Canadians celebrated a holiday on Monday.
For English Canadians, the day off work was in honour of Queen Victoria, the long-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, who ruled from June 1837 to January 1901 and oversaw the creating of the Federation of Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island) in 1867.
Pretty straight forward, or so it might seem.
But things–as they tend to be–are different in the province of Quebec where French Canadians take the day off for a quite opposite reason. The holiday–known as la fete des patriotes–is in honour of a rebellion in 1837 and 1838 against–guess who–Queen Victoria and Britain.
Bizarre, you say? Perhaps, but check out Canadian politics. The differing views pretty much serve as a bass line for Canadian politics and have for a long time. (Queen Elizabeth II, the great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, is Canada’s head of state, a fact that tends to rankle a lot of French Canadians.)
Whatever the reason for the holiday, many Canadians–as is their want–don’t get all that involved. Most members of Canada’s two founding people simply take the occasion to kick back and prepare for summer.
End of story? Not so fast!
Now, a group that includes some prominent Canadian actors, writers and politicians is calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to change the name of Victoria Day.
Author Margaret Atwood, Green Party leader Elizabeth May and actor Gordon Pinsent are among those behind an online petition to rename the public holiday “Victoria and First Peoples Day.”
A spokesman for the group, actor Peter Keleghan, says the new name would give Canadians a chance to honour both the Crown and the indigenous peoples of Canada.
“I know there is a great deal of monarchists in this country, Mr. Keleghan said Sunday. “But I think also that there is also an awful lot of talk about how First Nations people, Inuit people, indigenous people in this country are being treated.”
Canada already has a day–June 21st–to honour Canada’s indigenous peoples, but Mr. Keleghan says National Aboriginal Day is not recognized as a federal public holiday.
Mr. Keleghan says the group is trying to get its message across on social media, and he’s hoping for growing support.
“For centuries, Canadians, the First Nations, the Inuit, and the Metis have had a close affinity with the British Monarchy,” the petition says.
“The newly named holiday would be an opportunity to commemorate that venerable relationship, to celebrate unique Indigenous cultures, to revisit our shared history, and to provide an opportunity for all Canadians to participate in the diverse and extraordinary heritage of our country.”
Others participating in the drive are singer-songwriter Susan Aglukark, one-time NDP leadership candidate Brian Topp and Thomas King, an author who often writes on First Nations issues, have also signed the petition, which is not in French.
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