1968 in Canada - Definition

See also: 1967 in Canada, other events of 1968, 1969 in Canada and the Timeline of Canadian history.

Incumbents

• Prime Minister - Lester B. Pearson then Pierre Trudeau
• Governor General - Roland Michener

• Premier of Alberta - Ernest Manning then Harry Strom
• Premier of British Columbia - W.A.C. Bennett
• Premier of Manitoba - Walter Weir
• Premier of New Brunswick - Louis Robichaud
• Premier of Newfoundland - Joey Smallwood
• Premier of Nova Scotia - George Smith
• Premier of Ontario - John Robarts
• Premier of Prince Edward Island - Alexander B. Campbell
• Premier of Quebec - Daniel Johnson, Sr. then Jean-Jacques Bertrand
• Premier of Saskatchewan - W. Ross Thatcher

Events

• February 1 - The three branches of the Canadian Forces are merged into one
• April 1 - The CRTC is formed
• April 6 - Pierre Trudeau wins 1968 Liberal Party leadership race
• April 20 - Pierre Trudeau becomes prime minister, replacing Lester Pearson
• May 14 - The grand opening of the Toronto-Dominion Centre is held
• May 27 - Montreal is awarded a Major League Baseball franchise that would eventually be the Montreal Expos
• June 24 - Separatists riot in Montreal on St-Jean-Baptiste Day
• June 25 - Federal election: Pierre Trudeau's Liberals win a majority
• July 1 - The laws creating Canada's Medicare system come into effect
• July 18 - August 9 - Canada Post is strikes
• August 20 - Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia to end the "Prague Spring" of political liberalization. Thousands of refugees flee to Canada.
• August 28 - Michel Tremblay's Les Belles-S*urs premier in Montreal
• September 26 - Daniel Johnson, Sr., Premier of Quebec, dies in office
• October 2 - Jean-Jacques Bertrand becomes premier of Quebec
• October 15 - The Mouvement Souveraineté-Association merges with the Ralliement National to create the Parti Québécois, René Lévesque is selected as the party's first leader
• December 12 - Harry Strom becomes premier of Alberta, replacing Ernest Manning
• December 18 - Henry Moore donates hundreds of works to the Art Gallery of Ontario
• December 31 - Quebec's Legislative Assembly is renamed the National Assembly
• IMAX technique invented
• Canada's new Divorce Act introduces no fault divorce
• The Rochdale College experiment begins in Toronto

Arts and Literature

New Works

• Alice Munro - Dance of the Happy Shades
• Michel Tremblay - Les Belles-Sœurs
• Mordecai Richler - Hunting Tigers Under Glass
• Margaret Atwood - The Animals in That Country
• Robert Fulford - This Was Expo
• John Newlove - Black Night Window
• Kildare Dobbs - Reading the Time
• Robert Kroetsch - Alberta
• Marian Engel - No Clouds of Glory
• Gordon R. Dickson - Soldier, Ask Not
• Farley Mowat - This Rock Within the Sea: A Heritage Lost
• Harold Cardinal - The Unjust Society

Awards

• David Suzuki wins UNESCO's Kalinga Prize for science writing
• See 1968 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Stephen Leacock Award: Max Ferguson, And Now...Here's Max
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Lorraine McLaughlin

Births

• January 5 - Joe Juneau, hockey player
• January 13 - Pat Onstad, soccer player
• January 28 - Sarah McLachlan, musician
• February 1 - Mark Recchi, hockey player
• February 22 - [[Shawn Graham], actor
• February 27 - Matt Stairs, baseball player
• March 30 - Céline Dion, singer
• April 18 - David Hewlett, actor
• may 30 - Jason Kenney, politician
• June 10 - Susan Haskell, actor
• June 27 - Pascale Bussières, actor
• June 29 - Theoren Fleury, hockey player
• September 20 - Leah Pinsent, actor
• October 2 - Glen Wesley, hockey player
• October 26 - Tom Cavanagh, actor
• November 25 - Jill Hennessy, actor
• December 3 - Brendan Fraser, actor
• December 17 - Paul Tracy, racing car driver
• Evan Solomon

Deaths

• September 26 - Daniel Johnson, Sr., Premier of Quebec