1995 in Canada

"See also:"
1994 in Canada,
other events of 1995,
1996 in Canada and the
list of 'years in Canada'.

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Incumbents

*Monarch - Queen Elizabeth II
*Governor General - Ray Hnatyshyn then Roméo LeBlanc
*Prime Minister - Jean Chrétien
*Premier of Alberta - Ralph Klein
*Premier of British Columbia - Mike Harcourt
*Premier of Manitoba - Gary Filmon
*Premier of New Brunswick - Frank McKenna
*Premier of Newfoundland - Clyde Wells
*Premier of Nova Scotia - John Savage
*Premier of Ontario - Bob Rae then Mike Harris
*Premier of Prince Edward Island - Catherine Callbeck
*Premier of Quebec - Jacques Parizeau
*Premier of Saskatchewan - Roy Romanow

Events

* January 5 - Rogers Communications withdraws the unpopular negative option billing system after widescale consumer protest
* January 7 - The opening of Parliament is televised for the first time
* January 18 - A video of the Canadian Airborne Regiment's brutal hazing rituals is made public
* January 23 - As a result of the Somalia Affair and the video the Airborne Regiment is disbanded
* January 23 - Guy Paul Morin's conviction for murder that had seen him jailed for 11 years is overturned
* February 21 - The inquiry into the April 1994 uprising in the Kingston Prison For Women rules that authorities used excessive force in putting it down
* February 23 - American President Bill Clinton addresses Parliament
* March 9 - As part of Brian Tobin's Turbot War Canadian officials seize the Spanish trawler the "Estai"
* March 11 - "The Globe and Mail" publishes an investigative piece by Gerald Hannon, alleging that Julian Fantino's "Project Guardian" child pornography investigation in London, Ontario is a deliberately falsified attempt to harass members of the city's gay community
* March 15 - Former Nova Scotia Premier Gerald Regan is charged with child abuse
* March 18-March 27 - A major rail strike occurs; the workers are eventually legislated back to work
* March 20 - Erichs Tobias is accused of war crimes
* March 27 - Bell Canada announces major job cuts
* March 31 - Perrin Beatty appointed head of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
* April - Chapters is officially incorporated
* April 9 - Steve Stavro buys Maple Leaf Gardens from Harold Ballard's estate
* April 16 the Turbot War ends as Canada and the European Union reach an agreement
* April 26 - Direct-to-home satellite television is made legal in Canada
* May 9 - The law against homosexual adoption is struck down
* May 18 - The trial of Paul Bernardo begins
* May 25 - "Egan v. Canada" - Supreme Court of Canada rules that sexual orientation is a prohibited grounds of discrimination under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
* May 31 - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announce a $1 million reward in Air India flight 182 case and restarts its investigation.
* June 6 - Labatt is sold to a Belgian company
* June 8 - Ontario election: Mike Harris's PCs win a majority, defeating Bob Rae's NDP
* June 9 - Floods in Medicine Hat, Alberta force the evacuation of over 5000 people
* June 13 - A strict new gun control law is passed banning most handguns and forcing all rifles to be registered
* June 15-June 17 - The G7 meet in Halifax, Nova Scotia
* June 21 - Saskatchewan election: Roy Romanow's NDP win a second consecutive majority
* June 28 - Mike Harris becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Bob Rae
* July 17 - Christine Silverberg becomes Canada's first female police chief when she is promoted to that position in Calgary
* July 20 - In Hill v. Church of Scientology of Toronto the Supreme Court upholds Canada's largest ever libel award
* July 27 - Thomson Corp. agrees to sell 27 Canadian newspapers to Hollinger Inc.
* August 1 - Popular Ottawa sportscaster Brian Smith is shot in the parking lot of CJOH by escaped mental patient Jeffrey Arenburg; Smith dies in hospital the following day.
* August 11 - The first ever fatal accident aboard a Toronto Transit Commission subway kills three
* September 1 - Paul Bernardo is found guilty of the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French
* September 6 - The government announces plans to sell off most of its remaining holdings in Petro-Canada
* October 14 - Alexa McDonough is elected head of the New Democratic Party, replacing Audrey McLaughlin
* October 24, the James Bay Cree [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/bp412-e.htm#B.] vote 96.3% in favour of their territory remaining part of Canada in the event of Quebec Separation.
* October 27 - A massive rally is held in Montreal by the No side in the referendum
* October 30 - The 1995 Quebec referendum is held on separation. The No side narrowly wins.
* October 31 - Newfoundland passes a constitutional amendment to overhaul its school system
* November 4 - Radarsat, Canada's first observation satellite is launched
* November 5 - André Dallaire breaks into 24 Sussex Drive and the Prime Minister fends him off with an Inuit sculpture
* November 5 - Paul Bernardo is declared a dangerous offender, meaning he will be ineligible for parole
* November 11 - Journalist Judy Steed, in a conference speech, attacks the chair of Ryerson University's journalism program for employing Gerald Hannon as a part-time instructor; the controversy spans the next three weeks.
* November 15 - British Columbia premier announces his resignation because of the bingogate scandal.
* November 20 - Former PM Brian Mulroney sues the government over the Airbus Affair
* November 22 - Don Morin becomes premier of the Northwest Territories, replacing Nellie Cournoyea
* November 23 - Jean Chrétien unveils a law that would give each of Canada's four regions a constitutional veto. The West complains that it deserves more than one.
* November 28 - Canadian National Railway, the nation's largest Crown corporation and one of the largest state-run enterprises in the industrialized world is privatized
* December - Representatives of aboriginal peoples gather and issue the Sacred Assembly Proclamation; from this was developed the Reconciliation Proclamation and the Statement of Principles and Priorities.
* December 6 - The toonie is introduced
* December 6 - Canada agrees to send 1000 peacekeepers to Bosnia
* December 7 - The Montreal Canadiens trade Patrick Roy to the Colorado Avalanche
* December 11 - Voters in what will become Nunavut select Iqaluit as the capital of the new territory
* December 20 - Lieutenant General Jean Boyle becomes Chief of the Defence Staff
* December 21 - The Krever Commission holds its final hearings
* December 28 - Premier of Newfoundland Clyde Wells announces his retirement

Arts and literature

New books

*Bill Bissett - "Th influenza uv logik"
*Ann-Marie MacDonald - "The Arab's Mouth"
*Douglas Coupland - "Microserfs"
*Stevie Cameron - "On the Take"
*Dave Duncan - "The Hunters' Haunt"
*Antonine Maillet - "La Fontaine ou la Comédie des animaux"
*Farley Mowat - ""
*Timothy Findley - "The Piano Man's Daughter"

Awards

*Carol Shields wins the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for "The Stone Diaries"
*Robert J. Sawyer wins the Nebula Award for his work "The Terminal Experiment"
* Giller Prize: Rohinton Mistry - "A Fine Balance"
* See 1995 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
*Books in Canada First Novel Award: Shyam Selvadurai, ""
*Geoffrey Bilson Award: Joan Clark, "The Dream Carvers"
*Gerald Lampert Award: Keith Maillard, "Dementia Americana"
*Marian Engel Award: Bonnie Burnard
*Pat Lowther Award: Beth Goobie, "Scars of Light"
*Stephen Leacock Award: Josh Freed, "Fear of Frying and Other Fax of Life"
*Trillium Book Award English: - Margaret Atwood, "Morning in the Burned House" and Wayson Choy, "The Jade Peony"
*Trillium Book Award French: - Maurice Henrie, "Le Balcon dans le ciel"
*Vicky Metcalf Award: Sarah Ellis

Music

*Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" released
*Shania Twain's "The Woman in Me" released
*Ashley MacIsaac, "Hi™ How Are You Today?"
*Susan Aglukark, "This Child"
*Art Bergmann, "What Fresh Hell is This?"

Television

*Long running quiz show "Front Page Challenge" is cancelled by the CBC

Film

*Michael Moore's "Canadian Bacon" is released

Births

February 8 - Jordan Todosey, actress

July 26 - Delaine Ukrainetz

Deaths

*January 28 - George Woodcock, author
*February 23 - Murray Cotterill, labour leader
*April 23 - Douglas Lloyd Campbell, Manitoba politician
*May 6 - John Black Aird, politician
*July 8 - George Johnson, Manitoba politician
*August 2 - Brian Smith, hockey player and TV sportscaster
*August 25 - Francis Lawrence Jobin, Manitoba politician
*September 3 - Earle Birney, poet
*September 23 - Philip Gaglardi, British Columbia politician
*September 30 - Jean-Luc Pépin, politician
*October 17 - Herbert J. Smith, president of General Electric Canada
*October 26 - Lucie Cavoukian, photographer
*October 27 - Artin Cavoukian, photographer
*November 3 - Gordon S. Fahrni, doctor
*November 13 - Emmett Hall, Supreme Court justice
*November 21 - Bruno Gerussi, actor
*December 2 - Robertson Davies, author
*December 3 - Elsie Knott, first female band chief
*December 4 - Little Beaver, wrestler
*December 17 - Jean Fortier, head of Radio-Canada
*Earle Birney, poet
*John Peters Humphrey, legal scholar