1998 in Canada

"See also:"
1997 in Canada,
other events of 1998,
1999 in Canada and the
list of 'years in Canada'.

Incumbents

Events

* January 1: Toronto and six other communities are merged to form a new megacity. The next day Mel Lastman is sworn in as its first mayor. (Three other Ontario cities were similarly merged on the same date in 2001.)
* January 2: Three separate avalanches in British Columbia kill a total of nine people.
* January: The Ice Storm of 1998, caused by 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 Hudson's Bay Company takes over K-Mart Canada, folding it into its Zellers chain.
* February 7–February 22: Nagano Olympics Canada wins the fourth-most medals, but is embarrassed when their star-filled hockey team fails to win a medal.
* February 10: Canadian National Railway merges with the Illinois Central.
* February 12: The Toronto Maple Leafs buy the Toronto Raptors.
* February 13: Three girls, all under 18 years of age, are found guilty in Victoria, BC, of killing 14-year-old Reena Virk. Three others plead guilty of assault.
* February 16: The Supreme Court is asked to rule on the legality of Quebec separatism.
* February 18: Controversial plans to include a Holocaust memorial in the Canadian War Museum are scrapped.
* February 24: In the 1998 Canadian 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 1998 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 1: Floods in the Saguenay region of Quebec force 2000 from their homes.
* April 2: In the final appeal of the Delwin Vriend case, the Supreme Court of Canada strikes down an 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: Camille Thériault becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Raymond Frenette.
* May 21 The Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans shuts down the B.C. 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.
* 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: Macmillan Bloedel says that it will end clear cutting of old growth forests.
* 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 forest fires threaten 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 Swissair Flight 111 off 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.
* Grey Cup: Calgary Stampeders win 26–24 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
* Vanier Cup: Saskatchewan Huskies win 24–17 over the Concordia Stingers.

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
* "The Colony of Unrequited Dreams": Wayne Johnston
* "The Wise and Foolish Virgins": Don Hannah
* "Kiss of the Fur Queen": Tomson Highway

: Awards
* Carol Shields's "Larry's Party" wins the Orange Prize for Fiction
* Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Alice Munro: "The Love of a Good Woman"
* See 1998 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
* Books in Canada First Novel Award: Margaret Gibson, "Opium Dreams"
* Geoffrey Bilson Award: Irene N. Watts, "Good-Bye Marianne"
* Gerald Lampert Award: Mark Sinnett, "The Landing"
* Marian Engel Award: Sharon Butala
* Pat Lowther Award: Barbara Nickel, "The Gladys Elegies"
* Stephen Leacock Award: Mordecai Richler, "Barney's Version"
* Trillium Book Award English: André Alexis, "Childhood" and Alice Munro, "The Love of a Good Woman"
* Trillium Book Award French: Daniel Poliquin, "L'homme de paille" and Stefan Psenak, "Du chaos et de l'ordre des choses"
* Vicky Metcalf Award: Kit Pearson: Music
* Shania Twain's "Come on Over" is one of the year's top selling albums in North America
* "Les Chansons en or" by Céline Dion is released
* "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" by Alanis Morissette: Film
* "Titanic", directed by Canadian James Cameron, wins 11 Oscars.: Television
* Canada's "Sesame Street" switches to showing exclusively Canadian content, renaming itself "Sesame Park", as it no longer uses any American made segments from "Sesame Street": Dance
* The French government names Karen Kain as an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters

Births

Deaths

* January 1: Arthur Gelber, philanthropist
* January 6: Lotte Brotte, cellist
* January 12: Mark MacGuigan, politician
* January 23: Donald George Davis, actor
* January 28: Eddie Sargent, politician
* February 1: Sheila Watson, author
* February 20: Bob McBride, singer
* February 25: W.O. Mitchell, author
* March 13: Bill Reid, Canadian artist
* March 16: Yves Landry, president of Chrysler Canada
* March 17: Eric Donkin, actor
* March 25: Daniel Massey, actor
* April 3: Elmer Iseler, conductor
* April 7: Nick Auf Der Maur, columnist
* April 16: Marie-Louise Meilleur, world's oldest person
* April 25: Jimmy Namaro, jazz musician
* April 27: John Bassett, businessman
* May 28: Phil Hartman, artist, writer, actor and comedian
* June 4: David Walsh, disgraced head of Bre-X
* June 20: Bobby Gimby, musician
* June 27: Joyce Weiland, artist
* July 1: Emery Barnes, football player and first black BC MLA
* July 1: Florence Doane, Olympic athlete
* July 6: Loris Russell, paleontologist
* July 16: Lucien Lamoureux, politician
* July 18: Forence Barnes, Senator
* August 1: Ken Wood, author
* September 15: Louis Rasminsky, economist, governor of the Bank of Canada
* September 28: Eric Malling, news anchor
* September 30: Pauline Julien, musician, singer, and political activist
* October 1: Pauline Julien, singer and political activist
* October 4: Roger Mason, author
* October 13: General Gérard Charles Édouard Thériault, Chief of the Defence Staff
* October 17: Robert Dickson, Supreme Court justice
* October 17: Mary O'Brien, feminist
* November 9: Roland Hewgill, actor
* November 13: Michel Trudeau, son of Pierre Trudeau
* November 22: Jack Shadbolt, artist
* December 9: Shaughnessy Cohen, Member of Parliament
* December 16: John Gallagher, founder of Dome Petroleum
* December 23: David Manners, actor
* December 23: Pierre Vallieres, FLQ leader
* December 24: Charles Apps, pole vaulter
* December 31: Apak Angilik, film maker
* John Hayes, (b. 1917), harness racing driver