Events from the year 1979 in Canada.
Incumbents
Crown Monarch – Elizabeth II
Federal government Governor General – Jules Léger (until January 22) then Edward Schreyer Prime Minister – Pierre Trudeau (until June 4) then Joe Clark Chief Justice of Canada – Bora Laskin (Ontario) Parliament – 30th (until 26 March) then 31st (11 June–14 December)
Provincial governments
Lieutenant governors Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Ralph Steinhauer (until October 18) then Francis Charles Lynch-Staunton Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Henry Pybus Bell-Irving Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Francis Lawrence Jobin Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Hédard Robichaud Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Gordon Arnaud Winter Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – John Elvin Shaffner Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Pauline Mills McGibbon Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Gordon Lockhart Bennett Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Jean-Pierre Côté Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Irwin McIntosh
Premiers Premier of Alberta – Peter Lougheed Premier of British Columbia – Bill Bennett Premier of Manitoba – Sterling Lyon Premier of New Brunswick – Richard Hatfield Premier of Newfoundland – Frank Moores (until March 26) then Brian Peckford Premier of Nova Scotia – John Buchanan Premier of Ontario – Bill Davis Premier of Prince Edward Island – Bennett Campbell (until May 3) then Angus MacLean Premier of Quebec – René Lévesque Premier of Saskatchewan – Allan Blakeney
Territorial governments
Commissioners Commissioner of Yukon – Frank Fingland (interim) (until January 20) then Ione Christensen (January 29 to October 6) then Douglas Bell Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Stuart Milton Hodgson (until April 15) then John Havelock Parker
Premiers Premier of Yukon – Chris Pearson
Events January to June 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 in Glace Bay, Cape Breton, killing 12 men. February 26 a total solar eclipse take place in the USA And Canada 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 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. Flora MacDonald becomes Canada's first female Secretary of State for External Affairs. June 7 – The Sudbury Strike of 1978 ends after nine months.
July to December September 5 – Canada's first gold bullion coin goes on sale October 29 – Port-Harrison, Quebec, is renamed to Inukjuak 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 Chapais, Quebec, kills 48 at a New Year's Eve party.
Full date unknown Chris Haney and Scott Abbott invent Trivial Pursuit Petro-Canada buys U.S.-controlled Pacific Petroleums The first women enroll in Canadian military colleges Founding of Academy of Canadian Cinema
Arts and literature New works Irving Layton: The Tightrope Dancer Margaret Atwood: Life Before Man Steve McCaffery: Intimate Distortions Roch Carrier: Les enfants du bonhomme dans la lune Joy Fielding: Trance Gabrielle Roy: Courte-Queue Gordon R. Dickson: The Spirit of Dorsai Farley Mowat: And No Birds Sang
Awards Antonine Maillet wins the French Prix Goncourt for her novel Pélagie-la-Charette See 1979 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards. Stephen Leacock Award – Sondra Gotlieb, True Confessions Vicky Metcalf Award – Cliff Faulknor
Television Lorne Michaels starts Broadway Video, a company that would go on to produce shows like The Kids in the Hall and Saturday Night Live You Can't Do That On Television premiers
Sport March 18 – The Alberta Golden Bears win their fifth (second consecutive) University Cup by defeating the Dalhousie Tigers 5–1 in Montreal May 13 – The Peterborough Petes win their only Memorial Cup by defeating the Brandon Wheat Kings 2 to 1. The final game was played at Palais des Sports in Sherbrooke, Quebec May 21 – The Montreal Canadiens win their 22nd (fourth consecutive) Stanley Cup by defeating the New York Rangers 4 games to 1. The deciding Game 5 was played at the Montreal Forum. Peterborough, Ontario's Bob Gainey was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy June 22 – The World Hockey Association folds. Four teamsthe Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, Quebec Nordiques and Hartford Whalerssurvive and move to the NHL. September 1 – Pat Patterson wins the first World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Champion September 8 – The Vancouver Whitecaps win their only Soccer Bowl by defeating the Tampa Bay Rowdies 2–1 at Soccer Bowl '79 played Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey November 17 – The Acadia Axemen win their first Vanier Cup by defeating the Western Ontario Mustangs 34–12 in the 15th Vanier Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto November 25 – The Edmonton Eskimos win their sixth (second consecutive) Grey Cup by defeating the Montreal Alouettes by the score 17 to 9 in the 67th Grey Cup played at Olympic Stadium at Montreal. Vancouver's Don Sweet is awarded his third Most Valuable Canadian award
Births January to June January 2 – Jagmeet Singh, Canadian politician, leader of the New Democratic Party January 8 – Sarah Polley, actress, singer, film director and screenwriter January 9 – Jenny Johnson, field hockey player January 14 – Nick Boynton, ice hockey player January 24 – Tom Kostopoulos, ice hockey player February 1 – Rachelle Lefevre, actress February 8 – Adam Trupish, boxer February 11 – Eric Cyr, baseball player February 15 – Ohenewa Akuffo, freestyle wrestler February 21 – Andre Noble, actor (d. 2004) Bryan Lee O'Malley, comic book writer and artist February 22 Patrick Merrill, lacrosse player Jeremy Wilcox, volleyball player February 23 – Maryke Hendrikse, voice actress March 5 – Érik Bédard, pitcher March 7 – Stephanie Anne Mills, voice actress March 15 – Azelia Liu, field hockey player April 2 – Lindy Booth, actress April 4 – Roberto Luongo, ice hockey player April 11 – Sebastien Grainger, ice hockey player April 17 – Eric Brewer, ice hockey player May 2 – Jason Chimera, ice hockey player May 6 – Jon Montgomery, Canadian former skeleton racer and television personality; host of The Amazing Race Canada May 9 – Pierre Bouvier, singer May 10 – Dion Lavhey, Montreal Canadiens player May 11 – Erin Lang, singer-songwriter and guitarist May 12 – Adrian Serioux, soccer player May 20 – Andrew Scheer, politician June 1 – Craig Olejnik, actor June 3 – Pierre Poilievre, politician June 5 – Pete Wentz, musician June 8 – Pete Orr, baseball player June 18 – Chris Neil, ice hockey player June 24 – Fanny Létourneau, synchronized swimmer June 26 – Julia Benson, voice actress June 27 – Rebecca Jane Middleton, murder victim (d. 1996) June 30 – Christopher Jacot, film, television and voice actor
July to December July 2 – Joe Thornton, ice hockey player July 4 – Mark Twitchell, filmmaker and murderer July 7 – Shane Yellowbird, musician (d. 2022) July 13 – Holly Gauthier-Frankel, actress, voice director July 16 – Nathan Rogers, singer-songwriter August 3 – Evangeline Lilly, actress August 9 – Erin Chan, synchronized swimmer August 11 – Drew Nelson, actor and voice actor August 12 – Cindy Klassen, speed skater August 15 - Denise Oliver, voice actress August 22 – Jennifer Finnigan, actress August 31 – Mark Johnston, swimmer September 5 – Stacey Dales, basketball player and sportscaster September 15 Patrick Marleau, ice hockey player Brett Youngberg, volleyball player September 17 – Chuck Comeau, drummer September 21 – Nathaniel Miller, water polo player October 7 Aaron Ashmore, actor Shawn Ashmore, actor October 13 – Ryan Malcolm, singer (Low Level Flight) and winner of Canadian Idol November 14 – Randee Hermus, soccer player November 21 – Alex Tanguay, ice hockey player November 28 – Jamie Korab, curler November 30 – Diego Klattenhoff, Actor December 3 – Rainbow Sun Francks, actor and singer December 6 – Maxime Collin, child actor December 7 – Eric Bauza, comedian and voice actor December 10 – Andrea Rushton, field hockey player December 15 – Eric Young, professional wrestler December 27 – Pascale Dorcelus, weightlifter December 28 – Bree Williamson, actress
Deaths February 23 – W. A. C. Bennett, Premier of British Columbia (b. 1900) March 26 – Lionel Bertrand, politician, journalist and newspaper editor (b. 1906) May 9 – Cyrus S. Eaton, investment banker, businessman and philanthropist (b. 1883) May 15 – Dora Mavor Moore, actor, teacher and director (b. 1888) May 29 – Mary Pickford, actress and studio co-founder (b. 1892) July 11 – Claude Wagner, judge and politician (b. 1925) August 16 – John Diefenbaker, politician and 13th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1895) September 28 – John Herbert Chapman, scientist and space researcher (b. 1921) November 24 – John Robert Cartwright, jurist and Chief Justice of Canada (b. 1895) December 19 – Donald Creighton, historian (b. 1902)
See also 1979 in Canadian television List of Canadian films of 1979
References