1997 in Canada

Events from the year 1997 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

Monarch – Elizabeth II

Federal government

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

Premiers

Premier of Alberta – Ralph Klein
Premier of British Columbia – Glen Clark
Premier of Manitoba – Gary Filmon
Premier of New Brunswick – Frank McKenna then Raymond Frenette
Premier of Newfoundland – Brian Tobin
Premier of Nova Scotia – John Savage then Russell MacLellan
Premier of Ontario – Mike Harris
Premier of Prince Edward Island – Pat Binns
Premier of Quebec – Lucien Bouchard
Premier of Saskatchewan – Roy Romanow

Territorial governments

Commissioners

Premiers

Events

January to June

January 1 – Opening of the new municipality of Alfred and Plantagenet.
January 4 – The federal government makes it harder to obtain unemployment insurance.
February 14 – Newsprint giants Abitibi-Price and Stone-Consolidated announce they are merging.
March 6 – A new rigorous anti tobacco advertising law is passed.
March 11 – Alberta election: Ralph Klein's PCs win an eighth consecutive majority.
March 15 – Gilles Duceppe is 1997 [Bloc Québécois leadership election|elected] leader of the Bloc Québécois.
March 19 – Bre-X geologist Michael de Guzman jumps or is pushed from a helicopter in Indonesia.
March 21 – Nova Scotia Premier John Savage announces his resignation.
March 22 – Five members of the cult the Order of the Solar Temple commit 1997 [Saint-Casimir mass suicide |mass suicide] in Saint-Casimir, Quebec.
April 22 – Massive flooding of the Red River in Manitoba leads to a state of emergency.
May – Saint-Simon and Saint-Sauveur Saint-Sauveur riots|riots].
May 11 – 1997 Nunavut equal representation plebiscite.
May 31 – Confederation Bridge opens.
June 1 – Donovan Bailey and Michael Johnson have a 150m race in the then Skydome for the title of "The World's Fastest Man".
June 2 – Federal election: Jean Chrétien's Liberals win a second consecutive majority, the Reform Party becomes the Official Opposition.
June 18 – The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission introduces a television rating system.

July to September

July 2 – The Somalia Inquiry is disbanded prematurely.
July 9 – Danielle House forced to give up her Miss Canada International title after pleading guilty to assault.
July 18 – Russell MacLellan becomes the new Premier of Nova Scotia.
July 30 – Phil Fontaine elected head of the Assembly of First Nations.
August 7 – Bjarni Tryggvason flies aboard the Space Shuttle.
August 8 – The Saskatchewan Party is founded.
August 10 – The director Jean-Claude Lauzon and actress Marie-Soleil Tougas dies in a plane crash near Kuujjuaq.
September 2 – Newfoundlanders vote to do away with their religion based school systems.
September 3 – One is killed in a Saskatchewan train derailment.
September 15 - Caillou debuts on Teletoon.

October to December

October 1 – Michel Bastarache is appointed to the Supreme Court.
October 2 – Canada recalls its ambassador to Israel after Mossad uses forged Canadian passports.
October 7 – An out-of-court settlement is reached between Brian Mulroney and the federal government regarding the Airbus affair.
October 13 – Raymond Frenette becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Frank McKenna.
October 13 – 43 are killed in Canada's worst ever traffic accident as a tour bus falls off a cliff.
October 17 – CTV News Channel begins broadcasting.
October 27–November 10 – A teachers strike takes place in Ontario.
November 3 – Canada destroys the last land mines in its arsenal.
November 9
*The scandal-racked Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative Party is mothballed.
*The World Wrestling Federation holds its Survivor Series pay-per-view event from the Molson Centre in Montreal, Quebec, where the Montreal Screwjob takes place. Bret Hart loses the WWF Championship to Shawn Michaels in controversial fashion, as WWF owner Vince McMahon orders referee Earl Hebner to end the match prematurely.
November 14 – Fourteen-year-old Reena Virk is beaten to death by classmates in Victoria, British Columbia.
November 17 – The Hibernia oil project pumps its first barrel of oil.
November 21–25 – The APEC summit is held in Vancouver, British Columbia. Controversy arises when Royal Canadian Mounted Police use force and pepper spray to remove protesters.
December 3 – In Ottawa, Ontario, representatives from 121 countries sign a treaty prohibiting the manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel land mines. However, the United States, the People's Republic of China, and Russia do not sign the treaty.

Full date unknown

The Calgary Declaration from the premiers, except Lucien Bouchard.
A second Sacred Assembly is held but issues no proclamation.

Arts and literature

New Books

Timothy Findley – ''You Went Away''

Awards

Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Mordecai Richler – Barney's Version
See 1997 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
Books in Canada First Novel Award: Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces
Geoffrey Bilson Award: Janet McNaughton, To Dance at the Palais Royale
Gerald Lampert Award: Marilyn Dumont, A Really Good Brown Girl
Marian Engel Award: Katherine Govier
Pat Lowther Award: Marilyn Bowering, Autobiography
Stephen Leacock Award: Arthur Black, Black in the Saddle Again
Trillium Book Award English: Dionne Brand, Land to Light On
Trillium Book Award French: Roger Levac, Petite Crapaude!
Vicky Metcalf Award: Tim Wynne-Jones

Film

Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter is released, it is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director

Television

The Arrow, a mini-series about the Avro Arrow shows plays to great popularity and acclaim and the CBC
Teletoon is launched

Music

Oscar Peterson receives a Grammy for lifetime achievement.

Sport

February 7 – Lennox Lewis becomes heavyweight boxing champion.
May 18 – Hull Olympiques win their only Memorial Cup by defeating the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5 to 1. The entire tournament was played at the Robert Guertin Centre in Hull, Quebec
June 7 – Calgary's Mike Vernon of the Detroit Red Wings is awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy
October 26 – Formula One: Jacques Villeneuve becomes the first Canadian to become List of [Formula One World Drivers' Champions|World Drivers Champion].
November 9 – The Montreal Screwjob takes place at Survivor Series. Bret Hart controversially loses his WWF Championship to Shawn Michaels.
November 16 – Toronto Argonauts win their fourteenth Grey Cup by defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 85th Grey Cup played at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. Hamilton, Ontario's Paul Masotti was awarded the game's Most Valuable Canadian
November 22 – UBC Thunderbirds win their third Vanier Cup by defeating the Ottawa Gee-Gees by a score of 39–23 in the 33rd Vanier Cup played at Skydome in Toronto

Births

January 13 – Connor McDavid, hockey player
January 15 – Alex Cardillo, Irish-born actor
January 20 – Jeffrey Baldwin, murder victim
January 29 – Cassandra Sawtell, actress
March 9 – Niamh Wilson, actress
March 10 – Travis Konecny, ice hockey player
March 11 – Matreya Fedor, actress
March 26 – Antoine L'Écuyer, actor
April 23 – Alex Ferris, actor
April 28 – Jason Spevack, actor
May 5 – Mitch Marner, ice hockey player
May 26 – Mathew Barzal, ice hockey player
June 11 – Mackenzie Bent, ice dancer
June 18 – Mary-Lynn Neil, singer and songwriter
August 1 – Megan McNamara and Nicole McNamara, beach volleyball players
August 3 – Ayaka Wilson, actor
October 27 – Eliana Jones, actress and gymnast

Deaths

January to March

January 1 – Hagood Hardy, composer, pianist and vibraphonist
January 12
*Charles Brenton Huggins, physician, physiologist, cancer researcher and Nobel prize laureate
January 14 – Dollard Ménard, lieutenant-colonel
January 17 – Bill Kardash, politician
January 26 – Norman Fawcett, politician
February 19 – Lois Marshall, soprano
March 2 – J. Carson Mark, mathematician who worked on development of nuclear weapons
March 14 – Ivan Romanoff, conductor
March 22 – Harry Thode, geochemist, nuclear chemist and academic administrator
March 27 – Hugh Horner, politician, physician and surgeon

April to June

April 6 – Jack Kent Cooke, sports entrepreneur
May 1 – Fernand Dumont, sociologist, philosopher, theologian and poet
May 9 – Marie-Thérèse Paquin, Canadian pianist
June 9 – Stanley Knowles, politician
June 22
*Gérard Pelletier, journalist, editor, politician and Minister
*Larry Grossman, politician

July to September

July 3 – Michael James MacDonald, politician and union leader
July 25 – George Alexander Gale, chief justice of Ontario
July 30 – Robert Bryce, civil servant
August 10
*Jean-Claude Lauzon, Quebec filmmaker
*Marie-Soleil Tougas, Quebec actress and TV host
August 20 – Léon Dion, political scientist
August 24 – Hardial Bains, founder and leader of Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)
September 11 – Camille Henry, ice hockey player
September 12 – Judith Merril, science fiction writer, editor and political activist
September 30
*Rose Goldblatt, administrator, pianist and teacher
*Pierre Granche, sculptor

October to December

October 12 – Rodrigue Bourdages, politician
November 7 – Clyde Gilmour, radio broadcaster and journalist
November 14 – Jack Pickersgill, civil servant and politician
November 20 – Ronald Martland, Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
November 24
* Czeslaw Brzozowicz, engineer
* John Sopinka, lawyer and puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada
November 27 – Yves Prévost, politician and lawyer
December 7 – George R. Gardiner, businessman, philanthropist and co-founder of the Gardiner Museum
December 24 – Pierre Péladeau, businessman

Full date unknown

Hilda Watson, Leader of the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party