1989 in Canada - Events

Events

• January 1: The Canadian-American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect.
• January 21: Brian Peckford announces his resignation from politics, giving the party 2 months to find a replacement as party leader and premier.
• January 30: Prime Minister Brian Mulroney shuffles his cabinet, appointing 6 new ministers and re-assigning the responsibilities of 19 others.
• February 10: President of the United States George H. W. Bush Prime Minister Mulroney in Ottawa, laying the groundwork for the Acid Rain Treaty of 1991.
• February 20: In the Yukon Territory, the ruling New Democrats narrowly maintain control of the Yukon Legislative Assembly, winning 9 seats vs. the Progressive Conservative Party's 7.
• March 1: The Canadian Space Agency is created.
• March 10: An Air Ontario flight crashes near Dryden, Ontario killing 24
• March 13: 2:44 AM ET: A solar coronal mass ejection causes a blackout across all of Quebec, as it hits the Hydro-Québec power grid, affecting 6 million people for more than 9 hours.
• March 13: Deborah Grey wins a by-election to become the first Reform Party Member of Parliament.
• March 20: Alberta election: Don Getty's PCs win a sixth consecutive majority.
• March 22: Thomas Rideout becomes premier of Newfoundland, replacing Brian Peckford.
• April 20: The Liberal Party of Newfoundland, led by Clyde Wells, wins the Newfoundland general election.
• May 3: John Turner resigns as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.
• May 5: Clyde Wells becomes premier of Newfoundland, defeating Thomas Rideout in a general election.
• May 25: The Calgary Flames defeat the Montreal Canadiens to win the 1989 Stanley Cup Finals.
• May 29: The Liberal Party of Prince Edward Island, led by Joe Ghiz, remains in power following the Prince Edward Island general election.
• June 3: The SkyDome (now known as Rogers Centre) is opened in Toronto.
• June 5: The federal government announces sweeping cuts to Via Rail
• July 31: Cable television network CBC Newsworld is launched.
• August 2: Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs Bernard Valcourt resigns after he is convicted of drunk driving.
• September 1: French cable sports network, RDS, signs on.
• September 25: In the Quebec general election, the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Robert Bourassa, is reelected with a large Liberal majority.
• October 6: Prime Minister Mulroney nominates Ray Hnatyshyn to succeed Jeanne Sauvé as Governor General of Canada.
• October 8: The Cormier Village hayride accident kills 13 people and injures 45.
• October 15 – Wayne Gretzky becomes the leading scorer in the history of the National Hockey League.
• December 2: Audrey McLaughlin is elected head of the NDP replacing Ed Broadbent becoming the first female major party leader in Canadian history
• December 6: École Polytechnique Massacre: Marc Lépine murders fourteen women at the École Polytechnique of the Université de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec. The event proves a spur to both the Canadian feminist and gun control movements.
• December 21: Quebec uses the notwithstanding clause for the first time.
• December 31: All rail service is terminated in Prince Edward Island after CN Rail abandons its historic rail lines in the province.