It's the Monday before May 24 and that means it's May Long or more officially Victoria Day, the day we celebrate that we are a member of the British Commonwealth and that we have a foreign Head of State. The day was originally made to celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday, since it actually is her birthday, and is now the official birthday of whichever monarch is currently reigning happy and glorious over us. More importantly, this date reminds us that we are a British Colony with a British history that we can all be proud of (unless you live in Quebec in which case it is National Patriots Day and celebrates the struggle of French patriots to gain political liberty and a democratic system of government). To me this holiday is archaic. Canada isn't, and arguably never was, a purely British country but we still have this holiday to recognize the United Kingdom of Ireland and Great Britain. Why don't we expand this a little and talk about all of our holidays? These days when the working poor get paid time and a half to make sure everyone can still get a burger and fries on his or her day off.
In a country as diverse as Canada it seems a little ridiculous to me that we can legislate national and provincial days of celebration, especially since about half of these days are purely Christian holidays. I'm not against holidays, I'm against a government saying "this is your holiday, celebrate X event" the same as I (and most others) am against a government saying "this is your religion". Why would an atheist want time off at Easter other than just to have the time off? Why would a Muslim woman want to have Christmas off? Does a Jew celebrate Good Friday?
My proposal is this: give everyone 12 general holidays for a year. It is up to the employee to inform his or her employer in a reasonable time when they are taking their holidays. Not everyone has the same holiday. I might want to celebrate Louis Riel Day but I live in Alberta so tough, maybe my neighbour wants to celebrate the Birth of the Báb; everyone should be allowed their own holidays. We don't legislate what religion everyone celebrates now let's open it up and let everyone celebrate whichever holiday they want on whichever day they want.
On that note, Happy Birthday, Bob Dylan.
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