2003 in Canada - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Events from the year 2003 in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

January to March

January - A Windsor, Ontario
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...

court invalidates Canada's marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...

laws
January 20 - Avalanche kills eight skiers in eastern British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
January 26 - Marc Ouellet is installed as Archbishop of Quebec
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec
The Archdiocese of Québec is the oldest Catholic see in the New World north of Mexico. The archdiocese was founded as the Apostolic Vicariate of New France in 1658 and was elevated to a Diocese in 1674 and an Archdiocese in 1819...

, and Primate
Primate (religion)
Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or ceremonial precedence ....

of Canada.
February 2 - An avalanche
Avalanche
An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...

in Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park (Canada)
Glacier National Park is one of seven national parks in British Columbia, and is part of a system of 43 parks and park reserves across Canada. It protects a portion of the Columbia Mountains. It also contains the Rogers Pass National Historic Site, designated for its importance in the construction...

, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, kills six boys and one girl.
March 5 - Sui-chu Kwan, who travelled to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

in February, dies of SARS in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

.
March 7 - Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents
Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents
The Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents are a group of hydrothermal vents in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, located southwest of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada...

on the British Columbia Coast
British Columbia Coast
The British Columbia Coast or BC Coast is Canada's western continental coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The usage is synonymous with the term West Coast of Canada....

becomes Canada's first Marine Protected Area
Marine Protected Area
Marine Protected Areas, like any protected area, are regions in which human activity has been placed under some restrictions in the interest of conserving the natural environment, it's surrounding waters and the occupant ecosystems, and any cultural or historical resources that may require...
March 10 - Scarborough
Scarborough, Ontario
Scarborough is a dissolved municipality within the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it comprises the eastern part of Toronto. It is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the west by Victoria Park Avenue, on the north by Steeles Avenue East, and on the east by the Rouge River...

's Grace Hospital closes as a result of SARS, the first of many hospitals to do so
March 17 - Health Canada
Health Canada
Health Canada is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for national public health.The current Minister of Health is Leona Aglukkaq, a Conservative Member of Parliament appointed to the position by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.-Branches, regions and agencies:Health Canada...

announces 17 suspected SARS cases in Canada
March 26 - Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

declares a public health emergency as a result of SARS.

April to June

April 14 - In the Quebec election
Quebec general election, 2003
The Quebec general election of 2003 was held on April 14, 2003, to elect members of the National Assembly of Quebec . The Parti libéral du Québec , led by Jean Charest, defeated the incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Bernard Landry.-Unfolding:...

Jean Charest
Jean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest, PC, MNA is a Canadian politician who has been the 29th Premier of Quebec since 2003. He was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998 and has been leader of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1998....

's Liberals defeat Bernard Landry
Bernard Landry
Bernard Landry, is a Quebec lawyer, teacher, politician, who served as the 28th Premier of Quebec , leader of the Opposition and leader of the Parti Québécois .-Personal:...

's Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...
April 23 - The World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...

issues a travel advisory against Toronto because of SARS, Canadian officials protest the decision
April 25 - After more than two weeks with no new cases of SARS, health workers begin to suggest the disease is contained
April 29 - Jean Charest
Jean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest, PC, MNA is a Canadian politician who has been the 29th Premier of Quebec since 2003. He was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998 and has been leader of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1998....

becomes premier of Quebec, replacing Bernard Landry
Bernard Landry
Bernard Landry, is a Quebec lawyer, teacher, politician, who served as the 28th Premier of Quebec , leader of the Opposition and leader of the Parti Québécois .-Personal:...
May 12 - Holly Jones, a ten-year-old girl, disappears in Toronto; parts of her body are later found floating in Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
May 20 - An Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

cow is found to have been infected with BSE
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...

; the United States, Japan, and a number of other nations halt all imports of Canadian beef
May 22 - SARS re-emerges in a Toronto hospital
June 9 - In the New Brunswick election
New Brunswick general election, 2003
The 35th New Brunswick general election was held on June 9, 2003, to elect 55 members to the 55th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada...

Bernard Lord
Bernard Lord
Bernard Lord, ONB, QC, is a Canadian politician and lobbyist. Lord served as the 30th Premier of New Brunswick from 1999 to 2006.-Early life:...

's Conservatives lose seats but are re-elected to a majority government
June 10 - The Court of Appeal for Ontario rules the ban on same-sex marriage illegal, and marriages begin immediately
June 10 - The Michaels
The Michaels
The Michaels is a public name used to refer to the couple Michael Stark and Michael Leshner. They were the men who in 2003 entered into the first legal same-sex marriage in Canada, and were consequently named the Canadian Newsmakers of the Year by Time magazine.-Background:Leshner is a lawyer and...

are wed in Ontario, making their marriage the first legal same-sex marriage in Canada.
June 30 - Canada's first space telecope is launched.

July to September

July 2 - The International Olympic Committee awards the 21st Olympic Winter Games to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
July 8 - British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

follows Ontario's lead and permits same-sex marriage
July 11 - Zahra Kazemi
Zahra Kazemi
Zahra "Ziba" Kazemi-Ahmadabadi ‎ was an Iranian-Canadian freelance photographer, residing in Montreal, Canada, who died in the custody of Iranian officials following her arrest....

is beaten to death by Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

ian security forces
August 5 - In the Nova Scotia election John Hamm
John Hamm
John Frederick Hamm, is a Canadian physician and politician and was the 25th Premier of Nova Scotia, Canada.Hamm, a graduate of the University of King's College and Dalhousie University, was a family doctor in his hometown of Stellarton, Nova Scotia, and the president of the Nova Scotia Medical...

's Conservatives are re-elected to a minority government
August 9 - The United States eases its ban on Canadian beef
August 14 - The United Church of Canada
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...

votes to approve same-sex marriages
August 14 - A massive blackout hits Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

and the northeastern United States
August 30 - Canada becomes the first country to implement the World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...

initiative to supply generic drug
Generic drug
A generic drug is a drug defined as "a drug product that is comparable to brand/reference listed drug product in dosage form, strength, route of administration, quality and performance characteristics, and intended use." It has also been defined as a term referring to any drug marketed under its...

s to developing countries
Developing country
A developing country, also known as a less-developed country, is a nation with a low level of material well-being. Since no single definition of the term developing country is recognized internationally, the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries...

to help fight AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

/HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
September - Canada opens its embassy in Kabul
September 19 - The remnants of Hurricane Isabel
Hurricane Isabel
Hurricane Isabel was the costliest and deadliest hurricane in the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season. The ninth named storm, fifth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, Isabel formed near the Cape Verde Islands from a tropical wave on September 6 in the tropical Atlantic Ocean...

cross over Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...

in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, killing one indirectly
Effects of Hurricane Isabel in Canada
The effects of Hurricane Isabel in Canada were fairly minor due to Isabel transitioning into an extratropical cyclone before affecting the area. Hurricane Isabel formed from a tropical wave on September 6, 2003 in the tropical Atlantic Ocean...

and causing local power outages.
September 23 - The 443 km² Ward Hunt Ice Shelf
Ward Hunt Ice Shelf
The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf in the Arctic, located on the north coast of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. During the 20th century the Ellesmere Ice Shelf broke up into six separate shelves, the largest being Ward Hunt...

fractures in the Arctic, releasing water within a contained freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...

lake
September 29 - Hurricane Juan makes landfall as a category 2 storm at Halifax, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

. Four were killed directly and four indirectly.

October to December

October 2 - Ontario Election
Ontario general election, 2003
The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....

. Dalton McGuinty
Dalton McGuinty
Dalton James Patrick McGuinty, Jr., MPP is a Canadian lawyer, politician and, since October 23, 2003, the 24th and current Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario....

's Liberals defeats Ernie Eves
Ernie Eves
Ernest Lawrence "Ernie" Eves was the 23rd Premier of the province of Ontario, Canada, from April 15, 2002, to October 23, 2003.-Beginnings:...

's Tories.
October 5 - Maher Arar
Maher Arar
Maher Arar is a telecommunications engineer with dual Syrian and Canadian citizenship who resides in Canada. Arar's story is frequently referred to as "extraordinary rendition" but the U.S. government insisted it was a case of deportation.Arar was detained during a layover at John F...

is freed from jail in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
October 8 - After serving 19 years of his 25-to-life sentence, a jury finds Colin Thatcher
Colin Thatcher
Wilbert Colin Thatcher is a Canadian former politician convicted for the murder of his ex-wife, JoAnn Wilson.-Political life:Colin Thatcher is the son of Wilbert Ross Thatcher, premier of Saskatchewan from 1964 to 1971...

eligible to apply for early parole
October 21 - Newfoundland and Labrador election
Newfoundland and Labrador general election, 2003
The 46th Newfoundland and Labrador general election was held on October 21, 2003, to elect the 48 members of the 45th General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador, the 17th general election for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada...

: Premier Roger Grimes
Roger Grimes
Roger D. Grimes is a Canadian politician from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Grimes was born and raised in the central Newfoundland town of Grand Falls-Windsor....

's Liberals are defeated by Danny Williams
Danny Williams (politician)
Daniel E. "Danny" Williams, QC, MHA is a Canadian politician, businessman and lawyer who served as the ninth Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador between November 6, 2003, and December 3, 2010. Williams was born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador...

's Conservatives
October 21 - Marc Ouellet was elevated to the Cardinalate
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
October 23 - An El Al
El Al
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd , trading as El Al , is the flag carrier of Israel. It operates scheduled domestic and international services and cargo flights to Europe, North America, Africa and the Far East from its main base in Ben Gurion International Airport...

Jet is diverted twice, first to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

then to Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...

, after a threat is made against Toronto Pearson International Airport
Toronto Pearson International Airport
Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport serving Toronto, Ontario, Canada; its metropolitan area; and the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration that is home to 8.1 million people – approximately 25% of Canada's population...

.
October 23 - Dalton McGuinty becomes premier of Ontario
November 5 - In the Saskatchewan election Premier Lorne Calvert
Lorne Calvert
Lorne Albert Calvert, MLA was the 13th Premier of Saskatchewan, from 2001 to 2007. Calvert, was the leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 2001 to June 6, 2009, when he was succeeded by Dwain Lingenfelter.In 1975, Calvert married Betty Sluzalo of Perdue, Saskatchewan. After attending...

's NDP
Saskatchewan New Democratic Party
The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It currently forms the official opposition, but has been a dominant force in Saskatchewan politics since the 1940s...

is re-elected to a thin majority
November 6 - Danny Williams
Danny Williams (politician)
Daniel E. "Danny" Williams, QC, MHA is a Canadian politician, businessman and lawyer who served as the ninth Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador between November 6, 2003, and December 3, 2010. Williams was born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador...

becomes premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, replacing Roger Grimes
Roger Grimes
Roger D. Grimes is a Canadian politician from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Grimes was born and raised in the central Newfoundland town of Grand Falls-Windsor....
November 10 - Municipal elections occur across Ontario
Ontario municipal elections, 2003
In the 2003 municipal elections in Ontario, voters in Ontario, Canada, elected mayors, councillors, school board trustees and all other elected officials in all of Ontario's municipalities.-Results of election:...

; In the Toronto election
Toronto municipal election, 2003
The Toronto municipal election of 2003 was held on November 10, 2003, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to elect the Mayor of Toronto, 44 city councillors, and school board trustees.David Miller was elected mayor ....

, David Miller is elected mayor
November 13 - The Canadian dollar value closes at a 10 year high of $0.7695 US
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
November 18 - Canada offers Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

$330 million in relief of the past summer's SARS virus impact
November 19 - An interim report on the cause of the August 14, blackout is released, which blames problems in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

.
November 27 - Canadian Alliance
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...

party leader Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...

fires CA Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

Larry Spencer
Larry Spencer
Larry Spencer is a Baptist pastor in Canada, and former Member of Parliament for the Saskatchewan riding of Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre. He is currently serving as interim national president of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada....

as Family Values Critic after anti-gay remarks http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/11/27/alliance031127
November 28 - Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

Member John Manley
John Manley (politician)
John Paul Manley, PC, OC is a Canadian lawyer, businessman and politician. He served as Liberal Member of Parliament for Ottawa South from 1988 to 2004, and a Cabinet Minister from 1993 to 2003. He is presently President and CEO of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.-Background:Manley was...

announces his retirement from politics. http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/11/28/manley031128
November 28 - Type A influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...

kills a boy in southern Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, the third victim in the province killed by the same strain of the virus. Numerous influenza-related deaths also reported in the United States and United Kingdom. http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/11/28/influenza031128
November 30 - Abdurahman Khadr
Abdurahman Khadr
Abdurahman Khadr is the third child of the Egyptian Canadian Khadr family, and was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba, after being detained in Afghanistan under suspicion of connections to Al-Qaeda...

returns to Canada from Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

after being imprisoned by the Americans at Guantanamo Bay
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a detainment and interrogation facility of the United States located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The facility was established in 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees from the war in Afghanistan and later Iraq...
December 8 - In Edmonton, the United States awards Bronze Star
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...

s to 26 Canadian soldiers of 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry is one of the three regular force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army. The regiment is composed of four battalions including a primary reserve battalion, for a total of 2,000 soldiers...

Battle Group who distinguished themselves serving alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2002. The four who were killed in the friendly fire
Friendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...

incident are awarded the medal posthumously. Canadian Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff (Canada)
The Chief of Staff of Canada's Prime Minister's Office is the top official of the office. It was created in 1987 to head the Prime Minister's Office or PMO....

, General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

Ray Henault
Ray Henault
General Raymond Roland Joseph Henault, CMM, MSC, CD is a retired Canadian Air Force officer. He was the Chief of the Defence Staff of Canada from June 28, 2001...

gives a Commander-in-Chief Unit Commendation on behalf of Governor General Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Louise Clarkson is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 26th since Canadian Confederation....

.
December 10 - A strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...

paralyzes BC Ferries
BC Ferries
British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. or BC Ferries is a de facto Crown Corporation that provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services for coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia...
December 10 - Joe Handley
Joe Handley
Joseph "Joe" L. Handley, MLA is a former teacher and civil servant and was the tenth Premier of the Northwest Territories, Canada.-Early life:Handley was born in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan...

becomes premier of the Northwest Territories, replacing Stephen Kakfwi
Stephen Kakfwi
Stephen Kakfwi is a Canadian politician and the ninth Premier of the Northwest Territories.- Early life :...
December 12 - Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....

is sworn in as Canada's 21st Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
December 24 - Canada's Department of Agriculture places a partial ban on import
Import
The term import is derived from the conceptual meaning as to bring in the goods and services into the port of a country. The buyer of such goods and services is referred to an "importer" who is based in the country of import whereas the overseas based seller is referred to as an "exporter". Thus...

ed beef
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...

from United States due to a single case of mad cow disease in Washington
December 30 - Governor General of Canada
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...

Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Louise Clarkson is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 26th since Canadian Confederation....

, with her husband John Ralston Saul
John Ralston Saul
John Ralston Saul, CC is a Canadian author, essayist, and President of International PEN.As an essayist, Saul is particularly known for his commentaries on the nature of individualism, citizenship and the public good; the failures of manager-, or more precisely technocrat-, led societies; the...

, arrives in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

to meet with Canadian troops

Literary awards

Books in Canada First Novel Award
Books in Canada First Novel Award
The Amazon.ca First Novel Award, formerly the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a literary award given annually to the best first novel in English published the previous year by a citizen or resident of Canada. It has been awarded since 1976....

: Michel Basilières
Michel Basilières
Michel Basilières is a Canadian writer.His debut novel, Black Bird, was published in 2003. A comic, magic realist take on the October Crisis of 1970, the novel won the Books in Canada First Novel Award for 2004 and was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour and the...

, Black Bird
Black Bird (novel)
Black Bird is a 2003 novel by Michel Basilières first published by Knopf Canada. Set in Montreal during a time that resembles the October Crisis, the novel centres on the Desouche household, where both English and French members live together in squalor...
Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: M.G. Vassanji: The In-Between World of Vikram Lall
See 2003 Governor General's Awards
2003 Governor General's Awards
The 2003 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on November 12. Each winner received a cheque for $15,000.-Fiction:*Douglas Glover, Elle*Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake*Elizabeth Hay, Garbo Laughs...

for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
Geoffrey Bilson Award
Geoffrey Bilson Award
The Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young Readers is a Canadian literary award that goes to the best work of historical fiction written for youth each year...

: Joan Clark
Joan Clark
Joan Clark BA, D.Litt is a Canadian fiction author.Born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Clark spent her youth in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. She attended Acadia University for its drama program, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree with English major in 1957...

, The Word for Home
Gerald Lampert Award
Gerald Lampert Award
The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award is made annually by the League of Canadian Poets to the best volume of poetry published by a first-time poet. It is presented in honour of poetry promoter Gerald Lampert...

: Kathy Mac, Nail Hunters Plan for Strength and Growth
Griffin Poetry Prize
Griffin Poetry Prize
The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. The awards go to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language....

: Margaret Avison
Margaret Avison
Margaret Avison, OC was a Canadian poet who twice won Canada's Governor General's Award and has also won its Griffin Poetry Prize. "Her work has often been praised for the beauty of its language and images."-Life:...

, Concrete and Wild Carrot
Pat Lowther Award
Pat Lowther Award
The Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. It is presented in honour of poet Pat Lowther, who was murdered by her husband in 1975. Each winner receives an honorarium of $1000.-Winners:*1981 - M...

: Dionne Brand
Dionne Brand
Dionne Brand is a Canadian poet, novelist, essayist and documentarian. She was named Toronto's third Poet Laureate in September 2009.-Biography:...

, Thirsty
Marian Engel Award
Marian Engel Award
The Marian Engel Award was a Canadian literary award, presented each year from 1986 to 2007 by the Writers' Trust of Canada in memory of the writer Marian Engel...

: Elisabeth Harvor
Elisabeth Harvor
Erica Elisabeth Arendt Harvor is a Canadian novelist and poet who lives in Ottawa, Ontario.Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, the daughter of Danish immigrants who made pottery by hand, Harvour grew up in Saint John and on the Kingston Peninsula. She married Stig Harvor in 1957. The couple had...
Matt Cohen Prize
Matt Cohen Prize
The Matt Cohen Prize is an award given annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to a Canadian writer, in honour of a distinguished lifetime contribution to Canadian literature...

: Fred Bodsworth
Fred Bodsworth
Charles Frederick Fred Bodsworth is a Canadian writer, journalist and amateur naturalist.Born in Port Burwell, Ontario, Bodsworth worked as a journalist for the St. Thomas Times-Journal, The Toronto Star, and Maclean's, where he also served as assistant editor. From 1964 to 1967, he was president...
Norma Fleck Award
Norma Fleck Award
The Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction is a lucrative literary award founded in May 1999 by the Fleck Family Foundation and the Canadian Children's Book Centre, and presented to the year's best non-fiction book for a youth audience...

:
Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
The Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize is a Canadian literary award presented by Rogers Communications and the Writers' Trust of Canada after an annual juried competition between publishers who submit entries....

: Kevin Patterson
Kevin Patterson
Kevin Patterson is a Canadian medical doctor and writer. His short story collection, Country of Cold, won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize in 2003...

, Country of Cold
Stephen Leacock Award: Dan Needles
Dan Needles
Dan Needles is best known as the playwright behind the popular Wingfield Series which has played across Canada for many years. It was performed at the Stratford Festival of Canada and was aired, in part, on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation....

, With Axe and Flask: A History of Persephone Township From Pre-Cambrian Times to the Present
Timothy Findley Award
Timothy Findley Award
The Timothy Findley Award was a Canadian literary award, presented each year from 2002 to 2007 by the Writers' Trust of Canada in memory of the writer Timothy Findley...

: Guy Vanderhaeghe
Guy Vanderhaeghe
Guy Clarence Vanderhaeghe, OC, SOM is a Canadian novelist and short story writer, best known for his two Western novels, The Englishman's Boy and The Last Crossing, set in the 19th century American and Canadian West...
Trillium Book Award
Trillium Book Award
The Trillium Award is given annually by the government of the Province of Ontario and is open to books in any genre: fiction, non-fiction, drama, children's books, and poetry. Anthologies, new editions, re-issues and translations are not eligible. Three jury members per language judge the...

English: Thomas King (prose) and Adam Sol
Adam Sol
-Awards:* 2004 Trillium Book Award for Poetry*2008 Trillium Book Award for Poetry, Shortlist-Works:* "The Museum of Sound", published in The Walrus*-External links:******...

(poetry)
Trillium Book Award
Trillium Book Award
The Trillium Award is given annually by the government of the Province of Ontario and is open to books in any genre: fiction, non-fiction, drama, children's books, and poetry. Anthologies, new editions, re-issues and translations are not eligible. Three jury members per language judge the...

French: Serge Denis and François Paré
François Paré
François-Rosaire Paré BA, PhD is a French Canadian author and academic specialising in French literature.Paré lived in Montreal during his youth. After earning his Bachelor of Arts degree at the Université de Montréal, he pursued further studies in Buffalo, New York at SUNY...

(prose) and Angèle Bassolé-Ouédraogo
Angèle Bassolé-Ouédraogo
Angèle Bassolé-Ouédraogo is an Ivoirian born Canadian poet and journalist. She was born in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire and raised in Burkina Faso, and was educated at the University of Ouagadougou...

(poetry)
Vicky Metcalf Award
Vicky Metcalf Award
The Vicky Metcalf Award is awarded to a writer whose body of work has been "inspirational to Canadian youth." It is one of the top awards for Canadian children's writers. The award was named after Vicky Metcalf...

: Roslyn Schwartz
Roslyn Schwartz
Roslyn Schwartz is a children's author and animator.Born in Montreal, Quebec, she was raised in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. Schwartz is the author of The Mole Sisters series, The Smoker's Addictionary , Rose and Dorothy , and Tales from Parc la Fontaine...

Music

October 14 - The online music store Puretracks
Puretracks
Puretracks is a Canadian online music store, which launched officially on October 14, 2003. Puretracks works as a behind-the-scene music partner. Now a division of Somerset Entertainment, owned by Fluid Music, Puretracks has U.S...

launches
Shania Twain
Shania Twain
Shania Twain, OC is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. Her album The Woman in Me , brought her fame and her 1997 album Come On Over, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time. It has sold over 40 million...

's CD Up!
Up! (album)
-Critical reception:Upon its release, the album received very positive reviews from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 72/100 from Metacritic...

is a hit
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...

's CD Afterglow is released, her first studio album in six years.

Television

American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

comes to Canada as Canadian Idol
Canadian Idol
Canadian Idol is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show Pop Idol. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore was the "roving reporter" for the first three seasons...

, hosted by Ben Mulroney
Ben Mulroney
Benedict Martin Paul "Ben" Mulroney is a Canadian television host, and is the son of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.-Early life:...

(son of Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...

)
On This Hour Has 22 Minutes
This Hour Has 22 Minutes
This Hour Has 22 Minutes is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics, combining news parody, sketch comedy and satirical editorials...

, Colin Mochrie
Colin Mochrie
Colin Andrew Mochrie is a Scottish Canadian actor and improvisational comedian, most famous for his appearances on the British and US versions of television improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?.-Early life:...

leaves the cast; Mary Walsh is expected for six episodes but leaves; Shaun Majumder
Shaun Majumder
-Life and career:Majumder was born in Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador to a European descended mother from Newfoundland and an Indian father. He started his entertainment career as an announcer for the YTV game show CLIPS, and soon was hosting the network's popular morning kids show Brain...

joins
Jessica Holmes
Jessica Holmes
Jessica Holmes is a Canadian comedian and actress. She is best known for her work with the Royal Canadian Air Farce, which she joined in 2003. She is married to actor Scott Yaphe....

joins the cast of Royal Canadian Air Farce
Royal Canadian Air Farce
Air Farce Live, also credited as Air Farce, previously Royal Canadian Air Farce, and Air Farce—Final Flight! for the final season, was a Canadian comedy series starring the comedy troupe The Royal Canadian Air Farce that previously starred in an eponymous radio show on CBC radio from 1973 to 1997...
The last episode of the children's series Mona the Vampire
Mona the Vampire
Mona the Vampire is a Canadian animated television series based on the series Robyn le Vampire, directed by Louis Piché and Jean Caillon, originally based on the short stories created and written Sonia Holleyman and later written by Hiawyn Oram. It is mainly shown on YTV, Radio-Canada, VRAK.TV and...

is broadcast on YTV

Sport

February 22 - 2003 Canada Winter Games
November 16 - The Edmonton Eskimos
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895...

win the 91st Grey Cup
91st Grey Cup
The 91st Grey Cup was the 2003 Canadian Football League championship game played between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Montreal Alouettes on November 16 at Taylor Field, in Regina, Saskatchewan before 50,909 fans...

, defeating the Montreal Alouettes
Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec.The current franchise named the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions...

34 to 22.
November 22 - The 2003 Heritage Classic, the first outdoor game in NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

history, is played in Edmonton.

January to June

January 3 - Henry Botterell
Henry Botterell
Henry John Lawrence Botterell was a Canadian fighter pilot who served in the Royal Naval Air Service and then in the Royal Air Force during World War I...

, World War I fighter pilot (b.1896
1896 in Canada
-Events:*April 27 - Sir Mackenzie Bowell resigns as Prime Minister due to cabinet infighting. He is replaced by Sir Charles Tupper.*May 1 - Sir Charles Tupper becomes prime minister, replacing Sir Mackenzie Bowell...

)
January 20 - Bill Werbeniuk
Bill Werbeniuk
William Alexander "Bill" Werbeniuk was a Canadian professional snooker and pool player. Recognisable for his girth, he was nicknamed "Big Bill"...

, snooker player (b.1947
1947 in Canada
-Events:*January 1 - Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 comes into effect*January 27 - The cabinet order deporting Japanese-Canadians to Japan is repealed after widespread protests*February 13 - Oil is discovered near Leduc, Alberta...

)
March 19 - Émile Genest
Émile Genest
-Career:Born in Quebec City, Quebec, as a young man Émile Genest served with the Canadian Navy during World War II. At war's end, he worked for a time in radio in his hometown before accepting a job with CBC radio in Montreal where he would eventually become a sportscaster, working in both the...

, actor (b. 1921
1921 in Canada
-Events:*March 26 - The Bluenose is launched*June 9 - Saskatchewan general election, 1921: William M. Martin's Liberals win a fifth consecutive majority*June 15 - Prohibition comes to an end in British Columbia...

)
March 31 - Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter
Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter
Harold Scott MacDonald "Donald" Coxeter, was a British-born Canadian geometer. Coxeter is regarded as one of the great geometers of the 20th century. He was born in London but spent most of his life in Canada....

, geometer (b.1907
1907 in Canada
-Events:*March 6 - William Pugsley becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Lemuel John Tweedie*May 24 - Boer War Memorial unveiled*May 30 - King Edward VII grants the Coat of Arms of Alberta...

)
April 8 - Vatche Arslanian
Vatche Arslanian
Vatche Arslanian was a member of the Canadian Red Cross and head of logistics for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Iraq. He was one of the six ICRC delegates who chose to stay in the country during the 2003 Iraq war and continue helping local relief workers...

, Canadian Red Cross
Canadian Red Cross
The Canadian Red Cross Society is a Canadian humanitarian charitable organization and one of 186 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies....

worker, killed in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

(b.1955
1955 in Canada
-Incumbents:*Monarch: Elizabeth II*Governor General: Vincent Massey*Prime Minister: Louis Saint Laurent*Premier of Alberta: Ernest Manning*Premier of British Columbia: W.A.C...

)
April 9 - Richard Doyle, journalist, editor and Senator (b.1923
1923 in Canada
-Incumbents:*Prime Minister: William Lyon Mackenzie King*Governor General: Viscount Byng*Premier of Alberta: Herbert Greenfield*Premier of British Columbia: John Oliver*Premier of Manitoba: John Bracken*Premier of New Brunswick: Walter Foster then Peter Veniot...

)
April 26 - Rosemary Brown
Rosemary Brown (politician)
Rosemary Brown, PC, OC, OBC, née Wedderburn , was a Canadian politician.- Early years :Rosemary Brown was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1930, and moved to Canada in 1950 to study at McGill University in Montreal...

, politician (b.1930
1930 in Canada
-Events:*February 15 - Cairine Wilson becomes Canada's first female senator*May 20 - Walter Lea becomes Premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Albert Saunders...

)
May 13 - John Savage
John Savage (politician)
John Patrick Savage, OC, ONS was the 23rd Premier of Nova Scotia, Canada between 1993 and 1997.- Welsh birth :Born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales, and keeping his Welsh accent to the end, Savage graduated from Queen's University of Belfast and practiced as a Medical doctor in Newport until he...

, politician and Premier of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

(b.1932
1932 in Canada
-Events:* February 17 - The "Mad Trapper" is killed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the Yukon* June 1 - Leonard Tilley becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Charles Richards...

)
May 18 - Barb Tarbox
Barb Tarbox
Barb Tarbox, MSM was one of the most well-known anti-smoking activists in Canada; a life-long smoker dying of brain and lung cancers whose very open and frank discussions of her illness, its cause and its consequences, propelled her to the Canadian national stage...

, anti-smoking activist (b.1961
1961 in Canada
- Incumbents :* Monarch: Elizabeth II* Governor General: Georges Vanier* Prime Minister: John Diefenbaker* Premier of Alberta: Ernest Manning* Premier of British Columbia: W.A.C...

)
June - Donald Jack
Donald Jack
Donald Lamont Jack was a Canadian novelist and playwright.He was born in Radcliffe, Bury, England and grew up in Britain, attending the well regarded Bury Grammar School and Marr College and later serving in the RAF in World War II .After the war he emigrated to Canada in 1951, and became a...

, novelist and playwright (b.1924
1924 in Canada
-Events:*January 3 - First session of the British Columbia Older Boys' Parliament held in Victoria, British Columbia.*January 10 - Narcisse Pérodeau becomes Quebec's 14th Lieutenant Governor....

)
June 14 - Jacob Froese
Jacob Froese
Jacob Froese was a politician in the Canadian province of Manitoba. He was the province's only Social Credit MLA between 1959 and 1973, and was the party's leader for most if not all of the period from 1959 to 1977....

, politician (b.1917
1917 in Canada
-January to June:*February 1 - James Alexander Murray becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing George Johnson Clarke*April 4 - Walter Foster becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Murray*April 9 - April 14 - Battle of Vimy Ridge....

)
June 15 - Hume Cronyn
Hume Cronyn
Hume Blake Cronyn, OC was a Canadian actor of stage and screen, who enjoyed a long career, often appearing professionally alongside his second wife, Jessica Tandy.-Early life:...

, actor (b.1911
1911 in Canada
-Events:* May 16 - James Palmer becomes Premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing F. L. Haszard* June 14 - Nova Scotia election: George Henry Murray's Liberals win a second consecutive majority...

)
June 16 - Pierre Bourgault
Pierre Bourgault
Pierre Bourgault was a French Canadian politician and essayist of Breton origin, as well as an actor and journalist from Quebec, Canada. He is most famous as a public speaker who advocated sovereignty for Quebec from Canada.- Profile :Bourgault was born in East Angus in the Estrie region of Quebec...

, politician and essayist (b.1934
1934 in Canada
-Events:*March 9 - New Brunswick women win the right to hold office*June 19 - Ontario election: Mitchell Hepburn's Liberals win a majority, defeating George S. Henry's Conservatives...

)
June 21 - Roger Neilson
Roger Neilson
Roger Paul Neilson, CM was a National Hockey League coach, and was responsible for many innovations in the game...

, ice hockey coach (b.1934
1934 in Canada
-Events:*March 9 - New Brunswick women win the right to hold office*June 19 - Ontario election: Mitchell Hepburn's Liberals win a majority, defeating George S. Henry's Conservatives...

)

July to December

July 11 - Zahra Kazemi
Zahra Kazemi
Zahra "Ziba" Kazemi-Ahmadabadi ‎ was an Iranian-Canadian freelance photographer, residing in Montreal, Canada, who died in the custody of Iranian officials following her arrest....

, photographer, died in Iranian custody (b.1949
1949 in Canada
-Events:*March 31 - Newfoundland becomes Canada's 10th province at a fraction of a second from April 1, April Fools' Day.*April 1 - Joey Smallwood becomes the first premier of Newfoundland as a Canadian province...

)
July 16 - Carol Shields
Carol Shields
Carol Ann Shields, CC, OM, FRSC, MA was an American-born Canadian author. She is best known for her 1993 novel The Stone Diaries, which won the U.S. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as the Governor General's Award in Canada.-Biography:Shields was born in Oak Park, Illinois...

, author (b.1935
1935 in Canada
-January to June:*January 2 - Prime Minister R. B. Bennett outlines his programme*March 11 - Bank of Canada established*March 11 - The Bank of Canada issued a $500 banknote with Sir John A...

)
August 19 - Chris Klein-Beekman
Chris Klein-Beekman
Chris Klein-Beekman was a Canadian aid worker who was killed in the Canal Hotel bombing in Iraq. Klein-Beekman was working as the UNICEF program co-ordinator for Iraq. He had been in the country since May 2002. He had also worked for the United Nations in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kosovo.He was...

, aid worker killed in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

(b.1971
1971 in Canada
- Incumbents :*Monarch: Elizabeth II*Governor General: Roland Michener*Prime Minister: Pierre Trudeau*Premier of Alberta: Harry Strom then Peter Lougheed*Premier of British Columbia: W.A.C...

)
September 5 - Gisele MacKenzie
Gisele MacKenzie
Gisèle MacKenzie was a Canadian-American singer, most famous for her performances on the popular television program Your Hit Parade.-Biography:...

, singer (b.1927
1927 in Canada
-Events:*January 9 - 76 are killed when a fire breaks out at the Laurier Palace Theatre in Montreal*March 1 - The location of the boundary between Labrador and Quebec is settled by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, accepting the Dominion of Newfoundland's claim rather than Canada's.*May...

)
September 8 - Jaclyn Linetsky
Jaclyn Linetsky
Jaclyn Michelle Linetsky was a Canadian actress who voiced Caillou from 2000-2003. She also provided the voices for Bitzi in the 2002 animated series Daft Planet, Lori Mackney in What's With Andy? , and Meg in Mega Babies...

, actress (b.1986
1986 in Canada
-Incumbents:*Monarch - Elizabeth II*Governor General - Jeanne Sauvé*Prime Minister - Brian Mulroney*Premier of Alberta - Don Getty*Premier of British Columbia - Bill Bennett then Bill Vander Zalm*Premier of Manitoba - Howard Pawley...

)
September 20 - Vernon Singer
Vernon Singer
Vernon Milton Singer was a politician in Ontario, Canada.Singer was the son of Toronto lawyer and politician Joseph Singer who was the first Jewish-Canadian to be elected to the Toronto Board of Control....

, politician (b.1919
1919 in Canada
-January to June:*January 19 - Canadian troops take part in the Battle of Shenkursk, part of the Russian Civil War.*February 17 - Wilfrid Laurier, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, dies in office.*April 17 - New Brunswick women are permitted to vote....

)
October 7 - Izzy Asper
Izzy Asper
Israel Harold "Izzy" Asper, , Canadian tax lawyer and media magnate, was the founder of the now defunct CanWest Global Communications Corp and father to its former CEO and President Leonard Asper, former director and corporate secretary Gail Asper, as well as Executive Vice President David Asper...

, tax lawyer and media magnate (b.1932
1932 in Canada
-Events:* February 17 - The "Mad Trapper" is killed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the Yukon* June 1 - Leonard Tilley becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Charles Richards...

)
October 13 - Bertram Brockhouse
Bertram Brockhouse
Bertram Neville Brockhouse, was a Canadian physicist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for pioneering contributions to the development of neutron scattering techniques for studies of condensed matter", in particular "for the development of neutron spectroscopy".-Life:Brockhouse was...

, physicist, shared the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...

in Physics in 1994 (b.1918
1918 in Canada
-Events:*March 1 - Harlan Brewster, premier of British Columbia, dies in office*March 6 - John Oliver becomes premier of British Columbia*March 30 - C Squadron of Lord Strathcona's Horse conducts a cavalry charge against the Germans at Moreuil Wood...

)
October 16 - Stu Hart
Stu Hart
Stewart Edward "Stu" Hart, CM was a Canadian amateur wrestler, professional wrestler, promoter and trainer. Hart founded Stampede Wrestling, a promotion based in Calgary, Alberta, and was the father of famous wrestlers Bret and Owen Hart...

, wrestler, promoter and trainer (b.1915
1915 in Canada
-Events:*January 4 - WWI: Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry becomes the first Canadian troops sent to the front lines*January 15 - The Canadian Northern Railway line to Vancouver, British Columbia, is completed...

)
October 20 - Clarence Dunlap
Clarence Dunlap
Air Marshal Clarence Rupert Dunlap CBE, CD, was a Canadian airman who, from 1962 to 1964, served as the last Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Canadian Air Force. From 1964 to 1967 he was the deputy commander-in-chief of NORAD...

, Chief of Air Staff, Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...

(b.1908
1908 in Canada
-Incumbents:*Prime Minister: Sir Wilfrid Laurier*Governor General: Earl Grey*Premier of Alberta: Alexander Rutherford*Premier of British Columbia: Richard McBride*Premier of Manitoba: R.P. Roblin*Premier of New Brunswick: Clifford Robinson then John Hazen...

)
November 15 - Ray Lewis, track and field athlete, Olympic bronze medalist, first Canadian-born black Olympic medalist (b.1910
1910 in Canada
Events from the year 1910 in Canada.-Events:*January 3 - Happiness and contentment are found from one end of Canada to the other - headline in London Times...

)
November 24 - Hugh Kenner
Hugh Kenner
William Hugh Kenner , was a Canadian literary scholar, critic and professor.Kenner was born in Peterborough, Ontario on January 7, 1923; his father taught classics...

, literary scholar, critic and professor (b.1923
1923 in Canada
-Incumbents:*Prime Minister: William Lyon Mackenzie King*Governor General: Viscount Byng*Premier of Alberta: Herbert Greenfield*Premier of British Columbia: John Oliver*Premier of Manitoba: John Bracken*Premier of New Brunswick: Walter Foster then Peter Veniot...

)
November 25 - Johnathon Robert Madden
Johnathon Robert Madden
Johnathon Robert Madden was a twelve-year-old Canadian boy whose gruesome murder at the hands of his sixteen-year-old brother Kevin Madden and his brother's friend Timothy Ferriman provoked widespread revulsion and outrage in Johnathon's home city of Toronto and across Canada.The ensuing trials...

, murder victim (b.1991
1991 in Canada
Events from the year 1991 in Canada.-Incumbents:*Monarch: Elizabeth II*Governor General: Ray Hnatyshyn*Prime Minister: Brian Mulroney*Premier of Alberta: Don Getty*Premier of British Columbia: Bill Vander Zalm then Rita Johnston then Michael Harcourt...

)
December 16 - Robert Stanfield
Robert Stanfield
Robert Lorne Stanfield, PC, QC was the 17th Premier of Nova Scotia and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. He is sometimes referred to as "the greatest prime minister Canada never had", and earned the nickname "Honest Bob"...

, politician and 24th Premier of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

(b.1914
1914 in Canada
-January to June:* March 19 - The Royal Ontario Museum opens* April 11 - Canadian Margaret C. MacDonald is appointed Matron-in-Chief of the Canadian Nursing service band and becomes the first woman in the British Empire to reach the rank of major....

)
December 23 - John Newlove
John Newlove
John Newlove was a Canadian poet who was considered to be one of the dominant voices of prairie poetry, though he lived most of his adult life in British Columbia and Ontario.-Life:...

, poet (b.1938
1938 in Canada
-Incumbents:*Monarch - George VI*Governor General - John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir*Prime Minister - William Lyon Mackenzie King-Events:*June 8 - Saskatchewan general election: William John Patterson's Liberals win a second consecutive majority...

)