1998 in Canada

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "1998 in Canada" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

← 1997 1996 1995 1998 in Canada → 1999 2000 2001
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
See also:	History of Canada Timeline of Canadian history List of years in Canada

Part of a series on the
History of Canada
Benjamin West's The Death of General Wolfe
Timeline (list)
Pre-colonization 1534–1763 1764–1867 1867–1914 1914–1945 1945–1960 1960–1981 1982–present
Historically significant
Events Sites People
Topics
Agricultural Cultural Constitutional Economic Former colonies Immigration Indigenous Medicine Military Monarchical Peacekeeping Population Sports Religion Territorial evolution Women
By provinces and territories
Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Nunavut Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon
Cities
Brampton Charlottetown Edmonton Fredericton Halifax Hamilton Lethbridge Markham Moncton Montreal Northwest Territories capital cities Ottawa Quebec City Saint John Regina Richmond Hill Saskatoon Toronto Vancouver Winnipeg ( Name etymologies )
Research
Bibliography Historiography Historians Surveys
Canada portal
v t e

Events from the year 1998 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – Elizabeth II^[1]

Federal government

• Governor General – Roméo LeBlanc^[2]
• Prime Minister – Jean Chrétien^[3]
• Chief Justice – Antonio Lamer (Quebec)^[4]
• Parliament – 36th^[5]

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Bud Olson^[6]
• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Garde Gardom^[7]
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Yvon Dumont^[8]
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Marilyn Trenholme Counsell^[9]
• Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Arthur Maxwell House^[10]
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – James Kinley^[11]
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Hillary Weston^[12]
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Gilbert Clements^[13]
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Lise Thibault^[14]
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Jack Wiebe^[15]

Premiers

• Premier of Alberta – Ralph Klein^[16]
• Premier of British Columbia – Glen Clark^[16]
• Premier of Manitoba – Gary Filmon^[16]
• Raymond Frenette (until May 14) then Camille Thériault^[16]
• Premier of Newfoundland – Brian Tobin^[16]
• Premier of Nova Scotia – Russell MacLellan^[16]
• Premier of Ontario – Mike Harris^[16]
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – Pat Binns^[16]
• Premier of Quebec – Lucien Bouchard^[16]
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Roy Romanow^[16]

Territorial governments

Commissioners

• Commissioner of Yukon – Judy Gingell^[17]
• Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Helen Maksagak^[18]

• Premier of the Northwest Territories – Don Morin (until November 26) then Goo Arlooktoo (November 26 to December 10) then Jim Antoine^[16]
• Premier of Yukon – Piers McDonald^[16]

Events

January to March

• January 1 – Toronto and six other communities are merged to form a new megacity.^[19] Mel Lastman was sworn in as its first mayor.^[20] Three other Ontario cities were similarly merged on the same date in 2001.^[21][22]
• January 2 – Three separate avalanches in British Columbia kill a total of nine people.
• January 5 – The
  El Niño, strikes southern Ontario and Quebec
  , resulting in widespread power failures, severe damage to forests, and a number of deaths.
• January 6 – Alan Eagleson pleads guilty to fraud.
• January 7 – The federal government formally apologizes for the past mistreatment of First Nations.
• January 23 – The Royal Bank and the Bank of Montreal announce plans to merge, which are later scuttled by the federal government.
• February 6 – The
  Kmart Canada, folding it into its Zellers
  chain.
• February 10 –
  Illinois Central
  .
• February 13 – Three girls, all under 18 years of age, are found guilty in Victoria, British Columbia, of killing 14-year-old Reena Virk. Three others plead guilty of assault.
• February 16 – Reference Re Secession of Quebec: The Supreme Court is asked to rule on the legality of unilateral Quebec secession.
• February 18 – Controversial plans to include a
  Holocaust memorial in the Canadian War Museum
  are scrapped.
• February 24 – In the federal budget, Finance Minister Paul Martin delivers a balanced budget.
• March 2 –
  Daniel Johnson, leader of the Quebec Liberal Party
  , announces his resignation.
• March 6 – The
  Dionne Quintuplets
  are given money and an apology by the Ontario government.
• March 6 – British Columbia doctors begin the first of a series of protests against funding shortages.
• March 12 – Quebec and Newfoundland resolve the long-running Churchill Falls dispute.
• March 12 – Mutual Life of Canada acquires MetLife to become Canada's second-largest insurance company.
• March 23 – Senator Andy Thompson is forced to resign his Senate seat after not attending for two years.
• March 24 – The Nova Scotia election leaves the Liberals and NDP tied for the most seats.
• March 27 – Jean Charest announces that he will seek the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party.
• March 27 – The federal government agrees to compensate hepatitis C victims of tainted blood.

April to June

• April 1 – Floods in the
  Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
  region of Quebec force 2000 from their homes.
• April 2 – In the final appeal of the
  Alberta Court of Appeal ruling that barred LGBT
  persons from protection under the province's human rights code.
• April 3 – Members of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary are permitted side arms for the first time.
• April 17 –
  Dafydd Rhys Williams flies aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia
  , becoming the first non-American to serve as medical officer.
• April 17 – The
  Toronto Dominion Bank and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
  announce plans to merge; however, the merger is later blocked by the government.
• April 25 – The United States announces large tariffs on Canadian
  softwood lumber
  .
• April 26–28 – Prime Minister Chrétien pays an official visit to Cuba.
• May 1 – Separatist David Levine is named head of the newly amalgamated Ottawa hospital sparking great controversy.
• Early May – Wildfires burning in Alberta force the evacuation of a number of communities.
• May 14 –
  Raymond Frenette
  .
• May 21 – The
  coho
  fishery.
• May 29 – The Supreme Court strikes down a ban on pre-election opinion polls.
• June 9 – Three are killed in a gas explosion in Montreal, Quebec.
• June 10 – One person is killed by an explosion at an Irving Oil refinery.
• June 11 – Eleven are killed in a plane crash at
  Mirabel Airport
  .
• June 24 –
  old growth
  forests.

July to September

• July 15 – The B.C. government and the Nisga'a First Nation sign a historic, and controversial, land claims agreement.
• July 20 – The
  Southam chain buys the Financial Post from Sun Media
  .
• August – The Canadian dollar plunges all month.
• August 11 – 8,000 people are evacuated as
  Salmon Arm, British Columbia
  .
• August 20 – The Supreme Court of Canada states Quebec can not legally secede from Canada without the federal government's approval.
• August 28 – The dollar reaches 64.02 US cents.
• September 2 – Pilots for Air Canada launch the first strike in company's history.
• September 2 – Crash of
  Peggys Cove in Nova Scotia
  .
• September 3 – A three-week lockout begins in Ontario's Catholic school system.
• September 22 – 20,000 protest Canada's new gun registry on Parliament Hill.

• October 8 – Canada is elected to a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
• October 14 – Canada's first diamond mine opens in the Northwest Territories.
• October 27 – Conrad Black's National Post publishes its first issue.
• November 14 – Former Prime Minister Joe Clark is selected as the new leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
• November 26 – Don Morin is forced to resign as premier of the Northwest Territories.
• November 30 – In the Quebec election the Parti Québécois is re-elected despite narrowly losing the popular vote.
• December 1 – Work on Canada's new
  gun registry
  begins.
• December 10 – Jim Antoine becomes premier of the Northwest Territories, replacing Don Morin.
• December 14 – Minister of Finance Paul Martin prohibits Canada's banks from merging.
• December – The Military Police Complaints Commission is established.

Arts and literature

New books

• The Bay of Love and Sorrows: David Adams Richards
• Greater Than Angels: Carol Matas
• The Love of a Good Woman: Alice Munro
• Prières d'un adolescent très très sage: Roch Carrier
• Broken Entries: Race Subjectivity Writing: Roy Miki
• Isaiah Berlin: A Life: Michael Ignatieff
• Coyotes Sing to the Moon: Thomas King
• Toronto Discovered: Robert Fulford
• Body Music: Dennis Lee
• Wayne Johnston
• The Wise and Foolish Virgins: Don Hannah
• Kiss of the Fur Queen: Tomson Highway