Events from the year 1987 in Canada.
Incumbents
Crown
Monarch – Elizabeth II
Federal government
Governor General – Jeanne Sauvé
Prime Minister – Brian Mulroney
Chief Justice – Brian Dickson (Manitoba) Parliament – 33rd
Provincial governments
Lieutenant governors
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Helen Hunley
Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Robert Gordon Rogers
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – George Johnson
Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – George Stanley (until August 20) then Gilbert Finn Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – James McGrath Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Alan Abraham Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Lincoln Alexander Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Lloyd MacPhail Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Gilles Lamontagne Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Frederick Johnson
Premiers
Premier of Alberta – Don Getty
Premier of British Columbia – Bill Vander Zalm
Premier of Manitoba – Howard Pawley
Premier of New Brunswick – Richard Hatfield (until October 27) then Frank McKenna Premier of Newfoundland – Brian Peckford Premier of Nova Scotia – John Buchanan Premier of Ontario – David Peterson Premier of Prince Edward Island – Joe Ghiz Premier of Quebec – Robert Bourassa Premier of Saskatchewan – Grant Devine
Territorial governments
Commissioners
Commissioner of Yukon – John Kenneth McKinnon
Commissioner of Northwest Territories – John Havelock Parker
Premiers
Premier of the Northwest Territories – Nick Sibbeston (until November 12) then Dennis Patterson Premier of Yukon – Tony Penikett
Events
January 1 – Frobisher Bay changes its name to Iqaluit. April 21 – The lifeless body of Claude Jutra was finally found in the Saint Lawrence River near Cap-Santé. April 30 – Provincial premiers agree to Meech Lake Accord. May 22 – Rick Hansen returns home to Vancouver after his Man in Motion world tour. June 30 – Canada introduces a $1 coin, commonly called loonie; the dollar bill is withdrawn in 1989. a bill to restore the death penalty was defeated by the House of Commons in a 148–127 vote, in which Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Minister of Justice Ray Hnatyshyn, and Minister of External Affairs Joe Clark opposed the bill, whereas Deputy Prime Minister Donald Mazankowski and a majority of Progressive Conservative MPs supported it. July 3 – Quebec City becomes the first city in North America to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. July 14 – Montreal is hit by a series of severe thunderstorms during the Montreal Flood of 1987. July 31 – The Edmonton Tornado kills 27 people. September 10 – Ontario election: David Peterson's Liberals win a majority. September 20 – Pope John Paul II visits the Northwest Territories. October – Canadian and American negotiators reach agreement on the Canadian-American Free Trade Agreement. October 27 – Frank McKenna becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Richard Hatfield. October 31 – The Reform Party of Canada is founded. November 12 – Dennis Patterson becomes government leader of the Northwest Territories, replacing Nick Sibbeston. November 30 – Several new Canadian specialty channels are licensed: YTV, VisionTV, CBC Newsworld, The Weather Network/MeteoMedia, and one pay-television channel: The Family Channel. December 16 – Chartwell Technology company is founded in British Columbia. Undated ElderTreks, Canadian adventure travel company is founded.
Arts and literature
New works
William Bell: Metal Head
Dave Duncan: A Rose-Red City
Michael Ignatieff: The Russian Album
Irving Layton: Fortunate Exile
Donald Jack: This One's on Me
Steve McCaffery: Evoba
Antonine Maillet: Margot la folle
Farley Mowat: Virunga: The Passion of Dian Fossey
Paul Quarrington, King Leary
Mordecai Richler: Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur
Awards
See 1987 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards. Books in Canada First Novel Award: Karen Lawrence, The Life of Helen Alone Gerald Lampert Award: Rosemary Sullivan, The Space a Name Makes Marian Engel Award: Audrey Thomas Pat Lowther Award: Heather Spears, How to Read Faces Stephen Leacock Award: W.P. Kinsella, The Fencepost Chronicles Trillium Book Award: Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion Vicky Metcalf Award: Robert Munsch
Music
November 27 – Rock band Cowboy Junkies record their most famous album, The Trinity Session, at Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity.