1991 in Canada

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Events from the year 1991 in Canada.

Incumbents

Main article: 1991 Canadian incumbents

Crown

• Head of state (monarch) – Queen Elizabeth II (consort – Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh)

Federal government

• Governor general – Ray Hnatyshyn (viceregal consort – Gerda Hnatyshyn)
• Prime minister – Brian Mulroney

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Helen Hunley (until March 11) then Gordon Towers
• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – David Lam
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – George Johnson
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Gilbert Finn
• Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – James McGrath (until November 5) then Frederick Russell
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Lloyd Crouse
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Lincoln Alexander (until December 11) then Hal Jackman
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Marion Loretta Reid
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Martial Asselin
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Sylvia Fedoruk

Premiers

• Premier of Alberta – Don Getty
• Premier of British Columbia – Bill Vander Zalm (until April 2) then Rita Johnston (April 2 to November 5) then Mike Harcourt
• Premier of Manitoba – Gary Filmon
• Premier of New Brunswick – Frank McKenna
• Premier of Newfoundland – Clyde Wells
• Premier of Nova Scotia – Roger Bacon (until February 26) then Don Cameron
• Premier of Ontario – Bob Rae
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – Joe Ghiz
• Premier of Quebec – Robert Bourassa
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Grant Devine (until November 1) then Roy Romanow

Territorial governments

Commissioners

• Commissioner of Yukon – John Kenneth McKinnon
• Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Daniel L. Norris

Premiers

• Premier of the Northwest Territories – Dennis Patterson (until November 14) then Nellie Cournoyea
• Premier of Yukon – Tony Penikett

Events

January to June

• January 1 - The Goods and Services Tax comes into effect
• January 15 - Canadian Forces begin their participation in the Persian Gulf War
• January 29 - The Allaire Committee releases its report on Canada's constitution: it recommends the transfer of many powers from the federal government to the provinces
• January 30 - Gulf War: A Canadian CF-18 Hornet attacks and causes irreparable damage to an Iraqi warship.
• February 26 - Donald Cameron becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing Roger Bacon
• February 27 - Gulf War: Iraq agrees to a cease-fire ending the conflict
• April 2 - Rita Johnston becomes premier of British Columbia, replacing Bill Vander Zalm. She is the first woman to be the country's head of government of British Columbia.
• April 22 - Joe Clark is appointed Minister of Constitutional Affairs
• May - George Erasmus, leader of the Assembly of First Nations, resigns and is succeeded by Ovide Mercredi
• May 14 - MP John Nunziata alleges the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) know who bombed the Air-India flight 182 but did not have evidence needed for prosecution.
• June 15 - Paul Bernardo kidnaps, rapes, and murders Leslie Mahaffy
• June 19 - The Dobbie-Castonguay Commission is created to look into changes to the constitution.

July to December

• July 3 - The process leading to the privatization of Petro-Canada is begun
• July 27 - Greg Welch (AUS) and Sue Schlatter (CAN) win the 1991 ITU Triathlon World Cup race (1.5 km swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run) in Vancouver
• August 4 - Brad Beven (AUS) and Karen Smyers (USA) win the 1991 ITU Triathlon World Cup race (1.5 km swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run) in Toronto
• September 24 - Dobbie-Castonguay Commission recommends an elected Senate and recognizing Quebec as a distinct society.
• October 21 - The Saskatchewan election: Roy Romanow's NDP win a majority, defeating Grant Devine's PCs
• November 1 - Roy Romanow becomes premier of Saskatchewan, replacing Grant Devine
• November 5 - Michael Harcourt becomes premier of British Columbia, replacing Rita Johnston
• November 14 - Nellie Cournoyea becomes government leader of the Northwest Territories, replacing Dennis Patterson, the first woman to do so, first female premier of a Canadian territory and the second female premier in Canadian history after Rita Johnston of British Columbia.
• November 24 - At the 79th Grey Cup the Toronto Argonauts defeat the Calgary Stampeders at Winnipeg Stadium in Winnipeg.

Full date unknown

• Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the President of Haiti, visits Canada and is warmly welcomed by the large Haitian community in Montreal, where he had studied at the Université de Montréal.
• Julius Alexander Isaac is named Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada. He becomes the first Black Chief Justice in Canada
• David Schindler of the University of Alberta wins the first international Stockholm Water Prize for environmental research.
• Ferguson Jenkins becomes the first Canadian elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Canadian peacekeepers begin a five-year deployment to El Salvador
• Canadian observers are sent to Western Sahara
• News media: eye weekly created in Toronto

Arts and literature

New works

• Rohinton Mistry: Such a Long Journey
• Douglas Coupland: Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture
• Margaret Atwood: Wilderness Tips
• Dave Duncan: Faery Lands Forlorn
• Hume Cronyn: A Terrible Liar
• Spider Robinson: Starseed

Awards

• See 1991 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: Nino Ricci, Lives of the Saints
• Gerald Lampert Award: Diana Brebner, Radiant Life Forms
• Geoffrey Bilson Award: Marianne Brandis, The Sign of the Scales
• Marian Engel Award: Joan Clark
• Pat Lowther Award: Karen Connelly, The Small Words in My Body
• Stephen Leacock Award: Howard White, Waiting in the Rain
• Trillium Book Award: Margaret Atwood, Wilderness Tips
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Brian Doyle

Film

• Atom Egoyan's The Adjuster is released
• James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day is released. It is the year's highest grossing film

Music

• Trevor Pinnock becomes director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra

Births

• January 16 - Matt Duchene, hockey player
• February 12 - Ryan Kavanagh, ice hockey defenceman
• April 22 - Aqsa Parvez, murder victim (died 2007)
• May 8 - Ethan Gage, soccer player
• May 10 - Jordan Francis, singer, dancer, actor and choreographer
• May 11 - Johnathon Robert Madden, murder victim (died 2003)
• May 29 - Jesse Camacho, actor
• May 31 - Pierre-Luc Dusseault, politician
• June 19 - Hilary Bell, swimmer
• November 13 - Devon Bostick, actor
• December 17 - Léo Bureau-Blouin, politician

Deaths

January to June

• January 1 - Larry Condon, politician (born 1936)
• January 23 - Northrop Frye, literary critic and literary theorist (born 1912)
• February 7 - Jean-Paul Mousseau, artist (born 1927)
• February 11 - Pete Parker, radio announcer (born 1895)
• February 20 - Eugene Forsey, politician and constitutional expert (born 1904)
• April 26 - Richard Hatfield, politician and 26th Premier of New Brunswick (born 1931)
• May 9 - Loran Ellis Baker, politician (born 1905)
• June 11 - David Croll, politician (born 1900)
• June 16 - Leslie Mahaffy, murder victim (born 1976)

July to December

• July 8 - Gordon Stewart Anderson, writer (born 1958)
• July 10 - Grace MacInnis, politician and feminist (born 1905)
• August 6 - Roland Michener, lawyer, politician diplomat and Governor-General of Canada (born 1900)
• August 22 - Colleen Dewhurst, actress (born 1924)
• August 31 - Cliff Lumsdon, world champion marathon swimmer (born 1931)
• September 12 - Albert Bruce Matthews, commander of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division during the Second World War (born 1909)
• September 25 - Stanley Waters, Senator (born 1920)
• October 2 - Hazen Argue, politician (born 1921)
• November 13 - Paul-Émile Léger, Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church (born 1904)
• December 17 - Armand Frappier, physician and microbiologist (born 1904)