January 1 – Quebec tax law changes from charging a 9.5% Quebec Sales Tax (QST) on a consumer sale plus the goods and services tax (GST), to a 9.975% QST on just the consumer sale, having no effect to the consumer, as the GST is 5%.[3]
Hundreds of people demonstrated against the reform of the federal Employment Insurance in Tracadie-Sheila, New Brunswick.[6]
Kathleen Wynne is sworn in as premier of Ontario, following a leadership election, becoming Ontario's first female premier and Canada's first openly gay premier; the election was also the first time that two women had competed for the leadership of the party, and the first time in Canadian history that six provinces or territories have simultaneously had female premiers.
February 14 – Pastagate an incident that happens. it starts with an inspector of the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) sent a letter of warning to an upscale restaurant, Buonanotte, for using Italian words such as "pasta", "antipasti", "calamari", etc. on its menu instead of their French equivalents. The incident led to the resignation of Louise Marchand, head of the OQLF, on 8 March.
February 28 – Seasonal workers protest against reform of federal Employment Insurance in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, while Prime Minister Stephen Harper made an appearance there to talk about the reform.[8]
April 10 – Child killer Allyson McConnell is deported to Australia after serving just 15 months for killing her two young sons by drowning them. The leniency in sentencing provokes outrage, with Alberta Justice Minister Jonathan Denis appealing against the sentence and promising to seek her extradition.[11]
April 26 – Edmonton Remand Centre workers walk off the job, starting a wildcat strike, in a dispute over safety deficiencies. Other union jail and court workers protested in support, in the following days.
A rail bridge crossing the Wanapitei River in the Sudbury neighbourhood of Wanup collapses, causing a train derailment and resulting in the temporary closure of Highway 537.[13]
June 3 – The provincial government of Quebec places the city of Laval under trusteeship due to the ongoing crisis of corruption allegations against the city council at the Charbonneau Commission hearings.[15] Florent Gagné, a former head of the Sûreté du Québec, will serve as the city's head trustee, with responsibility for reviewing and approving or rejecting all decisions made by city council.[15]
June 5 – Radio-Canada, the French-language arm of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, announces a plan to rebrand its broadcasting services as Ici.[16]
June 6
Edmonton—St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber voluntarily leaves the Conservative caucus because of what he describes as "the Government's lack of commitment to transparency and open government",[17] one day after tabling a bill on government transparency.[18]
June 11 – Quebec's premier Pauline Marois announced her support of the Quebec Soccer Federation's ban on turbans within the federation and suggested that the CSF has no authority over provincial organizations.[20]
June 17 – Following an investigation into allegations of municipal corruption at Quebec's Charbonneau Commission hearings, the provincial anti-corruption unit arrests and presses charges against three political figures in Montreal, including incumbent mayor Michael Applebaum, former city councillor Saulie Zajdel and a city bureaucrat.[21]
June 28 – After just seven months in office, Alexandre Duplessis resigns as mayor of Laval, Quebec following allegations that he solicited prostitutes while in office.[24]
October 17 – The RCMP enforce an injunction in Rexton, New Brunswick, resulting in a violent confrontation at a blockade site protesting shale gas exploration. At least 40 people were arrested and five police cars caught fire.[38]
May 11 – Doug Finley, 66, politician, Senator for Ontario (since 2009), Campaign Director during the 2006 and 2008 elections, colorectal cancer (born 1946).[146]
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