Events March 10 - Government of Manitoba meets for the first time March 21 - Ontario election: Edward Blake's Liberals win a majority, defeating J. S. Macdonald's Liberal-Conservatives April 2 - The first Canadian census finds the population to be 3,689,257 May 8 - The Treaty of Washington reaches agreemetns on fishing rights and Great Lakes trade between Canada and the United States May 17 - New Brunswick abandons separate schools July - Phoebe Campbell murders her husband with an axe. She is hanged the next year. July 20 - British Columbia joins the Confederation. July 25 - Treay Number 1 the first of a number of treaties with western Canada's First Nations is signed August 17 - Treaty Number 2 is signed November 11 - The last of the British army leaves Canada November 13 - John McCreight becomes the first premier of British Columbia December 14 - Marc-Amable Girard becomes premier of Manitoba, replacing Alfred Boyd December 20 - Edward Blake becomes premier of Ontario, replacing J. S. Macdonald National Meteorological Service is formed Parliament legalizes the use of the metric system Goldwin Smith immigrates to Canada Births December 13 - Emily Carr, artist and writer Richard Turner - war hero Deaths Louis-Joseph Papineau, rebel