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

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Contents

1 Incumbents 2 Events 3 Arts and Literature 4 Births 5 Deaths

Incumbents

• Prime Minister - Pierre Trudeau
• Governor General - Roland Michener

• 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
• May 4 - A sinkhole destroys much of St Jean Vianney, Québec 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 is 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 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 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 - Two subway trains collide in Montreal killing one person
• December 26 - An Air Canada plane was 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

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.
• Censored page: Robert Thomas , Allen Wives, Children & Other Wild Life
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Kay Hill

Births

• January 27 - Patrice Brisebois, hockey player
• March 8 - Bob Boughner, hockey player
• March 27 - Nathan Fillion, actor
• April 9 - Jacques Villeneuve, automobile racing driver
• June 17 - Bif Naked, singer
• July 2 - Evelyn Lau, poet
• July 10 - Adam Foote, hockey player
• July 17 - Cory Doctorow, writer and activist
• June 26 - Christine Nordhagen, Olympic wrestler
• July 30 - Tom Green, actor
• September - Chris Klein-Beekman, aid worker
• September 6 - Fiona Milne, Olympic rower
• November 1 - Glen Murray, hockey player
• November 24 - Keith Primeau, hockey player
• December 9 - Petr Nedved, hockey player
• December 25 - Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister's son

Deaths

• January 5 - Douglas Shearer, sound designer
• July 22 - W. Ross Thatcher, premier of Saskatchewan
• Samuel Bronfman, businessman