1987 in Canada

"See also:"
1986 in Canada,
other events of 1987,
1988 in Canada and the
Timeline of Canadian history.

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Incumbents

*Monarch: Queen 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 30: Provincial premiers agree to Meech Lake Accord
* May 22: Rick Hansen returns home to Vancouver after his Man in Motion world tour
* July 3: Quebec City becomes the first city in North America to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site
* July 31: A tornado in Edmonton, Alberta kills twenty-seven
* August 30: Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson sets a new world record in the 100 metre dash
* 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
* November 12: Dennis Patterson becomes government leader of the Northwest Territories, replacing Nick Sibbeston
* November 27: Rock band Cowboy Junkies record their most famous album, "The Trinity Session", at Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity
* 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.
* The Reform Party of Canada is founded

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

Births

*August 7: Sidney Crosby, hockey player

Deaths

* September 11: Lorne Greene, actor
* November 1: René Lévesque, separatist premier of Quebec
* November 6: George Laurence, nuclear physicist
* Hugh Alexander Bryson, politician