Federal Government & Politics II

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Canada did also recently add a holiday of our own, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Sept 30. It does kind of bother me that this new holiday has taken on more significance than Remembrance Day has. I work in a federally regulated business so we should have both off, but we work Nov 11, as do all our competitors in our industry. Management has always said there are a certain number of stat holidays we are required to provide and since we also have a couple of provincial holidays, like Family Day or Ontario Civic Day (or Baptiste Day in Quebec), that they exceed the required number of days off we get. So why Sept 30 and not Nov 11 instead if we have to choose 1? Well, first we are in the transportation of goods and Nov 11 is closer to the start of the busy Christmas shipping season than Sept 30. But the biggest reason is public perception. It would be seen as too politically incorrect and disrespectful to not take that day.

Boy are you going to be surprisedv when you learn, that a lot of us who are serving or have served don't want November 11th to be a full holiday.

My time on exchange in the US solidified that view. Born Memorial Day and Veterans Day in the US are nothing but usual commercial holidays where the focus is on sales at chain stores. Memorial Day is usually a booze fest too, as the start of the Summer. Same as Victoria Day here. And not even their military members have obligatory attendance at events for those days. This is very different in Commonwealth countries, which actually does surprise Americans.

I also like that schools in Canada use Remembrance Day to teach children about the horrors of war and sacrifices made. Many also take the time to invite serving members and veterans to give presentations and talks. None of this would really have the same gravitas, if it was all just another assignment before a long weekend.

My suggestion instead of holiday, is that employers adopt a half day where possible, to let employees attend memorial services where possible.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Canada did also recently add a holiday of our own, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Sept 30. It does kind of bother me that this new holiday has taken on more significance than Remembrance Day has. I work in a federally regulated business so we should have both off, but we work Nov 11, as do all our competitors in our industry. Management has always said there are a certain number of stat holidays we are required to provide and since we also have a couple of provincial holidays, like Family Day or Ontario Civic Day (or Baptiste Day in Quebec), that they exceed the required number of days off we get. So why Sept 30 and not Nov 11 instead if we have to choose 1? Well, first we are in the transportation of goods and Nov 11 is closer to the start of the busy Christmas shipping season than Sept 30. But the biggest reason is public perception. It would be seen as too politically incorrect and disrespectful to not take that day.

Most of these are provincially regulated - both Truth & Reconciliation and Remembrance Day are stat holidays in BC. On the other hand, Boxing Day is not.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Boy are you going to be surprisedv when you learn, that a lot of us who are serving or have served don't want November 11th to be a full holiday.

My time on exchange in the US solidified that view. Born Memorial Day and Veterans Day in the US are nothing but usual commercial holidays where the focus is on sales at chain stores. Memorial Day is usually a booze fest too, as the start of the Summer. Same as Victoria Day here. And not even their military members have obligatory attendance at events for those days. This is very different in Commonwealth countries, which actually does surprise Americans.

I also like that schools in Canada use Remembrance Day to teach children about the horrors of war and sacrifices made. Many also take the time to invite serving members and veterans to give presentations and talks. None of this would really have the same gravitas, if it was all just another assignment before a long weekend.

My suggestion instead of holiday, is that employers adopt a half day where possible, to let employees attend memorial services where possible.

No it doesn't surprise me at all, as I have heard that as well from military members of my family. Had one war vet years ago say "Why should you get a day off for what we did?". I'm just saying if I'm going to get a day off, I would choose to have a day to honour and commemorate and remember the sacrifice of our dead and living military members. What you say you wouldn't like to have happen to Nov 11 is what I see happening to Sept 30.

[Acajack]

I've already agreed that the war on Christmas is mostly waged by bleeding heart woke post-Christian white people, but make no mistake that the Adil Charkaouis of the world also revel in this type of stuff.

Another case of weird bedfellows with atheistic leftists figting on the same side as ultra-conservative religious extremists.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Agree on religion but the idea it isn't a part of Canadian culture is dubious. All schools and post-secondary institutions close. Offices have parties. Absolutely everything closes and streets are empty on the day itself. Many immigrants (from non-Christian countries) also have trees, exchange gifts, decorate their house, sing etc. It is by far the biggest holiday of the year. And yes for many it has nothing to do with the pagan holiday Christians took over to celebrate the birth a prophet.

Yes, all secular activities that have little to do with religion, or if they do they were the pagan religions of Western Europe. The only exposure most Canadians have to religion at Christmas is Linus's monologue in the peanuts Christmas special, which is a rare echo from a different North American culture 60 years ago.

[Truenorth00]

• Video Link

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

As someone who grew up in a Catholic immigrant family, Christmas in North America is pretty gross. It's a gluttony of meaningless consumerism.

Agreed. And then there is Boxing Day Week...and Black Friday, and Red Thursday, and Cyber Monday.

The materialism is completely out of control, and has been for decades.

And does anybody actually like "Simply...Having, a Wonderful Christmas time", or "Grandma got run over by a Reindeer", or "Santa Baby", or perhaps worst of all, "Baby, It's Cold Outside!"?

[hipster duck]

.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

And does anybody actually like "Simply...Having, a Wonderful Christmas time", or "Grandma got run over by a Reindeer", or "Santa Baby", or perhaps worst of all, "Baby, It's Cold Outside!"?

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Bad Santa. Rum and eggnog. See you all again next year.

[kool maudit]

Who is this Guilbeault, the environment minister? What is his reputation in Ottawa?

He seems very 1970s to me, almost something out of student politics. Malaise-era feel.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

Who is this Guilbeault, the environment minister? What is his reputation in Ottawa?

He seems very 1970s to me, almost something out of student politics. Malaise-era feel.

Wait, it's not everyone who knows that he is the former director of Greenpeace here, who got token-tapped by JT (who loves tokens)...?

He's an ecolo-hippy straight out of student politics, and paradropped in Ottawa by a govt who thought it could use some greenwashing.

If you think he's a poor fit in the Natural Governing Party of people like Chrétien, Martin, and Mark Carney... well, you're of course correct.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by lio45

Wait, it's not everyone who knows that he is the former director of Greenpeace here, who got token-tapped by JT (who loves tokens)...?

He's an ecolo-hippy straight out of student politics, and paradropped in Ottawa by a govt who thought it could use some greenwashing.

If you think he's a poor fit in the Natural Governing Party of people like Chrétien, Martin, and Mark Carney... well, you're of course correct.

He once got arrested for trying to scale the CN Tower to raise environmental awareness.

A different generation for sure but probably the closest thing that Quebec has to a David Suzuki.

Though maybe a better comparison would be the French equivalent to Steven Guilbeault, Nicolas Hulot, that Macron recruited for the environmental file a few years ago. Hulot didn't last very long and exited the government less than an year later I think, frustrated with the lack of progress on his files.

Guilbeault has stuck around through thick and thin, though.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Acajack

He once got arrested for trying to scale the CN Tower

And got rewarded with a Cabinet position. Welcome to Justin Trudeau's Canada!

[kool maudit]

Originally Posted by Acajack

A different generation for sure but probably the closest thing that Quebec has to a David Suzuki.

Is he charismatic, though? He seems quite dour.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

Is he charismatic, though? He seems quite dour.

Not really, no.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Boy are you going to be surprisedv when you learn, that a lot of us who are serving or have served don't want November 11th to be a full holiday.

My time on exchange in the US solidified that view. Born Memorial Day and Veterans Day in the US are nothing but usual commercial holidays where the focus is on sales at chain stores. Memorial Day is usually a booze fest too, as the start of the Summer. Same as Victoria Day here. And not even their military members have obligatory attendance at events for those days. This is very different in Commonwealth countries, which actually does surprise Americans.

I also like that schools in Canada use Remembrance Day to teach children about the horrors of war and sacrifices made. Many also take the time to invite serving members and veterans to give presentations and talks. None of this would really have the same gravitas, if it was all just another assignment before a long weekend.

My suggestion instead of holiday, is that employers adopt a half day where possible, to let employees attend memorial services where possible.

Weird, because my experiences in BC (which observes Remembrance Day as a full statutory holiday) are exactly what you would like to see. It's not a commercial holiday, there aren't any "Remembrance Day sales", schools do assemblies and students learn about the horrors of war and sacrifices made, cadets and Girl Guides and Boy Scouts march in parades. I was in band in high school and I played Last Post and The Rouse at ceremonies, and I was never a cadet or otherwise a member of the armed forces.

After living in the US and experiencing Memorial Day and Veterans Day I'm super glad that Remembrance Day hasn't gone that way in BC despite being a stat holiday for decades.

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

Weird, because my experiences in BC (which observes Remembrance Day as a full statutory holiday) are exactly what you would like to see. It's not a commercial holiday, there aren't any "Remembrance Day sales", schools do assemblies and students learn about the horrors of war and sacrifices made, cadets and Girl Guides and Boy Scouts march in parades. I was in band in high school and I played Last Post and The Rouse at ceremonies, and I was never a cadet or otherwise a member of the armed forces.

After living in the US and experiencing Memorial Day and Veterans Day I'm super glad that Remembrance Day hasn't gone that way in BC despite being a stat holiday for decades.

This was my experience with Remembrance Day growing up in BC. I still vividly remember being in elementary school and having a group of half a dozen or so WW1 veterans come to our Remembrance Day assembly. Our Principal put it plainly: [paraphrasing] Children, please take a good look at these men and listen to what they tell you about what war is like. They are the last World War 1 veterans still alive in Vancouver. Please try hard to make today a memory that you never forget. You are all very young, and these men are now very old, but they were not all that much older than you when they went to war. They will not be around forever, and when they are gone it will be up to you to remember them, remember what they did for us, and remember how many of them never came home.

Years later, I remember reading that the last Canadian WW1 veteran had passed away. I did remember that assembly and those nice old men who came to our gymnasium and talked to us about how awful war is and how important it is to avoid war, but also to respect and remember the young men who did leave their homes to fight in the war and how many never came home.

[Rollerstud98]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

Is he charismatic, though? He seems quite dour.

He’s an actual scumbag piece of shit in human form.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Rollerstud98

He’s an actual scumbag piece of shit in human form.

That seems harsh. He has an ideology that is above all else. That's usually a mistake but is also necessary for progress. There is a thread consensus climate change is an existential threat so can't we break a few eggs in order to address it? Certainly taxing the rich and maybe even making a lot more kids poor is worth the cost.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

This was my experience with Remembrance Day growing up in BC. I still vividly remember being in elementary school and having a group of half a dozen or so WW1 veterans come to our Remembrance Day assembly. Our Principal put it plainly: [paraphrasing] Children, please take a good look at these men and listen to what they tell you about what war is like. They are the last World War 1 veterans still alive in Vancouver. Please try hard to make today a memory that you never forget. You are all very young, and these men are now very old, but they were not all that much older than you when they went to war. They will not be around forever, and when they are gone it will be up to you to remember them, remember what they did of us, and remember how many of them never came home.

Years later, I remember reading that the last Canadian WW1 veteran had passed away. I did remember that assembly and those nice old men who came to our gymnasium and talked to us about how awful war is and how important it is to avoid war, but also to respect and remember the young men who did leave their homes to fight in the war and how many never came home.

Very nice sentiment. Thanks for this.

When I was a kid in the 1960s, there was always a large contingent of veterans at Remembrance Day ceremonies at the downtown cenotaph in Charlottetown. Back then, even the WW1 vets were still only in their late 60s and 70s and actively marched in the parade.

Now we are within 10 years of the passing of the last WW2 veterans happening. One wonders what Remembrance Day will become after they are gone................