ice hockey player
December 14 - Scott Koskie, volleyball player
December 22 - Pat Mastroianni, actor
December 23 -
* Corey Haim, actor
* Estella Warren, actress, former fashion model, and former synchronized swimmer
December 25 - Justin Trudeau, politician and 23rd prime minister of Canada

Deaths

January to June

January 5 - Douglas Shearer, sound designer and recording director
January 19 - David Florida, pioneer in space research
February 4 - Brock Chisholm, doctor and first Director-General of the World Health Organization
March 25 - Anne Savage, painter and art teacher
April 5 - Maurice Brasset, politician and lawyer
April 14 - Hector Authier, politician, lawyer and news reporter/announcer
April 17 - Carmen Lombardo, singer and composer
April 19 - Earl Thomson, athlete and Olympic gold medalist
May 2 - John Horne Blackmore, politician
May 3 - Georges Poulin, hockey player
June 19 - Albert A. Brown, politician and lawyer

July to December

July 10 - Samuel Bronfman, businessman
July 22 - Ross Thatcher, politician and 9th Premier of Saskatchewan
July 28 – Annon Lee Silver, lyric soprano
September 4 - James Gladstone, first Status Indian to be appointed to the Senate of Canada
November 17 - Arthur Roebuck, politician and labour lawyer
November 25 - Leonard W. Murray, naval officer
December 11 - Kate Aitken, radio journalist, cookbook writer