1971 in Canada

"See also:"
1970 in Canada,
other events of 1971,
1972 in Canada and the
Timeline of Canadian history.

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Incumbents

* Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II
* Governor General: Roland Michener
* Prime Minister: Pierre Trudeau
* Premier of Alberta: Harry Strom then Peter Lougheed
* Premier of British Columbia: W.A.C. Bennett
* Premier of Manitoba: Edward Schreyer
* Premier of New Brunswick: Richard Hatfield
* Premier of Newfoundland: Joey Smallwood
* Premier of Nova Scotia: Gerald Regan
* Premier of Ontario: John Robarts then Bill Davis
* Premier of Prince Edward Island: Alexander B. Campbell
* Premier of Quebec: Robert Bourassa
* Premier of Saskatchewan: Ross Thatcher then Allan Blakeney

Events

* March 1: Bill Davis becomes premier of Ontario, replacing John Robarts
* March 4: Prime Minister Trudeau weds Margaret Sinclair
* March 31: FLQ terrorist Paul Rose is sentenced to life in prison
* April 5: The first CANDU reactor begins operation at Gentilly, Quebec
* April 14: a riot begins at Kingston Penitentiary. Prisoners seize control and a four-day siege ensues.
* May 4: A sinkhole destroys much of Saint-Jean-Vianney, Quebec, and kills 31
* May 22: Ontario Place opens in Toronto
* June 3: The controversial Spadina Expressway project is cancelled
* June 11: Jack Davis becomes Canada's first Minister of the Environment, heading the new department of Environment Canada
* June 14: The Victoria Charter proposing constitutional reforms is written by the first ministers. It was later rejected by Robert Bourassa.
* June 23: Saskatchewan election: Allan Blakeney's NDP wins a majority, defeating Ross Thatcher's Liberals
* June 30: Allan Blakeney becomes premier of Saskatchewan, replacing Ross Thatcher
* July 29: The "Bluenose II" is donated to the province of Nova Scotia
* August 15: The first Banff Festival of the Arts opens
* August 16: Hurricane Beth hits Nova Scotia
* August 28: Canada's first gay rights demonstration, organized by George Hislop, takes place on Parliament Hill
* August 30: Alberta election: Peter Lougheed's PCs win a majority, defeating Harry Strom's Social Credit Party, which had governed for 36 years
* September 10: Peter Lougheed becomes premier of Alberta, replacing Harry Strom
* October 4: Petroleum is found under Sable Island
* October 21: Ontario election: Bill Davis's PCs win an eighth consecutive majority
* November 1: The "Toronto Sun" begins publication
* November 1: "The Body Politic", Canada's first significant gay magazine, publishes its first issue.
* November 2: Gerhard Herzberg wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
* November 12: Paul Joseph Cini hijacks an Air Canada plane. He is later arrested without incident
* December 1: A moving Montreal Metro train crashes into a second, parked train, killing one person.
* December 26: An Air Canada plane is hijacked and flown to Cuba
* Ontario Universities Application Centre founded
* Harold Ballard gains full control of the Toronto Maple Leafs
* The first edition of "The Canadian Rockies Trail Guide" is published
* Conrad Black and David Radler buy the "Sherbrooke Record"
* Statistics Canada is formed to replace the Dominion Bureau of Statistics
* An animation studio, Nelvana Limited, is founded by animators Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert, and Clive A. Smith in Toronto. [http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rllew/chrn1971.html ]

Arts and literature

:New works
* Alice Munro: "Lives of Girls and Women"
* Margaret Atwood: "Power Politics"
* Milton Acorn: "I Shout Love and On Shaving Off His Beard"
* Mordecai Richler: "St. Urbain's Horseman"
* Joan Haggerty: "Daughters of the Moon"
* Gordon R. Dickson: "Tactics of Mistake"
* Brian Fawcett: "Friends":Awards
* See 1971 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
* Stephen Leacock Award: Robert Thomas, "Allen Wives, Children & Other Wild Life"
* Vicky Metcalf Award: Kay Hill

Births

* January 9: Sandra Oh, actor
* January 18: Seamus O'Regan, journalist
* January 27: Patrice Brisebois, ice hockey player
* March 8: Bob Boughner, ice hockey player
* March 20: Janis Kelly, volleyball player
* March 27: Nathan Fillion, actor
* April 2: Conrad Leinemann, beach volleyball player
* April 9: Jacques Villeneuve, automobile racing driver
* June 17: Bif Naked, singer
* June 26: Edward Parenti, swimmer
* July 2: Evelyn Lau, poet
* July 10: Adam Foote, ice hockey player
* July 17: Cory Doctorow, writer and activist
* June 26: Christine Nordhagen, wrestler
* July 30: Tom Green, actor
* September: Chris Klein-Beekman, aid worker
* September 6: Fiona Milne, rower
* October 21: Johanne Bégin, water polo player
* November 1: Glen Murray, ice hockey player
* November 24: Keith Primeau, ice hockey player
* December 9: Petr Nedvěd, Czechoslovakia-born ice hockey player
* December 14: Scott Koskie, volleyball player
* December 25: Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister's son
* Carla Robinson, CBC journalist

Deaths

* January 5: Douglas Shearer, sound designer
* April 5: Maurice Brasset, politician
* April 14: Hector Authier, politician
* June 19: Albert A. Brown, politician
* July 10: Samuel Bronfman, businessman
* July 22: W. Ross Thatcher, premier of Saskatchewan
* David Florida, space pioneer