1987 in Canada

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

Events from the year 1987 in Canada.

Incumbents

• Monarch: Elizabeth II
• Governor General: Jeanne Sauvé
• Prime Minister: Brian Mulroney
• Premier of Alberta: Don Getty
• Premier of British Columbia: Bill Vander Zalm
• Premier of Manitoba: Howard Pawley
• Premier of New Brunswick: Richard Hatfield then Frank McKenna
• Premier of Newfoundland: Brian Peckford
• Premier of Nova Scotia: John Buchanan
• Premier of Ontario: David Peterson
• Premier of Prince Edward Island: Joe Ghiz
• Premier of Quebec: Robert Bourassa
• Premier of Saskatchewan: Grant Devine

Events

• January 1 - Frobisher Bay changes its name to Iqaluit.
• April 21 - The body lifeless of Claude Jutra was finally found in the Saint Lawrence River near Cap-Santé.^[1]
• April 30 - Provincial premiers agree to Meech Lake Accord.
• May 22 - Rick Hansen returns home to Vancouver after his Man in Motion world tour.
• June 30 - Canada introduces a $1 coin, commonly called loonie; the dollar bill is withdrawn in 1989.
• July 3 - Quebec City becomes the first city in North America to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• July 14 - Montreal is hit by a series of severe thunderstorms during the Montreal Flood of 1987.
• July 31 - The Edmonton Tornado kills 27 peoples.
• September 10 - Ontario election: David Peterson's Liberals win a majority.
• September 20 - Pope John Paul II visits the Northwest Territories.
• October - Canadian and American negotiators reach agreement on the Canadian-American Free Trade Agreement.
• October 27 - Frank McKenna becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Richard Hatfield.
• October 31 - The Reform Party of Canada is founded.
• November 12 - Dennis Patterson becomes government leader of the Northwest Territories, replacing Nick Sibbeston.
• November 30 - Several new Canadian specialty channels are licensed: YTV, VisionTV, CBC Newsworld, The Weather Network/MeteoMedia, and one pay-television channel: The Family Channel.

Arts and literature

New works

• William Bell: Metal Head
• Dave Duncan: A Rose-Red City
• Michael Ignatieff: The Russian Album
• Irving Layton: Fortunate Exile
• Donald Jack: This One's on Me
• Steve McCaffery: Evoba
• Antonine Maillet: Margot la folle
• Farley Mowat: Virunga: The Passion of Dian Fossey
• Paul Quarrington, King Leary
• Mordecai Richler: Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur

Awards

• See 1987 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: Karen Lawrence, The Life of Helen Alone
• Gerald Lampert Award: Rosemary Sullivan, The Space a Name Makes
• Marian Engel Award: Audrey Thomas
• Pat Lowther Award: Heather Spears, How to Read Faces
• Stephen Leacock Award: W.P. Kinsella, The Fencepost Chronicles
• Trillium Book Award: Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Robert Munsch

Music

• November 27 - Rock band Cowboy Junkies record their most famous album, The Trinity Session, at Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity.

Sport

• August 30 - Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson sets a new world record in the 100 metre dash.

Births

Emma Taylor-Isherwood as Josie Trent in the Strange Days at Blake Holsey High.

• April 27
  • Joëlle Békhazi, water polo player
  • Emma Taylor-Isherwood, actress
• April 30 - Jeremy Bordeleau, canoeist
• May 17 - Con Kudaba, water polo player
• August 7 - Sidney Crosby, ice hockey player
• October 6 - Kia Byers, canoeist
• October 16 - Pascal Wollach, swimmer

Deaths

January to June

• January 5 - Margaret Laurence, novelist and short story writer (b.1926)
• January 5 - Herman Smith-Johannsen, ski pioneer and supercentenarian (b.1875)
• January 27 - Norman McLaren, animator and film director (b.1914)
• February 19 - Russell Doern, politician (b.1935)
• March 21 - Walter L. Gordon, accountant, businessman, politician and writer (b.1906)

July to December

• September 11 - Lorne Greene, actor (b.1915)
• September 19 - Ralph Steinhauer, native leader, first Aboriginal to become the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (b.1905)
• October 5 - Conrad Bourcier, ice hockey player (b.1915)
• November 1 - René Lévesque, politician, Minister and 23rd Premier of Quebec (b.1922)
• November 6 - George Laurence, nuclear physicist (b.1905)
• November 18 - George Ryga, playwright and novelist (b.1932)
• November 29 - Gwendolyn MacEwen, novelist and poet (b.1941)

Full date unknown

• Hugh Alexander Bryson, politician (b.1912)
• Juda Hirsch Quastel, biochemist (b.1899)

References

v t e List of years in Canada Pre-Confederation Prehistory–1866 Prehistory to 1 BC 1st millennium 1000s 1400s 1500s 1600s 1610s 1620s 1630s 1640s 1650s 1660s 1670s 1680s 1690s 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 Post-Confederation 1867–present 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Canadian electoral calendars 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Category Portal WikiProject