1994 in Canada

See also: 1993 in Canada, other events of 1994, 1995 in Canada and the Timeline of Canadian history.

Incumbents

Events

Winter - One of the coldest winters on record hits much of Canada
January 1 - North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect
January 11 - Daniel Johnson, Jr., becomes premier of Quebec, replacing Robert Bourassa
February - the first Liberal budgetslashes spending in an effort to cut the deficit. Unemployment Insurance and provincial transfer payments are especially hard hit
February 27 - The 1994 Winter Olympics beign in Lillehammer Norway.
March 21 - A civilian inquiry in the behaviour of the Canadian Airborne in Somalia is launched
April 5 - The Just Desserts shooting occurs in Toronto
June and Ontario farmer is allowed to grow 10 acres (40,000 m²) of marijuana for research purposes
June 14 - The New York Rangers defeat the Vancouver Canucks to win the Stanley Cup
September 12 - Quebec election, the Parti québécois defeats the Parti libéral du Québec, which had been in power for nine years.
September 26 - Jacques Parizeau (PQ) is sworn in as premier of Quebec, replacing Daniel Johnson, Jr.
October - A lockout closes the NHL for the entire first half of the season.
October 5 and October 6 - Members of the Solar Temple cult committ mass suicide
December - Lucien Bouchard is infected with necrotizing fasciitis and loses a leg
Conrad Black's company buys the Chicago Sun-Times
Bertram Brockhouse shares the Nobel Prize in Physics
Hockey is made Canada's official winter sport, Lacrosse is demoted to being official summer sport
Cigarette taxes are slashed to battle smuggling and black market organizations
Canadian troops leave CFB Lahr ending the Canadian armed forces presence in Europe
The Alberta Court of Appeal strikes down a lower court ruling that LGBT persons are to be covered under the province's human rights legislation. The case, originally brought by Delwin Vriend, was subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada (see 1998 in Canada.)

Arts and Literautre

New Works

Margaret Atwood - Good Bones and Simple Murders
Robert J. Sawyer - Foreigner
William Bell - Five Days of the Ghost
Michael Ignatieff - Blood and Belonging: Journeys Into the New Nationalism
Réjean Ducharme - Va savoir
Mordecai Richler - This Year In Jerusalem
Dave Duncan - The Living God
Hank Snow - Just a Hank Snow Story
Alice Munro - Open Secrets
Douglas Coupland - Life After God
Farley Mowat - Born Naked

Awards

See 1994 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
Giller Prize: M.G. Vassanji - The Book of Secrets
Books in Canada First Novel Award: Deborah Joy Corey, Losing Eddie: A Novel
Geoffrey Bilson Award: Kit Pearson, The Lights Go On Again
Gerald Lampert Award: Barbara Klar, The Night You Called Me a Shadow and Illya Tourtidis, Mad Magellan's Tale
Marian Engel Award: Jane Urquhart
Pat Lowther Award: Diana Brebner, The Golden Lotus
Stephen Leacock Award: Bill Richardson, Bachelor Brother's Bed and Breakfast
Trillium Book Award English: Donald Haram Akenson, Conor: A Biography of Conor Cruise O'Brien; Volume 1 Narrative,
Trillium Book Award French: Andrée Lacelle, Tant de vie s'égare
Vicky Metcalf Award: Welwyn Wilton Katz

Television

Kids in the Hall ends

Films

Atom Egoyan's Exotica is released

Births

March 30 - Cecilia Zhang, murder victim

Deaths

March 4 - John Candy, comedian and actor