“July 1, not being a Sunday, is a legal holiday and shall be kept and observed as such throughout Canada under the name of ‘Canada Day’.
When July 1 is a Sunday, July 2 is a legal holiday and shall be kept and observed as such throughout Canada under the name of ‘Canada Day’.”
So mandates ss. 2(1) and (2) of the Holidays Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. H-5.
Canada Day became Canada Day on October 27, 1982. Prior to that, the day was said to be “Dominion Day”, which was officially recognized as a holiday in 1879 by way of The Dominion Day Act, 1879. Before that, the day did not have a name. However a proclamation was issued on June 20, 1868 whereby the Governor General proclaimed: “I do hereby enjoin and call upon all Her Majesty’s loving subjects throughout Canada to join in the due and proper celebration of the said Anniversary [of the forming of the Dominion of Canada] on the said FIRST day of JULY next.”
As Suzana Popovic-Montag observed in her blog of July 1, 2015, Canada Day, is a commemoration of the confederation of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Contrasted with the 4th of July celebrations to the south, “Canada Day is less of a celebration of our collective self-assertion to obtain our autonomy by force and more of a celebration of our ability to come together, our ability to work together and even our ability to live together – which is a really nice thing to celebrate.”
That is a wonderful sentiment. However, we still have a lot of work to do on improving our abilities to come together, work together and live together. The job is not done, and Canada faces many issues.
Take some time to celebrate Canada this weekend, and also take some time to contemplate the issues faced by many and the need for all of us to focus on how we can better work, live and come together.
Have a great weekend.