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Remembrance Day is Monday. While Canadians coast to coast to coast will take part in ceremonies and moments of silence, by noon it will mostly be business as usual in London. Reporter Jack Moulton looks at why that is.
WHO HAS A HOLIDAY?
In all provinces and territories with the exception of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, Remembrance Day is a holiday. Kids in schools may mark the occasion on the next closest school day.
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It is recognized by the federal government as a national holiday, and public servants and federally regulated workplaces such as post offices and banks typically have the day off.
WHO DOESN’T HAVE A HOLIDAY?
In the provinces where Remembrance Day is not a statutory holiday, Ontario included, kids still have to attend school and adults typically work as usual.
While many private businesses remain open, often with reduced hours by opening after formal ceremonies, they can still grant their employees a day off if they so wish.
WHY IS ONTARIO LEFT OUT?
There has been long-standing resistance to making the switch in the remaining provinces to a paid holiday, primarily by the Royal Canadian Legion.
The Legion worries that a holiday, especially a weekend, may mean kids will miss ceremonies put on by their schools and that adults may sleep through or forget to mark the occasion on a day off.
“If Remembrance Day were a holiday, for many, the two minutes of silence may get missed in the bustle of a day off,” the Legion wrote in a 2017 news release. “Over time, the holiday side of the day may overtake the meaning of the day.”
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ANY EFFORTS TO CHANGE THIS?
Even amid resistance from the Legion, the proponent of most ceremonies itself, there have been several attempts to bring the change to the remaining four provinces.
At Queen’s Park 14 years ago, Ottawa-area Tory MPP Lisa McLeod tabled a private member’s bill looking to swap the Family Day statutory holiday with Remembrance Day, which never made it past second reading.
In Ottawa, as recently as 2015, Toronto-area NDP MP Dan Harris tried to make Remembrance Day a stat holiday countrywide, but the bill also failed to pass second reading.
REMEMBRANCE DAY IN LONDON
This year’s Remembrance Day ceremony will be held at the London Cenotaph in Victoria Park on Monday from 10:45 a.m. to 11:20 a.m.
Before the ceremony is a parade beginning at 10:15 a.m. at the Delta London Armouries. The parade will travel on Dundas Street to Waterloo Street, to Dufferin Avenue and on to Victoria Park. After the ceremony, a parade will march to city hall to salute before dismissing at Dufferin and Waterloo.
Numerous temporary road closures will be in place to accommodate the parades and ceremony.
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