1996 in Canada

See also: 1995 in Canada, other events of 1996, 1997 in Canada and the list of 'years in Canada'.

Table of contents

1 Events
2 Arts and literature
3 Births
4 Deaths

Events

January 14 - a free trade agreement with Israel is announced
January 15 - the Corel Centre opens in Ottawa
January 25 - Jean Chr�tien launches a major cabinet shuffle. Pierre Pettigrew and Stephan Dion are brought in, despite not having seats.
January 26 - Brian Tobin becomes premier of Newfoundland, replacing Clyde Wells
January 29 - Lucien Bouchard becomes premier of Quebec, replacing Jacques Parizeau
February 7 - Bob Rae, former premier of Ontario leaves politics
February 14 - Mr. Dressup does his last show
February 15 - Chr�tien throttles a protester in Ottawa, launching a small controversy over the "Shawinigan handshake"
February 17 - Michel Gauthier is elected new leader of the Bloc Qu�b�cois
February 22 - Glen Clark becomes premier of British Columbia, replacing Michael Harcourt
February 22 - Brian Tobin leads the Newfoundland Liberal Party to victory in the 1996 Newfoundland election
February 27 - the Los Angeles Kings trade Wayne Gretzky to the St. Louis Blues
March 6 - the federal budget continues the assault on the deficit
March 26 - the ANIK E-1 satellite malfunctions
March 27 - the Quebec budget proposes sweeping cuts to government funding
April 3 - all members of the Canadian Forces are ordered to spend the entire day searching for documents that may aid the Somalia inquiry
April 5 - a gunman in B.C. kills nine relatives and then himself
April 11 - the Ontario government announce a 15 per cent reduction in the civil service
April 22 - John Nunziata is expelled from the Liberal caucus for voting against the budget
April 23 - Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland agree to replace their provincial sales taxes and the GST with a Harmonized Sales Tax.
May 7 - the Ontario government cuts provincial income taxes by 30 per cent
May 10 - Jan Brown resigns from the Reform Party
May 19 - Marc Garneau flies on a second space mission
May 24 - Conrad Black's Hollinger takes over the Southam newspaper chain
May 28 - The British Columbia NDP wins a surprise re-election
May 29 - Six Taiwanese sailors are charged with the murder of three Romanian stowaways aboard the Maersk Dubai
June 10 - the Quebec government reintroduces the "Language Police"
June 17 - Sheila Copps, who had resigned over the GST, wins back her Hamilton–Wentworth seat in a by-election
June 20 - Robert Thirsk flies aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia
June 24 - a riot in Quebec City causes a million dollars in damage
July 1 - the Winnipeg Jets leave Canada and become the Phoenix Coyotes
July 7-July 11 - a major AIDS conference is held in Vancouver
July 19 - the Atlanta Olympics open, Canadian sprinter Donovan Bailey wins the 100-metre dash
July 20-July 21 - floods in Quebec kill ten
July 25 - Coach House Press closes
July 26 - Gretzky signs with the New York Rangers
August 8 - former Prime Minister Kim Campbell is named consul general to Los Angeles
August 8 - Jean-Louis Roux appointed Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
August 29 - former B.C. Premier W. A. C. Bennett is found guilty of insider trading
October 4 - Defence Minister David Collonette resigns
October 10 - Keith Milligan becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Catherine Callbeck
October 19 - Piers McDonald becomes government leader of Yukon, replacing John Ostashek
November 5 - Jean-Louis Roux forced to resign as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec when pictures of him at Nazi rallies in the 1930s are published
November 27 - Pat Binns becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Keith Milligan
December 16 - Chr�tien formally apologizes for lying about the GST
Karen Kain becomes the first Canadian to win the Cartier Lifetime Achievement Award
General Jean Boyle resigns over Somalia Inquiry controversy
Dalton McGuinty is elected leader of the Ontario Liberal Party
Canada sends over a thousand troops to take part in IFOR

Arts and literature

New books

John Ralston Saul - The Unconscious Civilization
Nancy Huston - Slow Emergencies
Pierre Berton - Farewell to the Twentieth Century
Elisabeth Harvor - Let Me Be the One
Yann Martel - Self
Timothy Findley - You Went Away
Di Brandt - Dancing Naked: Narrative Strategies for Writing Across Centuries
Douglas Coupland - Polaroids from the Dead

Awards

Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Margaret Atwood - Alias Grace
See 1996 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
Books in Canada First Novel Award: Keath Fraser, Popular Anatomy
Gerald Lampert Award: Maureen Hynes, Rough Skin
Marian Engel Award: Barbara Gowdy
Pat Lowther Award: Lorna Crozier, Everything Arrives at the Light
Stephen Leacock Award: Marsha Boulton, Letters from the Country
Trillium Book Award English: Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces
Trillium Book Award French: Nancy Vickers, Le Pied de Sappho and Alain Bernard Marchand, Tintin au pays de la ferveur
Vicky Metcalf Award: Margaret Buffie

New Music

Barenaked Ladies - Born on a Pirate Ship
Bruce Cockburn - The Charity of Night

Births

Deaths

January 26 - Sally Gribble, founder of MADD Canada
January 26 - Yvonne Housser, painter
January 27 - Brian Kelleher, journalist
January 31 - Beth Amos, actress
February 2 - Phyliss Marshall, actor
February 7 - Barbara Hamilton, actor
February 7 - Lucien Maynard, leader of Alberta francophones
February 9 - Henri Masson, painter
February 19 - Ernest C. Manning former Premier of Alberta
February 21 - Gordon Armstrong, playwright
February 29 - Robert O'Driscoll, scholar
March 28 - Edith Fowke, ethnologist
April 23 - Jean Allard former Chief of the Defence Staff
May 11 - Hilda Grant, author
May 22 - Robert Christie, actor
June 11 - George Hees, Cabinet Minister
July 1 - Harold Greenberg, businessman
July 5 - Fred Davis, moderator of Front Page Challenge
July 5 - Bob Southam, newspaper publisher
July 17 - Susan Cole, puppeteer
July 18 - Robert Needham, journalist
July 20 - Ronald Buick, scientist
July 22 - Carl Goldenberg, Senator
August 1 - Patrick O'Callaghan, newspaper publicist
August 10 - Walter MacNutt, organist
August 21 - Mary Earley, Native rights campaigner
September 22 - Ludmilla Chiriaeff, ballet dancer
September 23 - Joe Borowski, anti-abortion activist
October 2 - Robert Bourassa former Premier of Quebec