British Columbia: Canadians in attempted Canada Day Terror Bombing Inspired by Al Qaeda

HISTORY IN THE NEWS:

 






DEDICATED TO THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD.

IN BRIEF: The global  breadth of Al Qaeda's mission together with easy contact and learning through the internet have opened the ranks of Islamist militancy to lost and alienated non-Muslim drifters all over the world.
 
IN THE NEWS:  TWO CANADIANS ARE ARRESTED IN A CANADA DAY TERROR PLOT TO BOMB THE BRITISH COLUMBIA LEGISLATURE, JOHN STEWART NUTTALL A NATIVE OF VICTORIA, AND AMANDA MARIE KARADY OF ST CATHERINES ONTARIO ARE CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY IN THE STRATEGIC PLACING OF PRESSURE COOKER BOMBS AROUND THE LEGISLATURE TO CAUSE MAXIMUM CASUALTIES. THE DEVICES ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE USED IN THE BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING. POLICE SAY THE SUSPECTS WERE INSPIRED BY AL QAEDA.

THE FACTS:  
-groups like Al Qaeda provide an entire doctrine, way of life and purpose.
-in this, they are not much different from the revolutionary anarchist groups in America and Europe at the turn of the century; or the Russian Nihilist groups of the late 19th century.

 -Canada may have had more than its share of internal AQaeda style plots in relation to its population.
-it may be, as in Britain, that our multicultural policy is excellent for first generation immigrants who are encouraged to reaffirm their original identity but not so good for a younger generation who consider traditional life in a multicultural community to be confining while the larger Canadian community declines to accept them. The sense of being stranded can only drive them toward stronger beliefs and identities, the strongest of which is Al Qaeda, whose doctrines and methods and recruiting are freely available over the internet.
-there seems to be a slight increase in the number of non-Muslim Canadian born recruits and converts.
-for Canadians who are entirely lost, who do not believe in their origins, families, friends or their direction in life, Al Qaeda- inspired groups and plots are probably readier to hand and more exciting and inspiring than doing drugs, joining the Hells Angels or organized crime. After all, the provide religion where common crime does not.




IN HISTORY:
  
-the concept of the Fatwa as a world world-wide pronouncement and death sentence, as delivered by Iran on author Salman Rushdie and by Osama Bin Laden on Jews and Americans anywhere in the world- has helped broaden the movement and bring it into the hands of inspired amateurs.

Bin Laden Releases Fatwa against Americans and Jews.

-Bin Laden releases a Fatwa calling for attacks on US citizens. Zawahiri joins his Islamic Jihad with Bin Laden's World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Crusaders and Jews. Zawahiri is in charge of ideology. Charter members are Abu Yasser Rafia Ahmad Taha, Mir Hamza and Faz ul Rahman. Among its grievances are the UN sanctions against Iraq, US military bases in Saudi Arabia, the existence of Israel and its domination of the Palestinians. Its aims are the killing of any American or Israeli, the liberation of Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque and the Holy Mosque in Mecca andto overthrow all the regimes in Muslim countries that supported western interests.

RELEVANT DATES to British Columbia Terror Pot.
Wahabbism
1725 (circa) -Al-Wahhab (1703-1787) founds Muwahidun (unitarian) movement- an attempt to purify Islam of medieval superstition, to stop the translation of Sharia into jurisprudence and to get rid of the cult of saints. The Muwahidun follow the Hanbali school as taught by Tarq al Din ibn Taimiya (qv). Wahhab's oponnents call his followers 'Wahhabis', the name that stuck.
Salafism

1838-97- Jamal al-din Afghani. Helps develop Salafism- an Islamic ideology based on the example of the salaf- the ancestors of early Islam. He promotes the Pan-Islam movement in an attempt to revive a mythical 'pure' Islam free of ethnic and political rivalries.
Al Qaeda is new name for the Service Bureau upon murder of Azzam and victory in Afghanistan.

1989- February- Bin Laden declares withdrawal of Soviets from Afghanistan a victory for the Jihad.

November- Azzam assassinated; Pakistan's ISI is a suspect. Bin Laden, assisted by Muhammad Atef and Abu Ubaidah al Banshiri, takes over, renaming Maktab al Khidmat 'Al Qaeda'- 'The Base', with a plan to expand the Soviet Jihad into an international Jihad from headquarters in Peshawar. The prime target is US interests world-wide with Al Qaeda launching its own attacks or sponsoring similar outfits to attack Al Qaeda targets.

Bin Laden Releases Fatwa against Americans and Jews anywhere in the World.

1989- -Bin Laden releases a Fatwa calling for attacks on US citizens. Zawahiri joins his Islamic Jihad with Bin Laden's World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Crusaders and Jews. Zawahiri is in charge of ideology. Charter members are Abu Yasser Rafia Ahmad Taha, Mir Hamza and Faz ul Rahman. Among ists grievances are the UN sanctions against Iraq, US military bases in Saudi Arabia, the existence of Israel and its domination of the Palestinians. Its aims are the killing of any American or Israeli, the liberation of Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque and the Holy Mosque in Mecca andto overthrow all the regimes in Muslim countries that supported western interests.

                     CANADIANS INFLUENCED BY OR LINKED TO AL QAEDA
The Millennium Bomber.
1999- Dec. 14- The Millennium Bomber" -Algerian born Canadian and Montreal native Ahmed Ressam is arrested by US Customs while crossing the border from British Columbia. Customs agents find 100 pounds of explosives hidden in his car. He later confesses they were destined for a terror attack on Los Angeles.


The Toronto 17
2006 June - In a major anti-terror operation, 17 people are arrested in Toronto on suspicion of planning attacks. An official says the men were inspired by al-Qaeda.
2009- Oct- Five of the 'Toronto 17' have been convicted and sentenced.
The London Ontario Four- The Algeria Terror Lot.
 2013- Jan. 16, : al-Qaeda-linked terrorists take 800 hostages at an Algerian gas plant. At least 39 hostages and 29 militants are killed. The armed Islamists were led by al-Qaeda-linked Mokhtar Belmokhtar.  Among the dead are Xristos Katsiroubas and Ali Medlej, both in their early 20s. It is later discovered that both had attended London South Secondary in London Ontario and both had trained with Mokhtar and become part of his operation at the Amenas gas plant.
Bulgaria Bus Bombing
July 2, 2012-Two Lebanese born Canadians are suspected in a bus bombing in Bulagaria which killed six Israeli tourists.    The Ontario-US Via Rail Al Qaeda Plot.
 2013- April 22- Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, and Raed Jaser, 35, from Toronto are arrested for conspiring to bomb a Via Rail train bound from Toronto to New York. They are accused by the RCMP of taking part in an Al Qaeda-led conspiracy.



TIMELINE FOR THE HISTORY OF CANADA. 

                     Prehistory and First Native Peoples. 
75,000,000 BC- Dinosaurs live in steamy forests and warm seas that cover much of what we now call Canada
3,000 BC- The first human inhabitants of North America probably cross from Siberia by land bridge as the last Ice Age draws to a close.
600 AD- Five Iroquois nations form the powerful Confederacy of the Longhouse.
-Native people of southern Ontario begin to plant and harvest corn. The Thule people - ancestors of the Inuit - migrate east across Artic Canada.

                     European Discovery of Canada

1000 AD- Leif Ericsson's first voyage to Vineland. A Norse colony is established on Vinland, but lasts only a coupe of years.               
1497 - Italian-born navigator John Cabot reaches the coasts of Newfoundland and Cape Breton.
1498- Cabot makes his second voyage across the Atlantic to the Maritimes but is lost at sea
1500- Gaspar de Corte-Real sails around Newfoundland
1508- Thomas Aubert visits Newfoundland
1520- Fagundes sails into the Gulf of St. Lawrence area.

                    Jacques Cartier 
1534 - Jacques Cartier explores the St Lawrence river, claims the shores of the Gulf of St Lawrence for France.
1535- Jacques Cartier journeys up the St. Lawrence to the Native settlements of Stadacona and Hochelaga. He gives Canada its name (from Indian word kanata, meaning village).
1541- Cartier returns to North America with Sieur de Toberval to found a settlement. They name it Charlesourg-Royal and it becomes the first French Eettlement in North America.

                       Newfoundland,  Northwest Passage.
1583 - Newfoundland becomes England's first overseas colony.
1576- Martin Frobisher journeys as far as Frobisher Bay, Baffin Island, on the first of three voyages in search of the Northwest Passage.
1783- Sir Humphrey Gilbert visits Newfoundland and claims it for England.
1585-Davis is dispatched to find the Northwest passage to Asia and Davis Strait is named after him
1595-Mercator’s Atlas is published
1598- La Roche’s colony is established on Sable Island
1600- Hakluyt’s Voyages is published.

         

                           The French Fur Trade.
1600- King Henry IV of France awards a Fur trading Monopoly to a group of French merchants.
1600s - Fur trade rivalry between the French, English and Dutch; the Europeans exploit existing rivalries between Indian nations to form alliances.
1602- Waymouth sails into Hudson Strait

                            Champlain.
 
1604- Pierre Du Gua de Monts and Samuel de Champlain establish a colony in Nova Scotia. Marc Lescarbot starts the first library and first French school of Native people, and in 1606 produces the first play staged in Canada. After Lescarbot returns to France, he writes the first history of Canada
1605- Port Royal is established in Nova Scotia by the French under Samuel de Champlain.
1608- Champlain founds Quebec City.
1608- Samuel de Champlain founds a permanent French colony at Quebec
1609- Champlain travels with the Algonquins to Lake Champlain where they attack the Iroquois and the French use firearms against the Iroquois. - Lippershey invents spectacles.
-Champlain is the first European to use firearms against Indians (Iroquois). 

                           Etienne Brule finds the Great Lakes.
1610- Etienne Brule goes to live among the Huron and eventually becomes the first European to see Lakes Ontario, Huron and Superior. -
1610-Henry Hudson explores Hudson Bay and is set adrift by a mutinous crew and dies. 
1611- First Jesuits arrive in New France (at Port Royal)
1611-Henry Hudson cast adrift in James Bay by mutineers.
1612- Samuel de Champlain is named the Governor of New France\
1613- Foundation of St. John’s Newfoundland
1615- Champlain discovers the Great Lakes
                         
                         Champlain travels the Great Lakes
1616-Champlain completes eight years of exploring, traveling as far as west Georgian Bay. The French and Huron form an alliance.


1621- William Alexander is awarded Nova Scotia by England.
1625- Jesuits arrive in Quebec to begin missionary work among the Indians

                          The Company of One Hundred,
1627 - Company of New France established to govern and exploit "New France" - France's North American colonies.
1627- The Company of One Hundred Associates having been founded, by Cardinal Richelieu, to establish a French Empire in North America - War breaks out between England and France
          
                            Dispute over New France between England
                            and France.
1629- Champlain surrenders Quebec to Kirk brothers from England. (Port La Tour, N.S., is the only part of New France to avoid capture by English.)
1632- Treaty of Saint-Germainen-Laye returns New France to French

                            Montreal and the Iroquois.
1642- War between the Huron and Iroquois confederacies leads to the destruction of the Huron nation. The Iroquois begin raids on New France            
1642-Ville-Marie (Montreal) is founded by Paul de Maisonneuve.

                            The Hudson Bay Company and the Mississippi.
1661- Radisson and Des Groseilliers explore to Hudson Bay
1670- The English king grants a charter to the Hudson's Bay Company, giving it exclusive trading rights to vast territory drained by rivers the flow into Hudson Bay.
 1672-The Hudson Bay Company is charter by King James of England
1672- Frontenac becomes the Governor of Quebec
1673- Jolliet and Marquette reach the Mississipp
1680 - Founding of the Comedie Francaise

1682- Rene-Robert Cavalier de La Salle reaches the mouth of the Mississippi, and claims for France all the land through which the river and its tributaries flow
1690- Frontenac victorious as Sir William Phips lifts four-day siege of Quebec.

                         Frontenac Defeats the Iroquois.
1696- Frontenac and 2,000 men leave Montreal on raid that will permanently end Iroquois harassment of New France.
1699- End of the Iroquois.
1701 - Thirty-eight Indian nations sign a peace treaty near Montreal with the French, ending 20 years of diplomacy.
1701- Aug. 3- Iroquois sign lasting peace with New France

                         Queen Anne's War and Treaty of Utrecht.
1702- Having begun in Europe in1701, The War of the Spanish Succession spreads to North America (Queen Anne's War) in Acadia and New England.
1708- St. Johns falls into French hands  
1710- Port Royal falls to the English.
British gains

1713- Treaty of Utrecht cedes Hudson Bay, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and mainland Nova Scotia to England.  The French begin construction of Louisbourg, strongest fortress in North America, on Cape Breton Island.
 1720-  Fort Rouille founded on the site of Toronto.
1730- The Mississauga drive the Seneca Iroquois south of Lake Erie

                          La Vérendrye and the West.
1731- The La Vérendrye family organize expeditions beyond Lake Winnipeg and direct fur trade toward the east. They are the first recorded Europeans to sight the Canadian Rockies from the East.
1734- Louis-Joseph, son of Pierre de la Verendrye, explores westward in search of the "Western Sea", crossing the plains almost to Rocky Mountains.
1745- Fortress Louisbourg surrenders to the English (but will be handed back three years later). 

                            Seven Years War; France loses Quebec to England.
1756 - Seven Years' War begins, between New France and the larger and economically-stronger British colonies. After early French successes, the settlement of Quebec falls in 1759 and the British advance on Montreal.
1759- Wolfe defeats Montcalm on Plains of Abraham.
1763 - Under the Treaty of Paris, Britain acquires all French colonies east of the Mississippi including New France, which becomes the colony of Quebec.

                           Hearn Explores of the Far North.
1770- Samuel Hearne, guided by Chipewyan leader Matonabbee, explores in a two-years voyage the Coppermine and Slave rivers and Great Slave Lake. He is the first white man to reach the Arctic Ocean overland.

                          The Quebec Act.
1774 - The Quebec Act recognizes the French language and the Roman Catholic religion in the colony.

1776 onwards - Loyalist refugees from the American War of Independence settle in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Ontario.
1783 - Fur traders in Montreal set up the North West Company. The company builds up a network of trading posts across the west and north; its expeditions reach the Pacific coast.
1789- At the behest of the North West Company, Alexander Mackenzie journeys to the Beaufort Sea, following what would later be named the Mackenzie River.

                         Upper and Lower Canada.
1791 - Quebec divided into Lower Canada (present-day Quebec) and Upper Canada (present-day Ontario).
1800s - Immigration picks up. Thousands of newcomers from England, Scotland and Ireland arrive each year.
1811- Lord Selkirk plans a settlement of Highland Scots in Red River area, near present site of Winnipeg. First settlers arrive at Hudson Bay in the fall of 1811.

                        The War of 1812.
1812-14 - War of 1812 between the US and Britain, largely over the effects on the US of British blockades of French ports. Action includes naval battles in the Great Lakes and a US attack on York (present-day Toronto). But the US fails to realise its plans to invade Canada
1812- Americans defeated (but Sir Isaac Brock killed) in the Battle of Queenstown Heights..
1813- Perry’s victory on Lake Erie gives US rights to all Great Lakes.
1813- Laura Second warns British troops of impending American attack. ( Seventeen days earlier, scout Billy Green had revealed details of American troop positions. Both reports lead to British victories.)

1813- Americans capture Fort York at present-day Toronto.
1814- Treaty of Ghent ends the War of 1812, returns captured territory to the Americans.

                        The Hudson's Bay Company.  
1821 - Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company merge, after years of bitter rivalry descend into bloodshed.
1826- Reform editor William Lyon Mackenzie's printing shop in York is wrecked by Family Compact members

                        The Rebellions of 1837 and the Lord Durham Report
1837/8 - Armed rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada, caused by disaffection with the ruling elites, poverty and social divisions.
1839- The Lord Durham Report on the political ills in Canada recommends responsible government and the union of Upper and Lower Canada.
1841 - Act of Union-  Formation of the United Province of Canada reunites Canada East (Lower) and Canada West (Upper) Canada.
1845- Sir John Franklin and his crew disappear in the Arctic while searching the Northwest Passage.



                                      Baldwin, Lafontaine and the Elgin Report
1847- The so-called Great Ministry of Robert Baldwin and Louis-H. Lafontaine outlines the principles of responsible government in the Canadas. The Maritimes are brought into the plan by Howe, then a reform-minded member of the House of Assembly.
1848- Lord Elgin recommends full responsible government under an executive cabinet formed by Baldwin and Lafontaine.
1849- An Act of Amnesty provides for W.L. Mackenzie's return from exile in the U.S.
1854- Canada and the U.S. sign a Reciprocity Treaty, ensuring reduction of customs duties.

                                     Ottawa becomes the Capital of Canada.
1857- Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as the new capital of the United Province of Canada.
1858- Chinese immigrants from California arrive in British Columbia, attracted by the Fraser River Gold Rush.

                                      The Confederation of the Dominion of Canada.
1864- Confederation conferences in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, September 1-9, and in Quebec, October 10-29. Delegates hammer out the conditions for the union of British North American colonies.
1867- British parliament passes the British North America Act.

                              (prime ministers) JOHN A. MACDONALD  1867-1873
1867 - Confederation: British North America Act unites Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the Dominion of Canada.

1868- Thomas D'Arcy McGee, one of the fathers of Confederation and an outspoken enemy of the Fenians, becomes Canada's first assassination victim at the hands of a Fenian.

                                          Riel Occupies Land in the Red River.
1869- Riel establishes a legal provisional government in Rupert's Land.
1869- The Métis of Red River rebel, under Louis Riel, after their region is purchased by Canada from Hudson's Bay Company.
1869- Louis Riel and Métis occupy Lower Fort Garry. The red River Rebellion has begun.
1870- Métis rights recognized, as Manitoba becomes a province. (But Riel will have to flee Canada because of Scott's execution.)

                                          More Provinces Join Confederation.
1870 - Manitoba becomes fifth province, followed by British Columbia and Prince Edward Island.
1870- Province and territories joined Confederation, or were created from existing parts of Canada: Manitoba, Northwest Territories.
1871- Province and territories joined Confederation, or were created from existing parts of Canada: Prince Edward Island.

                                          The Pacific Railroad Scandal.
1873- The Pacific Scandal erupts: Prime Minister Macdonald accused of corruption in negotiations over a transcontinental railway. ( His government will be forced to resign.)
1873- Prime Minister Sir John Macdonald resigns as a result of scandal over the partial financing of the Conservative election campaign by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.
1873- Alexander McKenzie(L) is elected Prime Minister.  

                                   ALEXANDER MACKENZIE 1873-1878


                                           The RCMP.
1873- American whisky traders kill fifty-six Assiniboine in the Cypress Hills of the southern Prairies. The North-West Mounted Police (later the RCMP) is formed to keep order in the new Canadian territories
1874-  The Mounties leave Fort Dufferin on their march west to wipe out the whisky trade.
1874- Alexander Graham Bell discloses the invention of the telephone to his father at the family home on the outskirts of Brantford, Ontario.
1874- Riel is elected to the House of Commons but cannot take the seat.

                                           The Supreme Court of Canada. 
1875- The Supreme Court of Canada is established. 
-Riel is granted amnesty with the condition that he be banished for five years.

1877- Treaty No.7 cedes the last big section of Prairie land to the government of Canada.
1878- The Conservatives under Macdonald win federal election.

                                            MacDonald Re-elected.
                                    JOHN A. MACDONALD  1878-1891
1879- Macdonald introduces protective tariffs, a transcontinental railway, and immigration to the west in his National Policy.
1880- Donnelly family massacred in Western Ontario, the climax of a long feud among Irish immigrant farmers.

                                           Canada Includes the Arctic.
1880- Britain transfers the Arctic, which it claims to own, to Canada, completing Canada's modern boundaries - except for Newfoundland and Labrador.

1880 The Canadian Pacific Railway recruits thousands of underpaid Chinese Labourers.
1883- Augusta Stowe, daughter of Emily, is the first woman to graduate from the Toronto Medical School. The Toronto Women's Suffrage Association replaces the Literary Club of 1876.

                                            The Riel Rebellion.
1885- Louis Riel proclaims an illegal provisional government at Batoche, Sask. The Northwest Rebellion has begun

 1885- The Métis North-West Rebellion is led by Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont. After early victories for the rebels, the rebellion is crushed by troops who arrive on the newly built railway.
The Métis are defeated at Batoche.
1885- Riel hanged at Regina.

                                             Completion of the Canadian Pacific Railroad.
1885 - Canadian Pacific railroad is completed.
1885- The last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway main line is driven at Craigellachie, BC. The next year, Vancouver is founded as the railway's western terminus.
1890- The Boer War in South Africa stars, fought between Dutch Afrikaners (Boers) and the British. Seven thousand Canadian volunteers fight on the British side.

                                             JOHN ABBOTT 1891-1892
 
                                             JOHN THOMPSON 1892-1894

1893- Oct 27- National Council of Women meets for the first time.
                                           
                                             SIR MCKENZIE BOSWELL 1894-1896
                               
 1895- The Yukon is made into a provisional district separate from the Northwest territories.


1896- Gold is discovered in the Klondike. By the next year, 100 000 people are rushing to the Yukon in hope of getting rich.

                                                     SIR CHARLES TUPPER- 1896

                                                     WILFRED LAURIER (L) 1896-1911.
1896- Liberals under Laurier (the first French Canadian prime minister) win federal election partly on the Manitoba Schools Question, though his compromises are not instituted until 1897.

1898 - Gold rush along the upper Yukon River; Yukon Territory given separate status.
1898- The Klondike Gold Rush is fully under way. The Yukon provisional district is identified as a Territory separate from the Northwest Territories.

1903- Silver is discovered in Cobalt, Ontario, along with cobalt and nickel. Ontario rapidly became one of the world's leading silver producing districts, yielding more than 18,000 metric tonnes of silver between 1903 and 1989, when the last mine closed
1904- Charles Saunders, a native of London, Ontario, developed the Marquis wheat at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa. Maturing early than other varieties, this strain of wheat produced larger crops and resisted the cold and strong winds. The Marquis is given credit for bringing prosperity to Canada's prairies  

                                              Alberta and Saskatchewan join Canada.
1905 - Alberta and Saskatchewan become provinces of Canada.
1906- Province and territories joined Confederation, or were created from existing parts of Canada: Alberta, Saskatchewan

1908- Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery, is published. In the next ninety years the book sells more than a million copies, is made into a television movie, and becomes a popular musical.

                                                 International Commission on Great Lakes.
1909- The Boundary Waters Treaty between Canada and United States creates the International Joint Commission, which first mission was to investigate the pollution of the Great Lakes in 1912. Its research and advocacy led to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1972

                                                  Free Trade with US Rejected.
1911- A proposal for free trade between the United States and Canada is rejected in a fiercely contested general election. The Liberal government, under Wilfrid Laurier, is replaced by a Conservative government led by Sir William Borden.

                                           SIR ROBERT BORDEN 1911-1917
1911- Robert Borden and the Conservatives win federal election, defeating Laurier on the issue of Reciprocity. 

                                                  World War One.
1914 - Outbreak of World War I. Canada fights on the side of Britain and France. Some French-speaking Canadians are wary of the move.
1914- Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry is assigned to the British 80th Brigade and become the first Canadians in France.
1914- One thousand and twelve people died when Canadian Pacific steamer Empress of Ireland collided with Norwegian ship Storstad in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It’s the worst maritime disaster in Canadian history.
1914- Canada goes off the gold standard, breaking forever the link between national gold reserves and the money supply.

                                                Passage of War Measures Act.
1914- Parliament passes the War Measures Act, allowing suspension of civil rights during periods of emergency.
1915- Battle of Ypres starts in Belgium. It’s the first major battle fought by Canadian troops. They stand their ground against poison-gas attack.
1915- Canadian troops in the Second Battle of Ypres hold against history's first major gas attack. 
1915- Gravenstafel Ridge - Poison Gas is first used on the Western Front, in a German attack on French and Canadian troops on the Ypres Salient. Part of 2nd Ypres.

                                                 Borden wins Re-election and Voting Rights for Women.  
1917- A Union Government (a coalition of Liberals and Tories) under Borden wins in a federal election, in which all women of British origin are allowed to vote for the first time.
1917- The Halifax Explosion. French munitions vessel Mont Blanc explodes in Halifax Harbour killing almost 1600 people.
1917- Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden introduces Military Service Bill
.
                                                 Vimy Ridge and Conscription.
1917- Canadians capture Vimy Ridge, France (Apr. 9-12)

1917- heavy Canadian losses and a sharp decline in voluntary enlistment lead Ottawa to introduce compulsory military service. French-Canadian opposition and English-Canadian support spark bitter language and national unity crisis.
1917- Borden sits as a member of the Imperial War Cabinet, giving Canada a voice in international war policy.

                                                Establishment of NHL
1917- The National Hockey League is established in Montreal. The original teams are: Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, and Toronto Arenas.

                                                 The Income Tax Introduced.
1917- The first Federal Income Tax is introduced. The Income Tax Act was presented as a "temporary" measure to help finance World War I, but, unsurprisingly, proved too good for the government to give up, even though the war ended in November 11, 1918.  
1918- Canadians break through the German trenches at Amiens, France, beginning "Canada's Hundred Days."

                                    Armistice and Spanish Flu 
-Between 1918 and 1925 the Spanish Influenza affects all regions, killing more than 50,000 Canadians.

                                              ARTHUR MEIGHEN  1920-1921

                                     Winnipeg General Strike.              
1919- The Winnipeg General Strike. A strike in the building and metal trades spreads to other unions, and 30 000 workers stop, crippling the city until June, 25, of the same year.
1919- Mounties smash 37 day old Winnipeg General Strike.
1920- The Progressive Party formed by T. A. Crerar to obtain law tariffs for western farmers.
1921- Mackenzie King and the Liberals win federal election.


                                             WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE KING 1921-1926.
1922- Andrew Bonar Law of New Brunswick became leader of the Conservatives in England and then prime minister, post that he held for 209 days before resigning because of bad health. He moved to England in 1900 and became a MP.

                                          Female Suffrage.

1922- A Provincial Franchise Committee is organized in Québec to work towards female suffrage in the province.
1922- Of the other provinces, only Newfoundland has not yet given women the vote.
1922- Canada's reveals a growing independence by not going to Britain's aid in the Chanak crisis in Turkey.
1923- The Nobel Prize for Medicine is awarded to doctors Frederick Banting and J.J.R. Macleod. Along with Dr. Charles and others, Banting discovered the insulin as a treatment for diabetes.

                                           Creation of Inspector General of Banks.  
 1923- The Home Bank goes bankrupted with losses to depositors as well as shareholders. The failure led to the creation of the federal office of the Inspector General of Banks.
 1923- The federal government more or less forbids Chinese immigration on Dominion Day, soon to be called "Humiliation Day" by Chinese-Canadians.

                                            Canada Begins to Assert Itself against Britain.
1923- Mackenzie King leads the opposition to a common imperial policy at the Imperial Conference in London.
1925- Newfoundland women receive the right to vote.

                                                      ARTHUR MEIGHEN 1926
1926- The Balfour Report defines British dominions as autonomous and equal in status.

                                                     WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE KING 1926-1930 
1927- Britain's Privy Council awards Labrador to Newfoundland instead of Québec.
1927- The first government old-age pension pays up to $20 per month

                                               Supreme Court: Women not 'persons' under BNA act.  
1928- The Supreme Court of Canada rules that the BNA Act does not define women as "persons" and are therefore not eligible to hold public office.

-the Famous Five.

                                                Wall Street Crash and Great Depression.
1929- North American stock markets crash and the Great Depression begins.   
1929- The Workers' Unity League is formed.\
1930- R.B. Bennett leads the Conservative Party to victory over William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberals as the country plunged into the Great Depression.

                                                 RB BENNET 1930-1935

                                                Canada Given Autonomy from Britain
1931 - Statute of Westminster grants British dominions complete autonomy. The Statute of Westminster authorizes the Balfour Report (1926), granting Canada full legislative authority in both internal and external affairs.

1931- The Governor General becomes a representative of the Crown

                                              Relief Camps for Unemployed.
1932- Bennett's government establishes militaristic and repressive Relief Camps to cope with the problem of unemployed single men.
1932- Woodsworth plays a role in forming a democratic socialist political party, the Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Calgary.
1934- The birth of the Dionne quintuplets attracts international media attention.

                                              WILLIAM LYON MACKEZIE KING 1935-1948.

                                               Creation of Bank of Canada
1935- The Bank of Canada is created with a mandate to be the sole issuer of Canadian bank notes. The first issue of bank notes was unilingual English or French, becoming bilingual in 1937.

                                              March to Ottawa Against Relief Camps, 
1935- Inspired in part by the Workers' Unity League, about one thousand unemployed and disillusioned men from all over the western provinces begin a mass march, usually called the On-to-Ottawa trek, to confront Bennett over the Relief Camps (June 3-July 1)
1935- In an attempt to remove a corrupt Liberal administration, Maurice Duplessis, a Québec Conservative, allies with a splinter group of Liberals under Paul Gouin to form the Union nationale.

                                                   Aberhart and Social Credit
1935- William Aberhart is elected premier of Alberta on a Social Credit platform and begins issuing his own in the form of prosperity certificates which could be used as currency. The Supreme Court of Canada, however, disallowed the practice, ruling that banking and money fell under the control of federal government

                                                    Duplessis and the Union Nationale
1936- Driven by the reformist Union nationale, Duplessis manages to oust Gouin and becomes Premier of Québec.
1936- Seven hundred and eighty Canadians died when temperatures exceeded 42 degrees Celsius from Alberta to Ontario, in Canada's longest and deadliest heat wave.

                                                    The CBC
1936- The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is established.

                                                    Federal-Provincial Finance Relations Studied.
1937- The Rowell-Sirois Commission is appointed to investigate the financial relationship between the federal government and the provinces.
1938- Meeting Mackenzie King in Kingston, Franklin D. Roosevelt is the first U.S. president to make an official visit to Canada.

                                                      The Workers' Unity League.
 
1938- The Workers' Unity League helps to organize the Vancouver Sit-ins in which Relief Camp workers and others occupied the Vancouver Post Office and some other public buildings. The protest was peaceful until the police extracted the men by force on Bloody Sunday, when 35 people were wounded.
1938- Thomas Carroll built the first experimental model of the self-propelled farm combine in a Massey-Harris factory in Toronto. The machine revolutionized wheat farming in Canada by saving time, money, and backbreaking work.
1939- Trans-Canada Airlines (later Air Canada) makes the first scheduled passenger flight from Vancouver to Montreal.                                                        


                                              World War Two: Canada Declares War on Germany.
1939- Canada declares war on Germany after approval by the Canadian parliament.           
1939 - Outbreak of World War II: Canadian forces are active in Italy, Europe, the Atlantic and elsewhere.
1940- Idola Saint-Jean and other early feminists finally succeed in obtaining the vote for Québecois women.
 1940- The Unemployment Insurance Commission is introduced. Canada and the U.S. form a Permanent Joint Defense Board

                                                 Federal Provincial Minimum  Financial Standards.
1940- Despite provincial disagreement, some of the financial recommendations of the Rowell-Sirois commission -- especially those relating to a minimum national standard of services -- are implicitly and unilaterally adopted by Ottawa.
-Parliament passes the controversial National Resources Mobilization Act (June), which allows conscription for military service only within Canada

                                                       Unemployment Insurance Brought in 
1941- The first national unemployment-insurance program comes into operation.  
1941- Hong Kong falls to the Japanese and Canadians are taken as POW's. The U.S. enters the war due to Japanese aggression. Together, the incidents lead to racial intolerance in Canada.
1941- The Fall of Hong Kong. More than 500 Canadians die in battle or of starvation and ill-treatment in Japanese prison camps.

                                                      German Attacks in Gulf of St, Lawrence.
1942- From May to October, German submarines in the Gulf of St. Lawrence sink twenty-three Allied ships, with a loss of 258 lives. The gulf is then closed to ocean shipping until 1944.
1942- About 22000 Canadians of Japanese descent are stripped of non- portable possessions, interned and evacuated as security risks.
1942- A national plebiscite approves amendment of the National Resources Mobilization Act to permit sending conscripts overseas, once again revealing deep divisions between Québec and English Canada.

                                                       The Disaster at Dieppe
 
1942- The Dieppe raid, Canada's first participation in the European theatre, is a disaster. Dieppe raid leaves 907 Canadians dead. 1, 946 capture.
1942- Twenty two thousand Japanese Canadians are rounded up by RCMP and placed in work camps until after the war.
1943- Canadian troops invade Sicily and, with other Allied troops, fight their way north through Italy. They reach Rome on June 4, 1944.

                                                        D-Day.
1944- D-Day Canadians troops, along with British and Americans, land successfully on the coast of France and begin to drive the Germans back.
1944- The CCF under Tommy Douglas wins the provincial election in Saskatchewan, forming the first socialist government in North America.
1944- The Family Allowance Act is passed.
1944- Canadian forces fight as a separate army.
1945- Armistice ends World War Two.

                                                      The Gouzenko Spy Scandal.
1945- Canada joins the United Nations.
1945- Igor Gouzenko defects from the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa and reveals the existence in Canada of a Soviet spy network.
1946- Canada's first nuclear reactor goes on line in Chalk River, Ontario.

1947 - Canada is declared to be of equal status with Great Britain within the Commonwealth.

                                              LOUIS ST. LAURENT, 1948-1957.
1948- Louis St. Laurent succeeds Mackenzie as prime minister.
1948- The Income Tax Act is enacted, taking effect for the 1949 and subsequent taxation years. After numerous amendments to the Income War Tax Act introduced in 1917, the new act largely reworded and codified the former law with little change in actual policy.

                                          Newfoundland and Labrador join Confederation

1949- Newfoundland and Labrador join Confederation as the tenth province.
1949- Canada's Supreme Court replaces Britain's judicial committee as the final court of appeal.
1949- Joey Smallwood brings Newfoundland into Confederation.
1949 - Canada becomes founding member of Nato. Newfoundland, until then a British dominion, becomes a province of Canada. 
1950- Harold Adams Innes publishes Empire and Communications, a book that deals with the role of communications in various societies throughout history. Innes shows the connection between communications technology and the ability of different empires to survive and prosper.
-1950- The construction of Trans-Canada Highway starts, to be completed in 1970. The 7 821 kilometer road cost more than one billion, linked the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and its ranked as one of Canada's most important transportation projects     
1950- Inuit win the right to vote in federal elections.

                                                     The Korean War
1950 - War in Korea. Canadian forces participate in the United Nations war effort.


1951- The Massey Royal Commission reports that Canadian cultural life is dominated by American influences. Recommendations include improving grants to universities and the eventual establishment of the Canada Council (1957).
1952- Canada's first television stations begin part-time broadcasts in Montréal and Toronto.
1952- Former prime minister Lester B. Pearson is elected president of the United Nations General Assembly.
1953- The Korean War ends.
 1953- The Stratford Festival opens.




1954- Hurricane Hazel kills almost seven dozen people in Toronto
1954- The post-war boom is briefly interrupted by an economic slump.

                                            Lester B. Pearson Settles Suez.
1956- United Nations General Assembly adopts Lester B. Pearson's Suez peace-keeping plan.
1956- The Liberals use closure to limit the Pipeline Debate -- which begins with concern over the funding of the natural gas industry and ends in controversy over proper parliamentary procedure (May 8- June 6). The action contributes directly to their electoral defeat (after twenty two years in power) the following year.

                                   JOHN DIEFENBAKER, 1957-1963. 
1957- John George Diefenbaker leads the Conservative Party to decisive victory over Louis St. Laurent's Liberals in a federal election, winning more seats in the House of Commons than any party has before.

                                        Pearson Wins Nobel Peace Prize.     
1957- Lester Pearson wins the Nobel Prize for proposing a United Nations peacekeeping force to prevent war over control of the Suez Canal.
1957- John Diefenbaker and the Conservatives win a minority government.
1957- The Canada Council is formed to foster Canadian cultural uniqueness.
1957- Registered Retirement Saving Plan is introduced allowing Canadians who were either self-employed or did not belong to a benefit plan could put aside money for their retirement on a tax-deferred basis. Today, the RRSP is a multi-billion dollar industry and considered one of the few tax breaks available for ordinary Canadians.

                                                      The Springhill Mine Disaster.                                    
1958- Diefenbaker's minority becomes the largest majority ever obtained in a federal election.
1958- The Springhill Mining Disaster. Shifting rock kills seventy-four coal miner. Some of the survivors are trapped for eight days before being rescued.
1959- The St. Lawrence Seaway opens.

                                                  Diefenbaker Cancels the Avro Arrow.
1959- Diefenbaker cancels the Avro Arrow project (CF-105 aircraft) to public outcry. Almost 14000 jobs are lost.
1960- Social changes and a new government in Quebec lead to the beginning of Quebec's "Quiet Revolution". Stirring of interest in independence for Quebec soon follow    

                                          LESTER B. PEARSON, 1963-1968.
1963- Lester B. Pearson elected Prime Minister.
1966- Canada Pension Plan (or CPP) is created, requiring contributions from both employers and employees for a publicly financed retirement saving plan. Lately the CPP has been mired in controversy about its solvency, resulting in steep increase inn the premiums paid by employers and employees

                                                    The Munsinger Affair
March 4- The Munsinger affair (in which the Associate Minister of National Defence, Pierre Sévigny, had a liaison with a German divorcée suspected by the RCMP) becomes Canada's first political sex scandal.

                                              DeGaulle: "Vive le Quebec Libre"
 
1967- July 24-French president Charles de Gaulle says "Vive le Québec libre" in Montréal.
1965 - The present Canadian flag is adopted, replacing one which had incorporated the British flag.
1967 - Expo 67 in Montreal provides impetus to Canadian national identity. French President Charles de Gaulle visits and declares 'Vive le Quebec libre' (Long live free Quebec).
April 25-   The air force, army, and navy are unified as the Canadian Armed Forces.
April-The air force, army, and navy are unified as the Canadian Armed Forces.

                                                       Centennial of Confederation.
1967- July 1- Canada celebrates a hundred years of Confederation. Across the country, communities sponsor centennial projects. In Ottawa, on July 1, Queen Elizabeth II cuts a giant birthday cake.
Dec.-Federal legislation abolishes the death penalty for murder, except when police officers or prison guards are the victims.

                                                            The Status of Women
1968- A Royal Commission on the Status of Women is appointed.

                                                  PIERRE TRUDEAU, 1968-1979.
June 25- Pierre Trudeau succeeds Pearson as leader of the Liberals and wins a majority in a federal election in an atmosphere like a media circus. "Trudeaumania" sweeps the country in the subsequent federal election.

                                                     Founding of the Parti Quebecois.
1968- Rene Levesque founds the Parti Quebecois, with the goal of making Quebec a "sovereign" (independent) state "associated" with Canada.
1969- May- Abortion laws are liberalized.
July 9- English and French are both recognized as official languages by the federal government.

                                               The FLQ: The October Crisis; The War Measures Act.
1970- Oct. 5- British trade commissioner James Cross is kidnapped by the FLQ, precipitating the October Crisis.
Oct. 10- Québec's labour and immigration minister Pierre Laporte is kidnapped. The October Crisis. After the FLQ kidnaps a Quebec government minister and a British trade commissioner, Prime Minister Trudeau invokes the War Measures Act, which allows Canadians to be arrested and held without being charged.
Oct 16- The War Measures Act is invoked, banning the FLQ and leading eventually to nearly 500 arrests.
Oct 17- The strangled body of Pierre Laporte, a Quebec cabinet minister, was found in the trunk of a car in St. Hubert, Quebec, during the FLQ crisis. 1971- Paul and Jacques Rose, Francis Simard, and Bernard Lortie were charged with kidnapping and non-capital murder. FLQ kidnappers later all were convicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from eight years to double life.

                                                    Multiculturalism
1971-The federal government officially adopts a policy of multiculturalism.
March 5- Fifty-two-year-old bachelor prime minister Pierre Trudeau married twenty-two-year-old Margaret Sinclair, the daughter of a former Liberal cabinet minister. From then, though the birth of their three sons, to the couple's divorce in 1984, the world watched as the antics of Pierre and Margaret charmed and same times embarrassed Canadians.
-The Tobacco companies announced that effective in 1972 they would voluntarily place a warning on cigarette packages and would no advertise cigarettes on radio or television.

                                               Trudeau: Liberal Minority.
1972- Trudeau's Liberals win a minority government by only two seats
1973- Jan 5- The House of Commons criticizes U.S. bombing of North Vietnam.
1973- The separatist Parti Québecois becomes the official opposition in a provincial election.


                                                 Trudeau: Liberal Majority.
1974- July 8- Trudeau's Liberals win a majority government.
Nov 13- Henry Morgentaler is acquitted of illegal abortion charges in Montréal.
1975- Oct 14- Trudeau institutes wage and price controls to fight inflation.
-TV cameras are allowed in the House of Commons for the first time.
1975- July 18-  Foreign Investment Review Agency intends to screen foreign investment in Canada.

                                             Pequistes Elected in Quebec.
1976- Rene Levesque and Parti Quebecois are elected in Quebec.
1976- July 14- Rene Levesque and Parti Quebecois are elected in Quebec.
July4- Canada announces a 200-mile coastal fishing zone.
1976- 14 October- Organized by the Canadian Labor Congress to oppose wage controls, the Day of Protest was the Canada's first national general strike and saw more than one million workers leaving their jobs for a day.

                                              Quebec Passes Language Law- Bill 101.
1977- Aug. 28- Québec passes Bill 101, restricting English schooling to children of parents who had been educated in English schools.
1978- Sun Life Assurance acknowledges that it moved its head office to Toronto because of Montréal's language laws and political instability.

                                                        JOE CLARK, 1979-1980.
1979- May 22- Conservatives under Joe Clark win a federal election.
1979- Dec. 13-  Clark's Conservatives lose a non-confidence vote on the budget, forcing their resignation.
 1979- Dec 13- The Supreme Court of Canada declares unconstitutional the creation of officially unilingual legislatures in Manitoba and Québec.

                                  Ken Taylor Rescues US Embassy staff in Iran Hostage Crisis.
1980- Jan 28- Ken Taylor, Canadian ambassador to Iran, becomes an international celebrity for helping six Americans escape Tehran.

                                                   Quebec Separation Referendum Defeated.
1980- May 15- A referendum on the separation of Quebec is defeated. Quebec voters reject "sovereignty-association" in favor of renewed Confederation.

                                PIERRE TRUDEAU, 1980-1984.
1980- Pierre Trudeau re-elected. 
1980-  Federal legislation allows 100 percent owned foreign banks to be established in Canada.

                                         Repatriation of the Constitution.
1981- Nov. 5- The federal government and every province except Quebec reach agreement for patriating the Canadian constitution (bringing it to Canada from Great Britain).
 -The federal and provincial governments (except Québec) agree on a method to repatriate Canada's constitution

1982- April 7- The Québec government demand for a veto over constitutional change is rejected.
1982 - April 17- The UK transfers final legal powers over Canada. Canada is now completely free. The country adopts its new constitution, which includes a charter of rights. Canada gets a new Constitution Act, including a Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

                                                1982 Recession.
1982- The worst recession since the Great Depression begins.
1983- Jeanne Sauve is named Canada's first female governor general. She was also the first woman Speaker of the House of Commons and the first female MP from Quebec to be a cabinet minister.
1983- Public outcry opposes the government's approval of U.S. cruise missile testing in the west.  1984 - Trudeau retires.

                                 JOHN TURNER, 1984.
1984- June 4- John Turner succeeds Trudeau as Liberal prime minister (June 30) but is soon defeated by Brian Mulroney's Conservatives with an even larger majority than that achieved by Diefenbaker in 1958

                                 BRIAN MULRONEY, 1984-1993.
1984- Sept. 4- Mulroney realigns foreign policy towards Europe and the US.

                                            The Air India Bombing.
1985 - 329 people, including 280 Canadians, are killed in a bomb attack on an Air India jet travelling between Montreal and London.
1985- U.S. ice-breaker Polar Sea challenges Canada's Arctic sovereignty by traveling through the Northwest Passage.
1985- Ontario Liberals under David Peterson end forty years of Conservative Premiership.
1985- Lincoln Alexander becomes Ontario's first black lieutenant-governor.
1985- Dec. 2- Mulroney and U.S. president Ronald Reagan declare mutual support for orbital Strategic Defense Initiatives (Star Wars) and Free Trade at the Shamrock Summit (so-named for their ethnic backgrounds) in Québec City.
1986- Jan 31- The Canadian dollar hits an all-time low of 70.2 U.S. cents on international money markets
1986- May 22- The U.S. imposes tariffs on some imported Canadian wood products.
1986- Aug. 5- Canada adopts sanctions against South Africa for its apartheid policies.
1986- Oct 6- Canada receives a United Nations award for sheltering world refugees

                                                          Meech Lake.
1987- April 30- Ten provincial premiers and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney agree to the Meech Lake Accord, which would make large changes to Canada's Constitution and address Quebec's concerns. Parliament and the legislatures of all provinces have three years to accept the Accord. It dies in  
June,  1991, when both Newfoundland and Manitoba refuse to endorse it

1987- Oct. 3-  The Canada- U.S. Free Trade agreement is reached, but still requires ratification 
1987- Oct 19- Stock prices tumble throughout the world.

                                                        Free Trade With the US  
1988- Dec. Free Trade legislation passes the House of Commons and the Senate.

1988- Dec. 21-  The supreme Court strikes down Quebec's 'French Only' sign law. Finding a loophole (the "notwithstanding" clause) in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the province reinstates the law.


1988-  Manitoba Premier Gary Filmon slows the ratification of the Meech Lake Accord in reaction to Québec's move.
1988- Jan- The Supreme Court strikes down existing legislation against abortion as unconstitutional.
1989- 1. Jan- Free Trade goes into effect.
1989- June 5- The government announces cuts in the funding of VIA Rail, to much public outcry.

1989- Dec- The first woman to lead a federal political party, Audrey McLaughlin replaces Ed Broadbent as head of the NDP.

                                        Fourteen Women Murdered at Montreal Polytechnique
1989- Dec. 6- Fourteen female engineering students are separated from their male colleagues and murdered by a gunman at the University of Montréal.
1990- April- The federal government settles a land claim with the Inuit that will give them 350 000 square km of territory in the North, to be called Nunavut. 



1990- A land dispute causes a 78-day armed confrontation between Mohawks and the army on a reserve near Oka, Quebec.

                                               The Death of the Meech Lake Accord.
1990- July 25- Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells further slows down the signing of the Meech Lake Accord, but a native member of the Manitoba legislative, Elijah Harper, deals it the fatal blow with his absolute refusal to accept Québec as Canada's principal, if not only, "distinct society" (June 22). One of the many responses is the formation of the Bloc Québecois by a handful of disenchanted politicians.

1990- Sept- Bob Rae upsets David Peterson and, with a surprising majority, becomes Ontario's first NDP Premier.

                                                The Goods and Services Tax.
1990- Dec.- Despite the Liberals' sometimes peculiar stalling tactics, the Senate passes the unpopular Goods and Services Tax.
1991- Jan 1- GST (Good and Services Tax) is introduced by Brian Mulroney's Conservative government. The 7 percent tax paid at the cash register replaced the 13.5 percent federal manufacturer's tax.

                                                               The Gulf War 
1991- Jan-  The war in the Persian Gulf starts. Canada sends three warships, twenty-six fighter jets, and 2 400 people to the Persian Gulf as part of a United Nations effort to force Iraqi troops to withdraw from Kuwait.
1991- Jan 15-  Canadian forces join the multinational forces in the battle to drive Saddam Hussein's Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
1991-  May- George Erasmus, leader of the Assembly of First Nations, resigns at the end of his second term (May); he is succeeded by Ovide Mercredi, whose popularity earns him the nickname of "eleventh premier."
1991- Yet another committee crosses the country soliciting citizens' opinions on proposed constitutional reforms.


1991-  The Tungavik sign an agreement with Ottawa to create a new, quasi-independent Inuit territory in the eastern Arctic.
1991- British Columbia premier Bill Van Der Zalm resigns in the midst of a real estate scandal.

                                                         NAFTA
1992 - Canada, US and Mexico finalize the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).
Conservatives' election disaster

                                              Charlottetown Accord Rejected.
1992- Aug. 28- Canadian leaders adopt the Charlottetown Accord to reform Canada's constitution, but in a national referendum in October, Canadians reject it. 
1992- Oct. 26- Canadians vote "no" in a referendum seeking popular support for the Charlottetown Agreement, intended as a corrective to the Canadian Constitution in the wake of the failed Meech Lake Accord.

                                     KIM CAMPBELL, 1993.
 1993- June- Kim Campbell replaces Brian Mulroney as the head of the Progressive Conservatives, becoming Canada's first woman Prime Minister.

                             Conservatives Defeated, Losing almost all Seats.
1993 - Mulroney resigns as leader of the Progressive Conservatives in February but remains prime minister until June. He is succeeded by Kim Campbell, Canada's first female prime minister. The Canadian parliament ratifies Nafta. Campbell calls an election in October, but her party suffers a humiliating defeat, winning only 2 seats when previously it had held 169. Campbell resigns. Jean Chretien of the Liberals becomes prime minister.          

1993- July- Part of northwest B.C. is set aside as a world heritage conservation site. Protesters block loggers' access to ancient forests near Clayoquot Sound.

                                             JEAN CHRETIEN- 1993-2003
1993- Oct 25- Liberal leader Jean Chrétien is elected in a landslide victory, with Lucien Bouchard's Bloc Québecois and Preston Manning's Reform Party only one seat apart in distant second and third places. The Progressive Conservatives, in power for nine years, are reduced to a mere two seats -- less than is required to be considered an official party.

                                       The North America Free Trade Agreement
1994- The North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) comes into effect, linking Canada, the United States, and Mexico in a new economic partnership.

1994- Sept 15- Separatist Jacques Parizeau becomes the premier of Quebec.

1995- "Turbot war" erupts when Canada arrests a Spanish ship in a bid to prevent European fleets from over-harvesting Newfoundland fish stocks.

                                     Referendum in Quebec barely Rejects Independence.
 
1995 -Oct 30-  A referendum in Quebec rejects independence by a margin of only 1%.
1996- Jan 29-  Lucien Bouchard is sworn in as the new premier of Quebec 
1997 - Chretien is re-elected prime minister with a reduced majority.

                                             Eastern Canada Ice Storm
1998- Jan 4-9- The most desctructive and disruptive ice storm in Canadian history droops close to one hundred millimetres of freezing rain in some areas of central and eastern Canada, affecting nearly 20 percent of Canada's population, mainly in Montreal and Ottawa.

                                         Federal Rules on Quebec Separation.
1998 - Supreme court rules that if Quebec votes to secede, it can only carry out the policy with the federal government's consent. For its part, the federal government is obliged to negotiate on secession if a majority of Quebec's citizens desires it.

                                                  Ottawa Rejects Bank Mergers.
1998- Dec. -The federal government rejects proposed bank mergers that would have united the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce with the Toronto-Dominion Bank and the Royal Bank with the Bank of Montreal.
1999 - Territory of Nunavut is formed in the north-west. It is the first territory in Canada to have a majority indigenous population.
1999- Dec. 14- The "Millennium Bomber" -Algerian born Canadian and Montreal native Ahmed Ressam is arrested by US Customs while crossing the border from British Columbia. Customs agents find 100 pounds of explosives hidden in his car. He later confesses they were destined for a terror attack on Los Angeles. 
2000 - Chretien again elected prime minister. His Liberal Party picks up votes in Quebec, weakening support for Quebec separatists.
2001 April - Leaders of countries from across the Americas meet in Canada at the Summit of the Americas. They reaffirm their commitment to setting up the world's largest free trade zone by 2005.

                                                     Canada Stays out of Iraq War.
2003 March - Canada opts not to join the US-led coalition against Iraq. The move sparks fierce domestic political debate, and Prime Minister Chretien comes under fire from Washington.
2003 March-April - Toronto is hit by the biggest outbreak of the flu-like Sars virus outside Asia.
2003 April - Liberal Party beats the Parti Quebecois in provincial elections in Quebec, ending nine years of rule by the pro-independence party.
2003 14 August - Biggest power cut in North American history hits Toronto, Ottawa and other parts of Ontario as well as cities in the US.

                                               PAUL MARTIN, 2003-2005
2003 December - Former finance minister Paul Martin is sworn in as prime minister. Jean Chretien retires after 10 years in office.


                                                        The Sponsorship Scandal
2004 February - Scandal erupts over misuse of government money intended for advertising and sponsorship. Prime minister orders inquiry.
2004 June - Prime Minister Paul Martin is returned to power in general elections, but his Liberal party is stripped of its majority.
2005 May - Government wins a confidence motion in parliament by just one vote. The opposition had been determined to defeat the government over the financial scandal.

2005 July - Senate approves a bill to legalise same-sex marriages.
2005 August - Canada sends naval vessels to Churchill, an Arctic port, for the first time in 30 years. The move is seen as a challenge to rival territorial claims and follows a spat with Denmark over an uninhabited island.

                                              Gomery Commission on the Sponsorship Scandal.
2005 November - A commission set up to investigate the scandal involving misspent government money exonerates PM Paul Martin, but criticises his predecessor Jean Chretien.

                                               Liberals Defeated by Sponsorship Scandal
2005 November - Paul Martin's minority Liberal government is brought down in a vote of no confidence.
Conservative win

                                          STEPHEN HARPER, 2006-
2006 January - Stephen Harper's Conservatives defeat Paul Martin in general elections, ending 12 years of Liberal government.

                                            Extension of Canada's Afghan Deployment.
2006 May - MPs vote by a narrow margin to extend Canada's military deployment in Afghanistan until 2009.

                                             Arrest of 'Toronto 17' In Islamist Plot.
2006 June - In a major anti-terror operation, 17 people are arrested in Toronto on suspicion of planning attacks. An official says the men were inspired by al-Qaeda.
2006 November - Parliament agrees that the Quebecois should be considered a "nation" within Canada. The proposal was put forward by PM Stephen Harper.
2007 March - The Action Democratic Party, which advocates more autonomy for Quebec but within a federal Canada, makes dramatic gains in provincial elections.

                                            Government Apologizes to Natives for Residential Schools
2008 June - Government apologizes for earlier policy of forcing aboriginal children to attend boarding schools aimed at assimilating them. Most of the schools were closed in the 1970s.

2008 October - Conservatives improve their standing in early general election, but still fall short of gaining overall majority.

                                   Harper Avoids Non-Confidence by Suspending Parliament. 
2008 December - Opposition parties unite to bring down the minority Conservative government over its response to the global economic crisis but PM Stephen Harper dodges a no-confidence vote by asking Governor-General Michelle Jean to suspend parliament until January.
2009 February - Parliament passes budget including major stimulus package, thereby ensuring survival of the Conservative minority government.
2009- May 2, Michael Ignatieff endorsed as Liberal Party Leader, becoming leader of the opposition.
2009- Oct- Five of the 'Toronto 17' have been convicted and sentenced.

                                                    Harper Prorogues Parliament.
2009 December PM Stephen Harper prorogues parliament for two months, saying the government needs more time to adjust its budget. Opposition leaders accuse him of seeking to avoid a debate on the government's alleged complicity in the torture of Afghan detainees.
2010 January - Canada hosts Winter Olympics.
-Suspected ringleader of Islamic extremist group is jailed for life for plot to bomb Toronto stock exchange.
2010 June - Rwandan jailed under Canada's new war crimes act allowing courts to consider war crimes committed abroad.
                                             
                                  Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Native Peoples
-Truth and reconciliation commission begins hearings into policy which forced indigenous people to abandon their cultural identity.
2010 July - Political storm over plan to change national census.
2011 March - Opposition parties withdraw support from minority Conservative government in row over budget proposals. Government falls after losing no-confidence vote.

                                       Harper wins Majority Government. 
 
2011 May - Conservatives win third consecutive term in government, and a parliamentary majority. The elections shake up the opposition, with the Liberal Party slipping into third place for the first time.
2011- May 25- Ignatieff resigns as Liberal leader. He is replaced by Bob Rae.
2011 April - Toronto policeman's remark that women can avoid rape by avoiding dressing like ''sluts'', prompts a global phenomenon: a slutwalk protest.
2011 October - Supreme Court rejects bid to shut the Insite Centre, the only facility in North America where addicts may legally inject drugs
2011 November - Canada joins the US and Britain in tightening sanctions against Iran.

                                                Canada Withdraws from Kyoto.
2011 December - Canada becomes the first country to formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol on reducing emissions of greenhouse gasses.
2012 January - Prime Minister Stephen Harper calls for a fresh start in government relations with Canada's native people.
2012- March 5 – The federal government announces they are closing the Canadian embassy in Damascus, Syria amid the continuing violence in that country.

                       Tom Mulcair Endorsed as NDP Leader and becomes Leader of the Opposition
2012- March 24- Thomas Mulcair is elected leader of the New Democratic Party.
2012- March 29- Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announces the 2012 budget which includes cuts to the CBC, the reduction of over 19,000 federal jobs, and the discontinuation of the penny by the Royal Canadian Mint.
-The federal government announces it will gradually raise the age of eligibility for Old Age Security
from 65 to 67 starting in 2023.

                                                    Quebec Student Protests.



2012- April 19- One hundred and fifty students are arrested in Gatineau after violent protests against Quebec's proposed tuition hikes.
2012- April 23- the Conservatives in Alberta win a majority with the right wing Wild Rose Party becoming the official opposition.
2012- May 24- May 24 - Nearly 700 people are held in two Quebec cities in the biggest single night of mass arrests since student protests over fees began in February.
2012- June 18- June 18 – 200th anniversary of the start of  the War of 1812.
2012- July 16- A shooting at a block party in Toronto kills two and injures 19.
2102- Sept 4- In Quebec, the Parti Quebecois wins a majority government led Canada's first female premier, Pauline Maurois.
2012- September 26 – A controversial motion (M-312) to re-open the abortion debate is defeated, in the House of Commons, with Members voting 203–91 against  
2012- Oct 15- Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty of Ontario announces his resignation.
2012- November 5 -Gerald Tremblay resigns as mayor of Montreal, following allegations of corruption within the city government at the provincial Charbonneau Commission.
2012-2013- Charbonneau Commission widens, involving Quebec construction racketeers and politicians.

The London Ontario Four- Algeria Terror Lot.
 2013- Jan. 16, : al-Qaeda-linked terrorists take 800 hostages at an Algerian gas plant. At least 39 hostages and 29 militants are killed. The armed Islamists were led by al-Qaeda-linked Mokhtar Belmokhtar.  Among the dead are Xristos Katsiroubas and Ali Medlej, both in their early 20s. It is later discovered that both had attended London South Secondary in London Ontario and both had trained with Mokhtar and become part of his operation at the Amenas gas plant.
 2013- April 22- Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, and Raed Jaser, 35, from Toronto are arrested for conspiring to bomb a Via Rail train bound from Toronto to New York. They are accused by the RCMP of taking part in an Al Qaeda-led conspiracy.