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Events from the year 1981 in Canada .
Incumbents [ edit ]
Federal government [ edit ]
Provincial governments [ edit ]
Lieutenant governors [ edit ]
Premiers [ edit ]
Territorial governments [ edit ]
Commissioners [ edit ]
Premiers [ edit ]
January 1 - Gasoline and diesel are sold by the litre rather than the gallon.
February 5 - More than three hundred men are arrested after police sweeps of Toronto bathhouses . The arrests create an outcry among Canada's gay population, and become a historic turning point in Canadian LGBT history. See 1981 Toronto bathhouse raids .
March 19 - Ontario election: Bill Davis 's PCs win a majority
June 4 - NABET employees at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation hold a long strike, disrupting programming for much of the Spring.
July 17 – The government of British Columbia named a 2,639-metre (8,658 foot) peak in the Rocky Mountains after Terry Fox .
July 30 – The 83-kilometre (52 mi) section of the Trans-Canada Highway in Ontario where Terry Fox was forced to end his run, was renamed in his honour
September 1 - Quebec's French language sign law comes into effect
September 1 - The Albertan and federal governments sign an energy agreement
September - The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission holds pay-TV hearings in Hull, Quebec
October 16 - Canada Post becomes a crown corporation .
November 5 - Canadian government and all provinces, except Quebec , agree on how to patriate the Canadian Constitution
November 13 - The Canadarm is first deployed aboard the Space Shuttle
November 17 - James Lee becomes premier of Prince Edward Island , replacing Angus MacLean
November 30 - Howard Pawley becomes premier of Manitoba , replacing Sterling Lyon .
Full date unknown [ edit ]
Arts and literature [ edit ]
New works [ edit ]
January 11 – Jonathan Mandick , rower
January 15 – Dylan Armstrong , shot putter
January 16 – Nic Youngblud , water polo player
January 17 – Julien Cousineau , alpine skier
January 20 – Owen Hargreaves , soccer player
January 21 – Dany Heatley , ice hockey player
February 13 – Kristina Kiss , soccer player
February 24 – Adam Kunkel , hurdler
March 14 – Isabelle Pearson , judoka
April 6 – Auburn Sigurdson , softball player
April 16 – Matthieu Proulx , football player
April 19 – Hayden Christensen , actor
May 20 – Morgan Knabe , swimmer
June 21 – Kevin Mitchell , water polo player
July 9 – Kimveer Gill , murderer responsible for the Dawson College shooting (d.2006 )
July 21 – Anabelle Langlois , figure skater
August 9 – Lauren Bay Regula , softball player
August 19 – Taylor Pyatt , ice hockey player
September 7 – Annie Martin , beach volleyball player
September 26 – Kaila Holtz , softball player
October 4 – Justin Williams , ice hockey player
October 25 – Gary Reed , middle distance athlete
November 20 – Christian Bernier , volleyball player
January 5 - Lomer Brisson , politician and lawyer (b.1916 )
January 16 - John Oates Bower , politician, businessman and executive (b.1901 )
April 10 - George Carlyle Marler , politician, notary and philatelist (b.1901 )
May 4 - Samuel Rosborough Balcom , politician (b.1888 )
May 23 - David Lewis , lawyer and politician (b.1909 )
May 29 - Walter Russell Shaw , politician and Premier of Prince Edward Island (b.1887 )
June 28 - Terry Fox , humanitarian, athlete and cancer treatment activist (b.1958 )
September 23 - Dan George , actor and author (b.1899 )
November 3 - Thérèse Casgrain , feminist, reformer, politician and Senator (b.1896 )
December 28 - Allan Dwan , film director, producer and screenwriter (b.1885 )
1981 in North America
Sovereign states
Dependencies and
other territories