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Events from the year 2002 in Canada.

Incumbents

Estimated Canadian population: 31,413,990

Events

January to March

• January 11 - Ford Motor Co. announces the closing of the truck assembly plant in Oakville, Ontario
• January 14 - Industry Minister and Liberal leadership hopeful Brian Tobin announces that he is leaving politics.
• January 15 - Jean Chrétien shuffles the cabinet mostly to remove the scandal-tainted Alfonso Gagliano
• January 18 - Walkerton Report released: it puts partial blame for the water tragedy on the provincial government
• January 25 - Canada officially re-establishes diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.
• February 6 - Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II's accession as Queen of Canada
• March 4 - Federal government allows stem cell research using human embryos
• March 7 - James K. Bartleman appointed Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
• March 11 - Six children die when their home burns down in Quatsino, British Columbia
• March 20 - Stephen Harper defeats Stockwell Day to become leader of the Canadian Alliance.
• March 23 - Ernie Eves is elected to replace Mike Harris as party leader at the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership convention
• March 26 - Supreme Court of British Columbia rules that works of the imagination are not child pornography

April to June

• April 15 - Ernie Eves becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Mike Harris
• April 16 - The New York Sun, partially owned by former Canadian Conrad Black, is launched
• April 17 - Four Canadian infantrymen are killed, and eight injured, in Afghanistan by friendly fire from two U.S. F-16s, dropping a 230-kilogram bomb
• May 5 - Hells Angels leader Maurice Boucher is convicted in Montreal of two counts of first-degree murder
• May 7 - A court injunction is granted to Marc Hall, permitting him to bring a same-sex date to his high school prom
• May 26 - Jean Chrétien shuffles the Cabinet again, removing Art Eggleton and Don Boudria, who were both embroiled in scandals
• June 2 - Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, on the advice of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, dismisses Finance Minister Paul Martin and replaces him with John Manley
• June 5 - Alexa McDonough announces her resignation as leader of the federal New Democratic Party
• June 7 - Quebec becomes the first province to grant homosexual couples full parental rights
• June 26 - G8 leaders meet at Kananaskis, Alberta

July to September

• July 14 - During Bastille Day celebrations, Jacques Chirac is saved from an assassination attempt by a Canadian tourist
• July 23 - Pope John Paul II arrives in Toronto for World Youth Day
• August 6 - Joe Clark announces decision to resign as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
• August 21 - Facing pressure from Martin loyalists Jean Chrétien announces he will step down as prime minister in February 2004
• September - A Senate committee rules that marijuana should be legalized in Canada

October to December

• October 4 - The Queen arrives in Canada to start of 12-day tour to mark her Golden Jubilee as Queen of Canada
• October 7 - American officials deport Canadian citizen Maher Arar to Syria
• October 29 - Canada issues a travel advisory for all those of Middle Eastern decent travelling to the United States
• October 31 - Pat Buchanan calls Canada Soviet Canuckistan
• October 31 - In Sauvé v. Canada (Chief Electoral Officer), the Supreme Court rules that all prisoners have the right to vote under Section Three of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, regardless of the stipulation in the Canada Elections Act that prisoners serving sentences of two years or more may not vote
• November 26 - Françoise Ducros, the Prime Minister's communication director resigns over her comment that U.S. President George W. Bush is a "moron"
• November 28 - The Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada (the Romanow Commission) recommends a $15-billion infusion into the health care system
• November 30 - Dennis Fentie becomes premier of Yukon Territory, replacing Pat Duncan
• December 16 - Canada signs the Kyoto Accord, limiting greenhouse gas emissions
• December 17 - The Quebec City police arrest many people in a child prostitution bust that includes many well-known people of the city.
• Towns of Chicoutimi, Jonquière and La Baie consolidated into a new city officially called Saguenay.

Arts and literature

Art

• July 10 - At a Sotheby's auction, Peter Paul Rubens's painting "The Massacre of the Innocents" is sold for £49.5 million (US$76.2 million) to Canadian Kenneth Thomson.

New books

• Family Matters: Rohinton Mistry
• In Search of America: Peter Jennings
• The Last Crossing: Guy Vanderhaeghe
• Lucky Man: Michael J. Fox
• Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World: Margaret MacMillan
• Unless: Carol Shields
• Negotiating with the Dead, A Writer on Writing: Margaret Atwood
• Fences and Windows: Naomi Klein
• School Spirit: Douglas Coupland
• High Latitudes: An Arctic Journey: Farley Mowat

Awards

• October 22 - Yann Martel wins the Booker Prize for his novel Life of Pi
• November 5 - Austin Clarke wins the Giller Prize for his novel The Polished Hoe
• Margaret MacMillan wins the Samuel Johnson Prize for Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: Mary Lawson, Crow Lake
• See 2002 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Geoffrey Bilson Award: Virginia Frances Schwartz, If I Just Had Two Wings
• Gerald Lampert Award:
• Griffin Poetry Prize: Christian Bök, Eunoia
• Marian Engel Award: Terry Griggs
• Matt Cohen Prize: Norman Levine
• Norma Fleck Award: Gena K. Gorrell, Heart and Soul: The Story of Florence Nightingale
• Pat Lowther Award:
• Stephen Leacock Award: Will Ferguson, Generica
• Timothy Findley Award: Bill Gaston
• Trillium Book Award English: Austin Clarke, The Polished Hoe and Nino Ricci, Testament
• Trillium Book Award French: Michel Ouellette, Le testament du couturier and Éric Charlebois, Faux-fuyants

Music

• Joni Mitchell wins a Grammy for life time achievement

New music

• A New Day Has Come: Céline Dion
• Let Go: Avril Lavigne
• Acoustic Kitty: John Mann
• Under Rug Swept: Alanis Morissette
• Vapor Trails: Rush
• Does This Look Infected?: Sum 41
• Up!: Shania Twain
• What If It All Means Something: Chantal Kreviazuk

Film

• February 9 - Production of homo Movie Begins, based on the homo Series.
• Atom Egoyan's, Ararat is released.

Television

• September 30 - CBC starts an uproar when it announces Ron MacLean will not be returning as host of Hockey Night in Canada. The CBC later agrees to MacLean's salary demands.
• Sesame Park, a Canadian spin-off of the American show Sesame Street, is cancelled due to low ratings, after more than three decades of airing on CBC Television.
• The CBC celebrates its 50th anniversary as a television broadcaster.

Sport

• February 8-February 24 - 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Canada wins gold for men's and women's hockey. Controversy erupts when Jamie Salé and David Pelletier are given only silver for the pairs' figure skating.
• October 14 - Chris Jericho and Christian win World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Tag Team Championship.
• November 24 - The Montreal Alouettes defeat the Edmonton Eskimos 25-16 to win the Grey Cup.

Birth

Deaths

January to March

• January 4 - Douglas Jung, politician and first Chinese Canadian MP in the Canadian House of Commons (b.1924)
• January 5 - Christie Harris, children's author (b.1907)
• January 13 - Frank Shuster, comedian (b.1916)
• January 24 - Peter Gzowski, broadcaster, writer and reporter (b.1933)
• February 3 - Lucien Rivard, criminal and prison escapee (b.1914)
• February 14 - Bud Olson, politician, Minister and Senator (b.1925)
• February 26 - Harry Rankin, lawyer and politician (b.1920)
• March 12 - Jean-Paul Riopelle, painter and sculptor (b.1923)
• March 18 - Dalton Camp, journalist, politician, political strategist and commentator (b.1920)
• March 18 - Johnny Lombardi, CHIN-TV television personality (b.1915)

April to June

• April 14 - Gustave Blouin, politician (b.1912)
• April 17 - Richard Green, soldier killed in Afghanistan (b.1980)
• April 19 - Ross Whicher, politician and businessman (b.1918)
• May 9 - Robert Layton, politician (b.1925)
• May 17 - Edwin Alonzo Boyd, criminal and leader of the Boyd Gang (b.1914)
• June 21 - Timothy Findley, novelist and playwright (b.1930)

July to December

• July 8 - Sidney Spivak, politician and Minister (b.1928)
• July 13 - Yousuf Karsh, photographer (b.1908)
• September 13 - George Stanley, historian, author, soldier, teacher, public servant and designer of the current Canadian flag (b.1907)
• November 24 - Harry Gunning, scientist and administrator (b.1916)
• December 5 - Prosper Boulanger, politician and businessman (b.1918)
• December 10 - Les Costello, ice hockey player and Catholic priest (b.1928)
• December 13 - Zal Yanovsky, rock musician (b.1944)
• December 16 - Bill Hunter, ice hockey player, general manager and coach (b.1920)
• December 18 - Ray Hnatyshyn, politician and 24th Governor General of Canada (b.1934)