1990 in Canada

The following events occurred in Canada in the year 1990.

Incumbents

and

Crown

Monarch – Elizabeth II

Federal government

Governor General – Jeanne Sauvé then Ray Hnatyshyn
Prime Minister – Brian Mulroney
Chief Justice – Brian Dickson then Antonio Lamer
Parliament – 34th

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

Premiers

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

Territorial governments

Commissioners

Premiers

Events

January to June

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, 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.
February 12 – 1990 Chambly by-election.
March 9 – Newfoundland 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 officers following the Baltej Singh Dhillon case.
March 22 – Canadian arms designer Gerald Bull is assassinated in Brussels.
April 1 – The World Wrestling Federation holds WrestleMania VI from SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, drawing a crowd of 67,678.
May 12 – The Bloc Québécois Party is formed as several MPs led by Lucien Bouchard quit the Tories and Liberals.
May 24 – The Edmonton Oilers win the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals.
May 29 – Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the Soviet Union, arrives in Ottawa for a 29-hour visit.
June 6 – Stanley Charles Waters is the first elected senator.
June 12 – Elijah Harper prevents Manitoba from accepting the Meech Lake Accord.
June 17–30 – Nelson Mandela tours North America, visiting three Canadian and eight U.S. cities.
June 23 – Meech Lake Accord officially dead.
June 23 – Jean Chrétien elected leader of the Liberal Party of Canada at a 1990 Liberal Party of [Canada leadership election|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.
September 27 – Brian Mulroney temporarily increases the size of the Senate to ensure passage of the GST.
October 1 – Bob Rae becomes 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 13 – The Senate of Canada approves the GST..
December 17 – The GST becomes law.

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

Sport

May 13 – The Oshawa Generals win their fourth Memorial Cup by defeating the Kitchener Rangers 4 to 3. The final game was played at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario
May 24 – The Edmonton Oilers win their fifth Stanley Cup by defeating the Boston Bruins 4 games to 1. Brandon, Manitoba's Bill Ranford is awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy
November 24 – The Saskatchewan Huskies win their first Vanier Cup by defeating the Saint Mary's Huskies 24 to 21 in the 26th Vanier Cup played at Skydome in Toronto
November 25 – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers win their tenth Grey Cup by defeating the Edmonton Eskimos 50 to 11 in the 78th Grey Cup at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver. Scarborough, Toronto's Warren Hudson is awarded the game's Most Valuable Canadian

Date unknown

Doug Flutie returns to Canada to play with the BC Lions.

Births

January 18
*Brett Lawrie, Canadian baseball player
*Alex Pietrangelo, Canadian ice hockey player
January 24 – Mitchell Islam, ice dancer
January 29 – Danielle Parsons, curler
January 30 – Joe Colborne, ice hockey player
February 14 – Brett Dier, actor
February 16 – The Weeknd, singer-songwriter
February 23
* Kevin Connauton, ice hockey defenceman
* Marco Scandella, ice hockey defenceman
March 2 – Michael Hutchinson, ice hockey player
April 26 – Riley Voelkel, actress
May 13 – Jane Creba, murder victim
June 3 – Jason Akeson, ice hockey player
June 4 – Jess Moskaluke, singer
June 5 – Junior Hoilett, footballer
June 7 – Michael Stone, ice hockey player
July 15 – Alexander Calvert, actor
August 7 – Jake Allen, hockey goaltender
August 15 – Chris Gudzowsky, Canadian born bobsledder
September 7 – Megan McNeil, singer
September 28 – Kirsten Prout, actress
October 23 – Dalmar Abuzeid, actor
November 9 – Chris Di Staulo, filmmaker
November 19 – Laura Walker, curler
December 10 – Reda Agourram, soccer player
December 11 – Michael Pillarella, actor, writer, film producer and spoken word artist
December 27 – Milos Raonic, tennis player
December 31 – Patrick Chan, figure skater

Deaths

January to June

January 7 – Bronko Nagurski, American football player
March 16 – Dalton McGuinty Sr., politician and father of premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty and the politician David McGuinty
March 22 – Gerald Bull, engineer and artillery designer
March 24 – Jim St. James, actor and HIV/AIDS activist
April 11 – Harold Ballard, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs

July to September

July 18
* Johnny Wayne, comedian and comedy writer
* Gerry Boulet, Quebec rock singer
August 25 – Morley Callaghan, novelist, short story writer, playwright, and television and radio personality
September 6 – Stan Roberts, politician
September 11 – Lela Brooks, speed skater and world record holder

October to December

October 22 – Carl Klinck, literary historian and academic
October 30 – Craig Russell, female impersonator
November 2 – Frederick Thomas Armstrong, politician
November 9 – Hugh MacLennan, author and professor of English
December 7 – Jean Paul Lemieux, painter
December 24 – Tammy Homolka, murder victim
December 31 – Robina Higgins, track and field athlete