1961-2000

1961
CCF becomes the New Democratic Party (NDP).

1962
The first Medicare plan is introduced. A Canadian satellite is launched. The last executions take place in Toronto.

1963
The Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) sets off bombs in Montreal.

1964
Social Insurance numbers and cards are issued. Peacekeeping ends in the Congo, and troops are posted to Cyprus.

1965
A new flag is adopted by Canada.

1966
The Canada Pension Plan is announced. CBC begins broadcasting in color.

1967
Canada celebrates its centennial, and hosts Expo ‘67 Montreal. The army, Royal Canadian Navy & Royal Canadian Air Force are joined to become the Canadian Armed Forces. Charles de Gaulle, president of France, utters the phrase “Vive le Québec libre” in Montreal. Multicultural immigration from developing nations becomes an immigration policy objective, now operating on a “point” system.

1968
English and French become official languages of the federal government

1970
The FLQ kidnap James Cross and Pierre Laporte in October ;Laporte is murdered. The Trudeau government applies the War Measures Act limiting civil rights.

1972
Canada beats Russia in hockey.

1973
Canada sends troops and observers to the Middle East.

1976
The death penalty is abolished. The Olympic Games are held in Montreal. René Lévesque, leader of the Parti Québecois, becomes premier of Quebec. A 200-mile fishing zone is announced for Canada’s coasts.

1977
Bill 101 is passed in Quebec limiting access to English-language schools.

1978
The Supreme Court declares unilingual legislatures and courts unconstitutional (Quebec and Manitoba).

1980
Quebec votes against separation in a referendum. “O Canada” becomes national anthem. Jeanne Sauvé becomes first woman Speaker of the House of Commons. National Energy Program (NEP) is created.

1981
Terry Fox, whose marathons raised funds for cancer research, dies. The federal government and all provinces except Quebec agree on a way of interpreting the constitution. Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

1982
The Ocean Ranger oil platform sinks. A new Constitution and Charter of Rights is introduced.

1983
Canada agrees to test U.S cruise missiles. Mulroney replaces Clark as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.

1984
The Pope visits Canada. Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space. In NWT, aboriginal languages are officially recognized in addition to English and French (Yukon follows in 1988).

1985
Mulroney and Reagan agree to support Star Wars research and free trade. Major amendments made to Indian Act grants Band Councils jurisdiction over reserve lands, restores rights.

1986
The Canadian dollar value is low at 70.20¢ U.S. Canada supports sanctions against South Africa’s apartheid regime. Canada is honored by the UN for providing a haven for many of the world’s refugees.

1987
Provincial premiers agree to the Meech Lake Accord (though it does not pass in 1990). Pay Equity legislation is passed in Ontario. The Reform party with its popularity base centered in Western Canada, is founded.

1988
The French-only sign law is reinstated after being struck down by the Supreme Court, through the “notwithstanding” clause in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

1989
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) takes effect. GST (goods and services tax) is introduced for 1991.

1990
Lucien Bouchard and other Quebec MPs form the Bloc Québecois. Manitoba refuses to ratify the Meech Lake Accord since it provides no special status for Native people. Mohawks and government forces engage in armed confrontation near Oka, Quebec.

1991
The Canadian Forces participate in the Gulf War against Iraq. Yukon First Nations sign agreement on land claims and self-government.

1992
Cod fishery is shut down in Atlantic region. NAFTA is signed. Constitutional reform including reform of the Senate, self government for aboriginal nations, enlarged House of Commons—though having Quebec's approval—is voted down in a national referendum.

1993
Quebec Cree win compensation from Hydro Quebec for damage to their lands. NAFTA legislation passes in House of Commons (NAFTA defended in 1997 by Mulroney). Brian Mulroney resigns as Prime Minister. Kim Campbell becomes first female Prime Minister, but her Conservative party is defeated and nearly eradicated in an election.

1995
Quebec holds a referendum on sovereignty, and the No side barely wins a majority. Native people (Cree, Innu) review their stand on Quebec sovereignty. Study of Somalia Affair causes disbanding of Airborne Regiment. Representatives of aboriginal people gather in Dec. and issue the Sacred Assembly Proclamation; from this was developed the Reconciliation Proclamation and the Statement of Principles and Priorities.

1996
Flooding in Saguenay/Lac-St-Jean and in some Northern Ontario towns. General Jean Boyle resigns over Somalia Inquiry controversy.

1997
Federal election sends five parties to Parliament. The provincial premiers, except Lucien Bouchard of Quebec, draw up a proposal for constitutional reform known as the Calgary Declaration. Flooding in Manitoba. Report on military's role in the 21st Century. A second Sacred Assembly is held but does not issue a proclamation. An out of court settlement between the Federal Government and Brian Mulroney is reached in the Airbus affair. Confederation Bridge between the mainland and PEI opens.

1998
Electrical failures due to ice storm leave millions of people without power in mid-winter in Quebec and Ontario. Blood is being collected by the Canadian Blood Services since the Canadian Red Cross had to withdraw from its role in the blood system in 1997 after it comes to light that people had become infected by tainted blood since the mid-1980's. Allegations of the abuse of women in the Canadian military become public.

1999
North West Territory is divided into Nunavut, the east part, and a western territory, still to be named. The Royal Ontario Museum's largest collection of human remains of over 500 Wendat (Huron) people, whom archaeologists unearthed in the 1940's, are returned to the Ossossane burial ground near Midland, Ontario; members of the Wendat Nation came from all over North America to witness the burial of their ancestors.

2000
Nisga'a Treaty, signed in Ottawa on April 13, comes into effect on May 11, 2000. After a struggle of more than 130 years, the government of Canada recognizes that the natives of Nisga'a (British Colombia) were a self-governing people since well before European contact. In Sept. 2000, a British Columbia judge handed the Indian tribes a significant victory in the battle over their rights to natural resources in timber and mineral-rich western Canada. Supreme Court judge William Davies said the province cannot proceed with a stop-logging order against Westbank First Nation (Indians) without also resolving the issue of whether the tribe has a constitutional right to resources in its historic territory. The question of Indian land rights has been largely unresolved in British Columbia since Europeans began arriving in the 1800s, and the issue is seen as casting a cloud of uncertainty over the province's resource-dependent economy.