1978 in Canada
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Events from the year 1978 in Canada.
Contents |
[edit] Incumbents
- Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II
- Governor General: Jules Léger
- Prime Minister: Pierre Trudeau
- Premier of Alberta: Peter Lougheed
- Premier of British Columbia: W.R. Bennett
- Premier of Manitoba: Sterling Lyon
- Premier of New Brunswick: Richard Hatfield
- Premier of Newfoundland: Frank Moores
- Premier of Nova Scotia: Gerald Regan then John Buchanan
- Premier of Ontario: Bill Davis
- Premier of Prince Edward Island: Alexander B. Campbell then Bennett Campbell
- Premier of Quebec: René Lévesque
- Premier of Saskatchewan: Allan Blakeney
[edit] Events
- January 24 - Cosmos 954 a Soviet satellite breaks up over northern Canada.
- June 26 - Air Canada DC-9 overruns runway in Toronto, 2 people die.
- August 4 - 41 are killed when a bus plunges into a lake near Eastman, Quebec.
- September 15 - The Sudbury Strike of 1978 begins.
- September 18 - Bennett Campbell becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Alexander B. Campbell
- October 5 - John MacLennan Buchanan becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing Gerald Regan
- October 16 - Fifteen federal by-elections are held across the country. The governing Liberals lose five seats, which leads to a general election the following May.
- October 18 - Saskatchewan election: Allan Blakeney's NDP win a third consecutive majority
[edit] Full date unknown
- Supreme Court of Canada declares unilingual legislatures and courts unconstitutional
- Chris Pearson becomes government leader of Yukon as responsible government is instituted
- Under the new immigration act homosexuals are no longer an inadmissible class
- VIA Rail is established
- Despite accusations of marital infidelity, Colin Thatcher, who would later become famous for his involvement in the murder of his ex-wife, is re-elected to the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly.
- The CBC became the first broadcaster in the world to use an orbiting satellite for television service, linking Canada “from east to west to north.”
[edit] Arts and literature
[edit] New works
- Margaret Atwood: Up in the Tree
- Mordecai Richler: The Great Comic Book Heroes and Other Essays
- John Newlove: The Fat Man: Selected Poems (1962–1972)
- John Gray and Eric Peterson: Billy Bishop Goes to War
- Henry Beissel: Goya
[edit] Awards
- Alice Munro's Who Do You Think You Are? is nominated for the Booker Prize
- See 1979 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
- Stephen Leacock Award: Ernest Buckler, Whirligig
- Vicky Metcalf Award: Lyn Cook
[edit] Sport
- The Commonwealth Games are held in Edmonton, Alberta.
[edit] Births
[edit] January to March
- January 3 - Daryn Jones, comedian and television and radio personality
- February 20 - Andrea Moody, swimmer
- February 26 - Kyle Hamilton, rower, Olympic gold medalist and World Champion
- March 9 - Chris Phillips, ice hockey player
[edit] April to June
- April 6 - Thomas Herschmiller, rower, Olympic silver medalist and World Champion
- April 18 - Alexis Mazurin, comedian and radio personality (d.2005)
- April 26 - Tyler Labine, actor
- May 12 - Amy Sloan, actress
- May 15 - Dwayne De Rosario, soccer player
- May 15 - Caroline Dhavernas, actress
- June 2 - Shane Niemi, sprint athlete
- June 13 - Matt Bradley, ice hockey player
- June 14 - Steve Bégin, ice hockey player
- June 28 - Simon Larose, tennis player
[edit] July to December
- July 4 - Marie Luc Arpin, water polo player
- July 11 - Kathleen Edwards, singer-songwriter
- July 15 - Kim Buker, field hockey player
- July 22 - A. J. Cook, actress
- August 4 - Karine Legault, swimmer
- September 1 - Joe Stankevicius, rower and World Champion
- September 5 - Laura Bertram, actress
- September 6 - Amy Agulay, field hockey player
- September 7 - Matt Cooke, ice hockey player
- September 7 - Devon Sawa, actor
- September 20 - Jason Bay, baseball player
- September 21 - Paulo Costanzo, actor
- September 22 - Steve Moore, ice hockey player
- November 2 - Nelly Furtado, singer-songwriter, record producer and actress
- November 17 - Rachel McAdams, actress
- December 23 - Esthero, singer-songwriter
[edit] Deaths
- March 25 - Charles Alexander Best, politician (b.1931)
- March 31 - Charles Best, medical scientist, co-discoverer of insulin (b.1899)
- April 13 - Jack Chambers, artist and filmmaker (b.1931)
- September 9 - Jack Warner, studio mogul (b.1892)
- September 28 - Thane Campbell, jurist, politician and Premier of Prince Edward Island (b.1895)
- October 23 - Joe Greene, politician (b.1920)
