1979 in Canada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

See also: 1978 in Canada, other events of 1979, 1980 in Canada and the list of 'years in Canada'.

1 Incumbents
2 Events
3 Arts and literature
4 Births
5 Deaths

[edit] Incumbents

[edit] Events

January 17: Edward Richard Schreyer replaces Jules Léger as Governor General
February 1: The first Winterlude is held in Ottawa
February 24: An explosion rips through Number 26 Colliery located in Glace Bay, Cape Breton killing 12 men.
March 14: Alberta election: Peter Lougheed's PCs win a third consecutive majority
March 26: Brian Peckford becomes premier of Newfoundland, replacing Frank Moores
May 3: Angus MacLean becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Bennett Campbell
May 21: Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup defeating the New York Rangers 4 games to 1.
May 22: Canadians go to the polls in the federal election. They defeat Pierre Trudeau's Liberals and elect Joe Clark's PCs, but only with a minority
June 4: Joe Clark becomes Canada's sixteenth, and youngest ever, prime minister
June 7: The Sudbury Strike of 1978 ends after nine months.
June 22: The World Hockey Association folds. Four teams—the Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, Quebec Nordiques, and Hartford Whalers—survive and move to the NHL
September 5: Canada's first gold bullion coin goes on sale
November 10: The 1979 Mississauga train derailment causes the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people
December 13: Supreme Court declares Quebec and Manitoba's provincial legislatures to be unconstitutional because of their use of only one language.
December 13: The government is defeated on a non-confidence motion and Prime Minister Clark calls an election
December 31: A fire at Le Club Opemiska in Chaplais, Quebec, kills 42 at a New Year's Eve party
Chris Haney and Scott Abbott invent Trivial Pursuit
Petro-Canada buys U.S.-controlled Pacific Petroleums
The first women enroll in Canadian military colleges