1990 in Canada

Years in Canada:	1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993
Centuries:	19th century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
Years:	1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993

Events from the year 1990 in Canada.

Incumbents

Main article: 1990 Canadian incumbents

Crown

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

Federal government

• Governor general – Jeanne Sauvé (until January 29) then Ray Hnatyshyn (viceregal consort – Maurice Sauvé then Gerda Hnatyshyn)
• Prime minister – Brian Mulroney

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Helen Hunley
• 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
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Lloyd Crouse
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Lincoln Alexander
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Lloyd MacPhail (until August 16) then Marion Reid
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Gilles Lamontagne (until August 9) then Martial Asselin
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Sylvia Fedoruk

Premiers

• Premier of Alberta – Don Getty
• Premier of British Columbia – Bill Vander Zalm
• Premier of Manitoba – Gary Filmon
• Premier of New Brunswick – Frank McKenna
• Premier of Newfoundland – Clyde Wells
• Premier of Nova Scotia – John Buchanan (until September 12) then Roger Bacon
• Premier of Ontario – David Peterson (until October 1) then Bob Rae
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – Joe Ghiz
• Premier of Quebec – Robert Bourassa
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Grant Devine

Territorial governments

Commissioners

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

Premiers

• Premier of the Northwest Territories – Dennis Patterson
• Premier of Yukon – Tony Penikett

Events

January to June

• January 5 – 1300 jobs are lost in Newfoundland when Fishery Products International decides to close three plants
• January 15 – Massive cuts to Via Rail come into effect leading to the rerouting of The Canadian and many intercity trains
• January 24 – The Tories introduce legislation that would create the Goods and Services Tax (GST), a national sales tax
• January 24 – Jean Charest resigns from cabinet after he was found to have spoken with a judge
• January 29 – Ramon John Hnatyshyn replaces Jeanne Sauvé as governor general
• January 29 – A controversial resolution is passed by the city council of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, declaring the city "English-only"
• February: The federal government announces that it will privatize Petro-Canada; the legislation to do so is introduced in October.
• February 12 – A massive tire fire begins near Hagersville, Ontario. It takes 17 days to put out.
• March 9 – Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells confirms he will rescind Newfoundland's approval of the Meech Lake Accord
• March 15 – The federal government decides that Sikhs may wear turbans while serving as Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers following the Baltej Singh Dhillon case
• March 22 – Canadian arms designer Gerald Bull is assassinated in Brussels
• May 12 – The Bloc Québécois Party is formed as several MPs led by Lucien Bouchard quit the Tories and Liberals
• May 24 – The Edmonton Oilers win the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals.
• May 29 – Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Ottawa for a 29-hour visit.
• June 6 – Stanley Charles Waters is the first elected senator
• June 12 – Elijah Harper prevents Manitoba accepting the Meech Lake Accord
• June 17–30 – Nelson Mandela tours North America, visiting three Canadian and eight U.S. cities.
• June 23 – Meech Lake Accord officially dead
• June 23 – Jean Chrétien elected leader of the Liberal Party of Canada at a leadership convention held in Calgary

July to December

• July 11 – The Oka crisis begins
• September 6 – Bob Rae's Ontario New Democratic Party wins a surprise majority in Ontario.
• September 12 – Roger Bacon becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing John Buchanan
• September 26 – Oka crisis ends peacefully
• September 27 – Brian Mulroney temporarily increases the size of the Senate to ensure passage of the GST
• October 1 – Bob Rae become premier of Ontario, replacing David Peterson
• November 1 – Brian Mulroney launches the Citizen's Forum on Canada's Future to get Canadians' input on constitutional reform
• December 10 – Jean Chrétien is returned to the House of Commons after winning a by election for the New Brunswick riding of Beauséjour
• December 13 – The Senate of Canada approves the GST.
• December 17 – The GST becomes law

Full date unknown

• Canada Post Systems Management Limited founded.
• Richard Taylor wins the Nobel Prize in Physics for verifying the Quark Theory.
• Canada joins to the Organization of American States.

Arts and literature

• March 6 – The National Gallery of Canada acquires Barnett Newman's Voice of Fire for $1.8 million, causing a storm of controversy.

New works

• Swann by Carol Shields published
• The Evening News by Arthur Hailey
• A Tenured Professor by John Kenneth Galbraith
• TekWar by William Shatner
• Magic Casement by Dave Duncan
• Golden Fleece by Robert J. Sawyer
• Medicine River by Thomas King
• The Magic Machine: A Handbook of Computer Sorcery by Alexander Dewdney
• Whylah Falls by George Elliott Clarke
• The Wild Blue Yonder by Audrey Thomas
• L'Oursiade by Antonine Maillet

Awards

• See 1990 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: Sandra Birdsell, The Missing Child
• Geoffrey Bilson Award: Kit Pearson, The Sky Is Falling
• Gerald Lampert Award: Steven Heighton, Stalin's Carnival
• Marian Engel Award: Carol Shields
• Pat Lowther Award: Patricia Young, The Mad and Beautiful Mothers
• Stephen Leacock Award: W.O. Mitchell, According to Jake and the Kid
• Trillium Book Award: Alice Munro, Friend of My Youth
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Bernice Thurman Hunter

Music

• RPM number-one hits of 1990
• RPM number-one albums of 1990

Sport

• November 25 – In the 78th Grey Cup the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeat the Edmonton Eskimos at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver.
• Edmonton Oilers win the Stanley Cup four games to one over the Boston Bruins. It is their fifth cup victory in seven years.
• Doug Flutie returns to Canada to play with the BC Lions.

Births

• May 13 – Jane Creba, murder victim (d. 2005)
• May 27 – Danny McKinnon, actor
• August 7 – Jake Allen, hockey goaltender
• September 7 – Megan McNeil, singer (d. 2011)
• October 23 – Dalmar Abuzeid, actor
• December 10 – Reda Agourram, soccer player

Deaths

January to June

• January 7 – Bronko Nagurski, American football player (b. 1908)
• March 16 – Dalton McGuinty Senior, politician and father of premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty and the politician David McGuinty (b. 1926)
• March 22 – Gerald Bull, engineer and artillery designer (b. 1928)
• March 24 - Jim St. James, actor and HIV/AIDS activist
• April 11 – Harold Ballard, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs (b. 1903)

July to September

• July 18
  • Johnny Wayne, comedian and comedy writer (b. 1918)
  • Gerry Boulet, Quebec rock singer (Offenbach) (b. 1946)
• August 25 – Morley Callaghan, novelist, short story writer, playwright, and television and radio personality (b. 1903)
• September 6 – Stan Roberts, politician (b. 1927)
• September 11 – Lela Brooks, speed skater and world record holder (b. 1908)

October to December

• October 22 – Carl Klinck, literary historian and academic (b. 1908)
• October 30 – Craig Russell, female impersonator (b. 1948)
• November 2 – Frederick Thomas Armstrong, politician (b. 1907)
• November 9 – Hugh MacLennan, author and professor of English (b. 1907)
• December 7 – Jean Paul Lemieux, painter (b. 1904)
• December 24 – Tammy Homolka, murder victim (b. 1975)
• December 31 – Robina Higgins, track and field athlete (b. 1915)