1986 in Canada

See also: 1985 in Canada, other events of 1986, 1987 in Canada and the list of 'years in Canada'.

Incumbents

See 1986 Canadian incumbents for more

Events

January 22 - An investigation determines that a bomb caused the crash of Air India flight 182
February 8 - 26 people are killed when a VIA Rail train collides with CN Rail train
February 23 - 23 people are killed in a train crash near Hinton, Alberta
January 31 - The Canadian dollar hits an all-time low of 70.2 U.S. cents on international money markets
March 15 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium,Wembley,England, Canada beat Enlgand 3-1.
May 1 - Shirley Carr becomes the first female head of the Canadian Union of Public Employees
May 2 - Joe Ghiz becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing James Lee
May 2 - The 1986 World Exposition in Vancouver, British Columbia opens.
May 8 - Alberta election: Don Getty's PCs win a fifth consecutive majority, but a smaller majority than before
May 24 - In Calgary, the Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup against the Calgary Flames
May 25 - An attempt is made to assassinate Malkiat Singh Sidhu a cabinet minister in the Indian province of Punjab in Vancouver
June 19 - The new Competition Act comes into force
June 20 - Jean Drapeau resigns as mayor of Montreal
August 5 - Canada adopts sanctions against South Africa for its apartheid policies
August 6 - Bill Vander Zalm becomes premier of British Columbia, replacing Bill Bennett
August 11 - Tamil refugees are found drifting off the coast of Newfoundland
September 30 - Canadian MPs elect the Speaker by secret ballot for the first time.
October 6 - Canada receives a United Nations award for sheltering refugees
October 20 - Saskatchewan election: Grant Devine's PCs win a second consecutive majority
December 8 - The University of Toronto's John C. Polanyi shares the Nobel Prize for chemistry for the development of the chemical laser
Negotiators begin work on what would eventually be the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement
The birds series of Canadian banknotes is released
Supreme Court rules on the RWDSU v. Dolphin Delivery Ltd. case
Conrad Black buys The Daily Telegraph
Dinosaur fossils are found in Parsboro, Nova Scotia

Arts and Literature

New Works:

Margaret Atwood - Freeforall
W.P. Kinsella - The Fence Post Chronicles
Robert Munsch - Love You Forever
Alice Munro - The Progress of Love
Antonine Maillet - Garrochés en paradis
Hugh Hood - The Motor Boys in Ottawa
William Gibson - Count Zero

Awards:

See 1986 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
Books in Canada First Novel Award: Wayne Johnson, The Story of Bobby O'Mally
Gerald Lampert Award: Joan Fern Shaw, Raspberry Vinegar
Marian Engel Award: Alice Munro
Pat Lowther Award: Erin Mouré, Domestic Fuel
Stephen Leacock Award: Joey Slinger, No Axe too Small to Grind
Vicky Metcalf Award: Dennis Lee

New Music:

Leonard Cohen - First We Take Manhattan
Neil Young - First We Take Manhattan

New Movies:

James Cameron's Aliens is released
David Cronenberg's The Fly
Denys Arcand's The Decline of the American Empire

Births

Deaths

February 27 - Jacques Plante, hockey star
March 4 - Elizabeth Smart, poet and novelist
August 20 - Milton Acorn, poet
November 5 - Claude Jutra, filmmaker