1986

From the big scrapbook of time, here’s a look at Canada in 1986—

The 1986 Dodge Caravan is built in Windsor, Ontario. The minivan is so popular, a third shift will have to be added.

 January 9: Health workers attending the Ontario Hospital Association Conference in Toronto are assured that contracting AIDS from non-sexual contact with a patient is a very low risk.

January 20: The federal government cuts family allowances. Critics point out that the $16 million saved this year will force many poor families into deeper poverty. 

January 22: Police investigation reveals that Air India Flight 182 crashed as a result of a bomb exploding on board. A total of 329 people were killed—280 of them Canadians.

January 31:  The Canadian dollar hits an all-time low. Our dollar is worth only 70.2 cents US in international markets.

It's one of the worst rail disasters in national history; 23 are dead and 71 injured.

 February 8: At 8.43 MST, a VIA Rail passenger train hits a CN freight train head on, 17 kilometres east of Hinton, Albert.

Tommy Douglas will be voted the most important politician of the 20th Century.

February 24: After a five-year battle with cancer, former New Democratic Party leader Tommy Douglas is dead. Douglas was the man responsible for bring Medicare to all Canadians. Prime Minister Mulroney pays tribute, calling him one of the nation’s “great humanitarians and a truly great parliamentarian.” 

February 27: Hockey star Jacques Plante is dead in Switzerland at the age of 57.  “Jake the Snake’s” NHL career stretched from 1952 to 1975. He started wearing a goalie’s mask in 1959 after an on-ice incident and made it part of everyday equipment. 

The Honourable John Crosbie will be appointed as the 12th Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland & Labrador in 2008.

 March 4: Justice Minister John Crosbie announces sweeping changes. Mandatory retirement at the age of 65 and discrimination against homosexuals will be illegal in all areas where Ottawa has jurisdiction.

March 10: Senator Jacques Hebert starts a 21-day hunger strike. He is protesting Ottawa’s cancellation of the highly popular Katimavik youth exchange programme, founded as  non-profit organization by the Liberal Government in 1977.

March 15: Our women’s field hockey team beats England 3 to 1 at Wembley Stadium.

March 19: Prime Minister Mulroney and US President Reagan ink a deal to tackle the international issue of acid rain.

Shirley Carr, 1929-2010

May 1: Shirley Carr is elected president of the powerful Canadian Labour Congress. She is the first woman to hold the position.  The CLC speaks for nearly 60 percent of all unionized workers across the country.

May 23:  Simon Reisman represents Canada and Peter O. Murphy represents the United States. The two men and their teams sit down to the table and begin to negotiate the Free Trade Agreement.

May 2: Anne Murray has another Number One song as Now and Forever (You and Me) hits the top of the charts in the United States. The Nova Scotia songbird will sell more than 54 million albums by 2009.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana ride Vancouver's new SkyTrain. They are seen here at Patterson Station.

May 2: Prince Charles and Princess Diana are in Vancouver to open Expo 86. The 60,000 people on hand for the ceremonies don’t appear to mind the wind and rain any more than the royal couple.

May 2: Dr. Wilbert Keon performs the nation’s first artificial heart transplant at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. Noella Leclair, age 42, is implanted with a Jarvik 7- 70 heart that will keep her alive until a human heart can be found.

May 8: Health and Welfare Canada issues a warning that people should not drink rainwater because of high levels of radioactive iodine are present—most likely from the recent Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union.

May 23: The US Department of Commerce slaps a 15-percent tariff on cedar shakes and shingles coming into the country from Canada. The softwood lumber dispute will become one of the longest trade ‘wars’ in history. The London Court of International Arbitration will rule in favour of the United States in 2009.

May 24: The Habs whip the Calgary Flames four games to one and earn the Stanley Cup.

June 1: Divorce laws in Quebec get a complete overhaul. Marriage breakdown is now the sole reason for ending a relationship. Couples may petition jointly to dissolve a marriage.

June 1: Canada makes its first showing at the FIFA Soccer World Cup match. We lose to Mexico two to zip. Argentina will go on to beat England, when goalie Diego Maradona makes his famous "hand of God"goal.

June 3:  Writer Margaret Atwood receives the Governor General Award for The Handmaid’s Tale. It is her second time to receive the prestigious prize. The science fiction story will be made into an award-winning movie in 1990.

June --: The first Subway restaurant in Canada opens in St. John’s, Newfoundland.  In 2013 the fast food chain will operate 2,891 restaurants throughout the country.

The Prince County Hospital in Summerside, Prince Edward Island opened in 1912. It was the first hospital in the province outside of Charlottetown.

June 4: The Prince County Hospital in Summerside will no longer offer abortions. Women from PEI will have to travel to another province for the procedure.

June 12: Doctors in Ontario walk off the job to protest Queen Park’s legislation that forbids extra

billing for medical procedures and consultations.

June 20: He has been mayor of Montreal for 32 years but ill health forces His Worship, Jean Drapeau to announce his retirement from public life. 

Hank Snow's first guitar cost $12.95.

July 21: It is Hank Snow Week in Nova Scotia says Premier John Buchanan to the 500 people gathered at a banquet in Halifax to honour the 72-year old country legend. Snow was born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia and ordered his first guitar from the Eaton’s Catalogue.

Nations belonging to the British Commonwealth are shown in the olive green colour.

August 4: Canada and five other Commonwealth countries impose economic sanctions on the Republic of South Africa to protest that nation’s apartheid practices.

August 11: Two lifeboats crammed with 155 Tamil refugees are discovered adrift 11 kilometres off the coast of St. Shotts, Newfoundland.  They had been dumped off a German cargo ship three days ago. Captain Gus Dalton brings the women and children aboard the Atlantic Reaper. The Canadian Coast Guard brings the men safely to shore.

The first World AIDS Day will be marked in 1988.

August 12: The Canadian Medical Association requires any doctor treating someone with AIDS to report the case to health authorities because the epidemic outweighs doctor-patient confidentiality. A spokesman for the CMA tells reporters there are currently 662 cases of the mystery disease and 339 Canadians have died.

August 17: the United Church of Canada is the nation's largest Protestant denomination. Leaders announce the church will eliminate male-dominant references in worship, literature and song. King will become God and kingdom will become Dominion. The Father, the Son and Holy Spirit can stay--for the time being.

Axel Heiberg Island was claimed by Norway until 1930 when it became part of Canada.

August 29: Excited but very puzzled scientists have discovered the mummified remains of a tropical forest on Axel Heiberg Island in the Northwest Territories—1,100 kilometres from the North Pole. The trees were 35 metres tall and at least 500 years old.

September 14: The Toronto Festival of Festivals awards its two top prizes to The Decline of the American Empire—a Denys Arcand movie about modern sexual attitudes.The film will win nine Genies and be nominated for an Oscar.

September 16: Thanks to Queen Elizabeth, the Saskatchewan coat of arms is now augmented with a crest and supporters.

The Terror and the Erebus were last seen in August of 1845. The remains of the ill-fated expedition will be discovered in 1985.

 September 23: An anthropologist at the University of Alberta tells the press that the crew members of the long-lost 1845 Franklin expedition, found last summer, were not cannibals but died of hunger and tuberculosis. Captain Franklin had hoped to find the Northwest Passage to China.

The Speaker's Chair in the House of Commons is an exact replica of the chair in Britain's Parliament. It was presented as a gift to Canada on May 20th, 1921 by the United Kingdom Branch of the Empire Parliamentary Association.

September 30: For the first time in parliamentary history, MPs vote for the Speaker of the House by casting secret ballots. The Speaker's job is to hear questions from the Members of Parliament and pose them to the Government of the Day.

The Nansen Refuge Award was established in 1954 in honour of Fridtjof Nansen, the first League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the 1922 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

October 6: The UN honours Canada with an award for our generosity in sheltering refugees.

October 7:  A Royal Commission on employment in Newfoundland and Labrador reveals that one in three Newfoundlanders is functionally illiterate. That helps to explain why unemployment is 33.2 percent and only six percent of Newfoundlanders go to university.

October 13: Expo 86 is over. The 22 million visitors had a good time in Vancouver. The World’s Fair is $310 million in the red but the shortfall will be recouped through future lottery earnings.

Richard Manuel played with The Band and Ronnie Hawkins & the Hawks.

October 28: Rock star Richard Manuel commits suicide in a Florida motel room at the age. His wife will wake up in the morning to find his body hanging from a noose. The singer, keyboard and drum will be buried in his hometown of Stratford, Ontario.

Claude Jutra's body will be identified by a note found in his pocket that read, "I am Claude Jutra."

November 5: Claude Jutra dies by his own hand. He swam out into the St. Lawrence River and disappeared. The celebrated writer, actor and director had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He is remembered for such movie classics as Mon Oncle Antoine, Kamouraska and Riel. The Prix Jutra will be named for him, to honour his importance in Quebec’s film world.

November 10: The Juno Awards are hosted by Howie Mandel at the Harbour Castle Hilton in Toronto. Like last year, Luba and Bryan Adams win Best Male and Female Vocalist Junos. Album of the Year Juno goes to The Thin Red Line by Glass Tiger and Best Single goes to Glass Tiger for their hit, Don’t Forget Me When I’m Gone.

The Franco-Ontarian flag was hoisted up the flagpole for the first time at Sudbury University on September 25, 1975.

November 18:  Franco-Ontarians get an early Christmas present. Queen’s Park will offer services in French as well as English. MPPs from all parties approved Bill 8 unanimously. It is expected to take three years to implement the legislation.

The Ti-Cats win the Grey Cup for the first time since 1972.

November 30:  The Edmonton Eskimos and the Hamilton Tiger Cats square off for Lord Grey’s Cup in Vancouver's BC Place in front of a crowd of 59,000 fans. The Ti-Cats trounce the Eskimos, the final score is 39 to 15.

Ford’s 1986 Bronco, the last year for the third generation in the series, is popular with the 4x4 crowd for on-road and off-road expeditions.

December 2:  A six-volume report on pollution is released by the federal government. The study shows that 14,000 lakes from Ontario to Nova Scotia are dead and another 40,000 “seriously threatened.” In some parts of the country, the “veil of acidity” is as strong as vinegar.

Canda Post will honour John C. Polanyi with a stamp on October 1st, 2011.

December 10:  King Carl Gustav XIV of Sweden presents the Nobel Prize for chemistry to John Polanyi. The modest scientist from the University of Toronto discovered that molecules interact in chemical reactions, giving us the chemical laser.

1987

-From the big scrapbook of time, here’s a look at Canada in 1987--

The all-new Volvo 740 series gets underway in December in the new assembly plant in Halifax. This is the Swedish automaker’s third factory in Nova Scotia since it opened up shop in 1963.

January 1:  The settlement of Frobisher Bay in the Northwest Territories changes its name to Iqualuit. The new name reflects the city’s Inuit heritage and means ‘where the fish gather.” 

The Stone Angel will be made into an Oscar-winning movie in 2007.

 January 5: Margaret Laurence is dead at the age of 60. The award-winning novelist suffered from lung cancer and committed suicide when she learned the disease was terminal. She will be best remembered for her immortal books The Stone Angel and The Diviners.

 

January 26: Norman McLaren is dead in Montreal at the age of 72. The animator and filmmaker joined the National Film Board of Canada in 1941. He won 147 awards, including a 1952 Oscar--more than any other filmmaker in the history of cinema. 

February – Fresh coffee always tastes good. The 300^th Tim Horton’s opens in Calgary.

Brian Orser and Brian Boitano.

March 12:  Brian Orser wins the world figure skating title, beating out Brian Boitano of the US. The Ontario native, a.k.a. Mr. Triple Axel, is the first Canadian to win the title since 1963. He will bring home silver in the 1984 and 1988 Winter Olympics. 

Claude Jutra

March 11: A body washes up on the shores of the St. Lawrence River near the village of Cap Sante. The remains will be identified as those of celebrated filmmaker Claude Jutra who disappeared last year. It is believed he committed suicide.

March 16: The Toronto Globe & Mail reports sales of condoms are skyrocketing as a result of people’s fears of contracting AIDS. 

March 17: Tory MPs in the House of Commons vote in favour of free trade with the United States. The motion is firmly opposed by the Grits and the New Democrats.

March 27: Talks break down as Ottawa, the provinces and aboriginal leaders fail to agree on important issues. There will be no constitutional amendment for native self-government for now. 

This drawing shows the structure of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

 April 3: The insurance industry announces that any Canadian buying large amounts of life insurance must now take a blood test to prove they are HIV-negative. 

April 9: The Supreme Court rules that the right to strike is not guaranteed by the constitution.

Prime Mnister Mulroney places his signature on the Meech Lake Accord.

 April 30: After 19 hours of non-stop deliberations, the First Ministers sign the Meech Lake Accord. The document recognizes Quebec as a distinct society. A beaming Prime Minister Mulroney says, “Today we welcome Quebec back into the Canadian constitutional family.”  Former PM Trudeau shares his displeasure with the press.

May 3: Sweden mops the floor with Canada for a 9 to 0 victory and the World Hockey Championship. It’s the first time in 25 years that the Nordic nation has beat Canada.

May 22:  Super athlete Rick Hansen completes his 40,000-kilometre Man in Motion, round-the-world tour. He has been on the road—in his wheelchair--for 26 months raising more than $10 million for spinal chord research. 

 May 27:  Alice Munro wins her third Governor-General’s Award for literature. This time the novelist wins for her astonishingly gripping book, The Progress of Love.

 

May 29: The Reform Party of Canada is formed in Vancouver. Preston Manning is elected party leader. Reform will win 60 seats in the House of Commons in 1997--enough to give the party status as Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. The political party will disappear in 2000, becoming part of the Alliance Party.

The 1987  Championship ring.

May 31:  It takes seven games but the Edmonton Oilers skate to the Stanley Cup on the backs of the Philadelphia Flyers.

June 10: Statistics show that a million Canadian women are abused each year. Most are between the ages of 21 and 34. Many are pregnant. More than 20,000 are turned away from shelters for lack of space. In 2012 domestic violence will cost taxpayers $7.4 billion a year.

June 23: The National Assembly in Quebec City is the first government to ratify the Meech Lake Accord.

The Alouettes played home games in the Olympic Stadium.

June 24: The Montreal AIouettes are bankrupt. This is not good news as the Canadian Football League season is just about to kick off. The club has lost $17 million in past four years.

June 30: Say “good-bye” to the dollar bill. In its place is a gold-coloured, bronze-plated one-dollar coin. Queen Elizabeth II appears on the front but because of the loon on the backside, it is quickly dubbed the “loonie.”

Parliament abolished captial punishment on July 14th, 1976. A total of 710 criminals had met their end with the hangman's noose since 1759.

June 30: After eight days of heated debate, MPs in the House of Commons defeat a bill that would reinstate the death penalty.

Hyundai's Stellar is built on a Ford Cortina chassis. The CXL version is sold only in Canada.

July --  GM and Ford file a joint lawsuit against Hyundai Auto Canada, Inc., accusing the Korean automaker of dumping its cars in Canada.

The Premier, built by American Motors in Bramalea, Ontario will now be branded as Eagle since Chrysler has purchased AMC.

July 1:  Renault sells American Motors to Chrysler. The new super factory in Bramalea, Ontario will now built cars under the Eagle brand name.

Quebec City's skyline at night.

July 3: Quebec City becomes the first city in North America to be declared a UNESCO heritage site. Explorer Jacques Cartier built the first fort here in 1535.

July 13: Folks in Shelburne County Nova Scotia are surprised when 174 south Asian boat people land on the province’s fog bound coast after 17 days at sea. In the best of Maritime hospitality, residents feed their surprise guests peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hot dogs and Kool-Aid. Federal authorities will detain the refugees until sponsors can be found for them.

July 31: At 3.25 pm an F4 force tornado rips through Edmonton, killing 27 people and injuring more than 300 more. Damage is estimated at $558 million. It is the second worst tornado in national history and will come to be known as Black Friday.

August 7:  Vicki Keith of Kingston, Ontario swims across Lake Ontario in 56 hours and 13 minutes. Her biggest problem was all the water pollution.

August 7:  It’s a boy for Troy and Trina Crosby of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. Sidney will teach himself to skate at the age of three and be the first draft choice for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005.

Chrysler Canada's state-of-the-art super plant in Bramalea, Ontario.

September 17:  The CAW signs an historic three-year contract with Chrysler Canada that—for the first time ever--includes a cost of living allowance adjustment for retirees.

The Volvo 740 station wagon.

October --  Volvo closes its 12-year old plant in Halifax. It takes longer than expected to move machinery to the new building and assembly of the new 740 models will not begin again until December. The automaker will build 8,190 cars this year, down from 9,625 units built last year.

October 20: The stock market crashes around the world. The Dow Jones alone loses $507 billion. The Toronto Stock Exchange loses 11 percent and the Montreal Stock Exchange loses 9.5 percent of its value.

Ben Johnson in the lead.

August 30:  Ben Johnson is the fastest man in the world, winning the 100-metre dash in Rome in 9.83 seconds. He believes he can win gold for Canada at the Olympics in Seoul next year.

September 4:  Scientists in Alberta tell the press they have found dinosaur eggs with fetuses. They now know that dinosaurs lived in colonies and mothered their offspring.

Lorne Green was the principal newsreader for the CBC. This photo is from 1942.

September 11:  Lorne Green is dead of pneumonia at the age of 72. The star of the long-running American TV drama Bonanza was born in Ottawa. For many years he was the principal newsreader for the CBC. His deep tones earned him the nickname ‘the voice of doom’ during World War Two.

The Pontiff wears a white leather chausuble, a gift from the Dene people.

September 20:  Pope John Paul II arrives in Fort Simpson, NWT to meet and worship with the people. His Holiness urges the government of Canada to give Aboriginal People self-government.

Canada Post honoured Ethel Catherwood's Olympic achievement with a stamp in 1966.

September 26: Ethel Catherwood is dead at the age of 79. The field and track athlete was part of the Matchless Six who represented Canada at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. The press called her 'Saskatoon Lily' and the name stuck. It was the first time women were allowed to compete and Ethel won gold by jumping 1.59 metres.

October 4:  In Washington, D.C., representatives of Canada and the United States agree on the terms of the new free-trade agreement.

The Honourable Francis Joseph "Frank" McKenna is the 27th Premier of New Brunswick.

October 13:  Voters in the Picture Province make a clean sweep, turfing out all of Richard Hatfield’s Tories. Every one of the 58 seats in the provincial legislature goes to the Grits. Premier-elect Frank McKenna says he will appoint some of his Liberal members to act as the Queen’s Loyal Opposition.

November 1:  Rene Levesque is dead of a heart attack in Montreal at the age of 65.  He dreamt of an independent Quebec and founded the Parti Quebecois to make Quebec a sovereign nation.

Glass Tiger is one of the hottest rock, pop and New Wave groups around.

November 2: the Juno Award Show is hosted by Howie Mandel for the second year in a row. The celebration of the best of Canadian music is held at the O’Keefe Centre in Toronto. Luba and Bryan Adams win Best Male and Female Vocalists for the third year in a row. Album of the Year Juno goes to Kim Mitchell for Shakin’ Like a Human Being and Glass Tiger earns the Single of the Year Juno for their hit, Someday.

The first map of the Great Lakes was published in 1688 as  part of New France.

November 11:  Canada and the United States sign an accord to clean up the Great Lakes. This supercedes the 1978 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and will now cover leaking dumps and fertilizer runoff from farmers’ fields.

The Queen of Canadian Cuisine reigned over our kitchens for more than 40 years.

November 24: Legendary chef Madame Jehane Benoit is dead in Sutton, Quebec at the age of 83. The Order of Canada recipient wrote more than 30 cookbooks and starred in her own TV cooking shows on Radio-Canada and the CBC.

November 27:  Cowboy Junkies record their classic album The Trinity Session—at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto.

YTV is a network geared to kids.

November 30: Now we have more Canadian TV channels to watch as YTV, The Weather Network, Vision TV and CBC Newsworld take to the airwaves.

November 29:  Vancouver hosts the Grey Cup. Edmonton squeaks by the Toronto Argonauts to win in front of a crowd of 59,478 fans. The final score is 38 to 36. It's the Eskimos' first Grey Cup since 1982.

 

December 11:  The text is 2,500 pages long and Prime Minister Mulroney tables the proposed free-trade agreement in the House of Commons. If the bill passes, it will give Canadian businesses and industries access to American markets.