Feeling overworked? Need another holiday? Well, relief may be on the way. In case you haven’t heard, many Canadians are calling for, and even petitioning for, a national holiday honouring our country’s highest political leaders.
Prime Ministers Day, as the holiday would be known, would be an opportunity to reflect upon our country’s prime ministers over the past 135 years, and perhaps better understand our country’s history. Recent public opinion polls revealed barely half of the Canadians surveyed could name Sir John Alexander Macdonald as Canada’s first prime minister.
When you think about it, how many Canadians would even know how to properly spell Macdonald?
We don’t need public opinion polls to tell us we have limited knowledge of our country and its leaders. What may be needed is a holiday to recognize our prime ministers’ accomplishments and reflect on what may have been each leader’s shortcomings. But perhaps more important, we can gain a better understanding of the events that shaped the country.
From conscription in the First World War to a Canadian prime minister winning the Nobel Peace Prize to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the PM is a major force in shaping the country. We could learn why a Canadian-built aircraft — the most advanced in the world — was scrapped in the 1960s, or how Pierre Trudeau’s economic policy divided the country. A Prime Ministers Day would be a start to teaching all Canadians the most interesting facts of our country’s history.
As good as the intentions may be, Prime Ministers Day may also turn out to be another holiday where people put up their feet and glue their rears to the couch for five hours of television, with little interest in Canadian prime ministers or the country’s history.
But is that all bad? No. Sure it would be nice if everyone used holidays for what they were intended – to give thanks, to remember and honour the past, and to pay homage to one’s religion, among many other reasons. But holidays are also for relaxing and spending time with family, whether it be in front of the television or the Peace Tower.
Suggestions of dates for Prime Ministers Day may reveal the holiday to be nothing more than Canadians wanting another long weekend — some Canadians are petitioning for the second Monday of February. Is it just coincidence the second Monday in February falls near the middle of the more than three-month span between holidays (New Year’s Day and Good Friday)?
It has been suggested the proposed holiday fall on Sir John A. Macdonald’s birthday, but that is Jan. 11 – too close to New Year’s. Others have suggested June 6 – the day of his death – but that’s too close to Victoria Day long weekend.
Forget January or June, or the second Monday in February for that matter. How about the third Monday in February? — it’s usually more centred between Jan. 1 and the Easter long weekend.
–Jason Fekete