Remembrance Day: National holiday?/"Veterans' Day"? (merged)

[THEARMYGUY]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that all provinces except Ontario and Quebec have Nov. 11 as a stat. day off work.   With the politics in Quebec I'm not surprised but whats up with Ontario. Before anyone tries to blame the current gov. lets not forget ALL 3 PARTIES have had a chance to change this and have done nothing. :rage:

There are indeed only the 2 provinces that don't have Nov 11th as a general holiday.  It really is too bad it has not yet been changed to a holiday.  I can agree that some would not use the holiday as intended, but what about all those who would?  I will be at the cenotaph either way.

Cheers!!

The Army Guy  :warstory:

 

[rmacqueen]

The online petition to have Remembrance Day declared a national holiday is gaining momentum.  There are currently over 200 signatures and it is growing at a rate of 20-30 a day.  We need to keep the ball rolling by spreading the word to everyone we know.  Let's keep the pressure on the government to do what is right.

http://www.petitiononline.com/nov11th/petition.html

 

[sm0ke]

Personally, I think its shameful that it isn't already a national holiday. 
Signed.

 

[FredDaHead]

Personally, I think its shameful that it isn't already a national holiday. 
Signed.

I think it's a shameful but quite indicative testament to our society that the death of a few females gunned down by a madman with a grudge (Polytechnique.. just wait for the Dawson thing to be a national "day of rememberance") is considered more important than the deaths of thousands of our soldiers.

 

[sm0ke]

Sadly, you're probably right.  Not to take anything away from the significance of that event, but I don't believe it had anything near the same level of impact to our country as a whole.  Remembering a specific event such as the murders at L'Ecole Polytechnic, while noble and very much necessary, is one thing.  Paying tribute to the thousands of people that built our nation's international reputation, and provided us with the freedoms and privileges we now enjoy (and often abuse) to me is on a totally different plateau, and should be recognized as such. 

Edit:  Typo(s)

 

[jollyjacktar]

Thanks for bringing this up. Signed.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Sadly, you're probably right.  Not to take anything away from the significance of that event, but I don't believe it had anything near the same level of impact to our country as a whole.  Remembering a specific event such as the murders at L'Ecole Polytechnic, while noble and very much necessary, is one thing.  Paying tribute to the thousands of people that built our nation's international reputation, and provided us with the freedoms and privileges we now enjoy (and often abuse) to me is on a totally different plateau, and should be recognized as such.

Edit:  Typo(s)

The death of 10 people is a tragedy, the death of a few thousand is a statistic.... paraphrasing someone, badly,  I'm sure.
Signed it 5 days ago.

 

[sm0ke]

...Stalin I think 

 

[QM]

I actually don't think it should be a holiday.  Currently, downtown cores shut down for the parades on 11 November, and in many (most?) schools and offices, a moment of silence is observed at 1100hours. At the very least, this causes young students to recognize that "something" happened on 11 November that is meaningful, and they will remember the solemnity of the moment of silence.

If 11 November becomes a national holiday, all that will end.  The children will be out playing at 1100hrs, and of course won't be bothered to pause and take note of what happened, so in one generation, we will have lost the habit of pausing at 11/11/11.  No one will be at work to peer out their windows at the veterans parade around the cenotaph in their city, or to actually leave their offices to attend the parade, as many do now.  No, 11 November will simply become another long weekend - another chance to have a BBQ or to maybe close the cottage or watch a football game.  The impact will be lost - most Canadians will simply take a day off work and not be bothered to remember or acknowledge why they get to go hunting on a Tuesday, or go shopping in the States for a long weekend in November.  The only people who will put any effort into the day, are us, of course.  But by providing people the opportunity to pause during their schoolday or workday to reflect on the occasion, we keep the memories alive.

 

[armyvern]

I actually don't think it should be a holiday.  Currently, downtown cores shut down for the parades on 11 November, and in many (most?) schools and offices, a moment of silence is observed at 1100hours. At the very least, this causes young students to recognize that "something" happened on 11 November that is meaningful, and they will remember the solemnity of the moment of silence.

If 11 November becomes a national holiday, all that will end.  The children will be out playing at 1100hrs, and of course won't be bothered to pause and take note of what happened, so in one generation, we will have lost the habit of pausing at 11/11/11.  No one will be at work to peer out their windows at the veterans parade around the cenotaph in their city, or to actually leave their offices to attend the parade, as many do now.  No, 11 November will simply become another long weekend - another chance to have a BBQ or to maybe close the cottage or watch a football game.  The impact will be lost - most Canadians will simply take a day off work and not be bothered to remember or acknowledge why they get to go hunting on a Tuesday, or go shopping in the States for a long weekend in November.  The only people who will put any effort into the day, are us, of course.  But by providing people the opportunity to pause during their schoolday or workday to reflect on the occasion, we keep the memories alive.

I've got to disagree with your doomsday predictions for this. I live in a province where the 11th is recognized as a holiday...and let me assure you that a heck of a lot of those kids...and their parents can be found at the Cenotaph on November 11th.

 

[Mike Baker]

It should be a national holiday, and that's that. (my personal opinion)

 

[condor888000]

Signed. Number 298. Its getting there. 

 

[military granny]

Signed  # 297 and sent on to everyone I know

 

[FredDaHead]

So it's cool for the death of 12 (wasn't it?) women to have that much more importance (ALL Canadian flags at half-mast, etc) than the death of tens of thousands of soldiers/sailors/airmen, because there's a chance people won't pause at exactly 1111, and will instead spend the day hearing about our soldiers/sailors/airmen through said football games and whatnot? Wow, you really got a weird conception of rememberance, don't you? I'd much rather have people spend the day watching football and having little vignettes on TV about past wars and ads and having the announcers thank our troops, than have everyone stop for a minute and then go on business as usual.

I say, if events like Polytechnique are going to have such importance for the government, 9/11 should be a holiday as well, and Rememberance Day should have it's own long weekend. (Or a few days if it falls in the middle of the week)

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

I'm torn on this just because of my past experiences.
My Father was the 'head mop' at a local high school and being a proud WW2 veteran he would give the Remembrance Day speech in the gymnasium packed with over 1000 kids whom he always held spellbound. I never had the chance to hear his speeches[ already in] but the reason I know how much effect his words had on them is the fact that many times I have run into people whom were those very students and that's one of the things that sticks out in their minds when my Father comes up in conversation.

Just think of all those kids every year sleeping in and playing video games instead of hearing how it was 'over there'.


P.S.......One of my prized possesions is a ratty folded-up copy of one of those speeches.

 

[Strike]

The children will be out playing at 1100hrs, and of course won't be bothered to pause and take note of what happened, so in one generation, we will have lost the habit of pausing at 11/11/11.

God forbid we put the responsibility of teaching children a bit of history on the parents.

My personal Nov 11th tradition?  Parade of course, maybe have a few drinks at the legion.  Then go home, get something nice and warm to drink ('cause I'm usually still frozen from the parade) and watch "Bridge Over the River Kwai" or some other movie of that ilk.  It may be "The Great Escape" this year.

I also concur that it should be a holiday.  Although we may all gripe about NS being slightly backwards (see the forum on Sunday shopping) they certainly got that one right.  The father of my brother-in-law was a bombardier (of Tirpitz fame a-la Damnbusters) and every year he brings his boys to the cemetery and tells them about their grandfather.  They go home and he pulls out the log books, photos, etc and just talk about what it was all about, and how things are similar and different today.

 

[medaid]

I know this is slightly off topic...However... I personaly believe that schools especially High Schools should rewrite their cirriculum so that it includes more Canadian Military History. This should include things like the The Boer War, WWI, WWII, Korean War, Iraq 1, all the peacekeeping missions and Afghanistan. It should properly explain the history and the importance of how every event has shaped our country.

I dont know...maybe have a dedicated military professor rotate around in a district? Preferably a veteran? Just a thought...


BTW: I signed. It's there.

 

[Signalman150]

I think it should be a holiday as well.  I've worked in the private sector for over twenty years, and have often had to deal with firms that don't give Remembrance day off.

the first time it happened was in Yellowknife.  A memo was circulated in the office reminding all employees that Nov 11 was a regular work day.  I took the memo, scrawled "Lest We Forget" on it with a hi-liter, and posted it beside my desk.  Got a few raised eyebrows, but the boss didn't bite.  I snuck out that morning to attend the service. When I moved back south and rejoined the PRes, I took a day of annual vacation to parade.

These days I just mention to the boss that I'll be gone a couple of hours, and she's okay with it. The only down side is that I don't get an opportunity to partake of post-service festivities, since I head back to work right after the ceremony. I would prefer having some time to socialize, and spend time with the vets.

Remembrance Day was a school holiday in BC back when I was in the cadets, but we always had an assembly in the gym the day before.  I would expect--if it became a national holiday--the same thing would happen again. So, even if they stay home on Nov 11 (playing their video games), they will still likely be exposed to a school organized service.

And yes, I've signed.

 

[Cdn Blackshirt]

I think I was #283 the other day....


Matthew.   

 

[career_radio-checker]

I actually don't think it should be a holiday.  Currently, downtown cores shut down for the parades on 11 November, and in many (most?) schools and offices, a moment of silence is observed at 1100hours. At the very least, this causes young students to recognize that "something" happened on 11 November that is meaningful, and they will remember the solemnity of the moment of silence.

If 11 November becomes a national holiday, all that will end.  The children will be out playing at 1100hrs, and of course won't be bothered to pause and take note of what happened, so in one generation, we will have lost the habit of pausing at 11/11/11.  No one will be at work to peer out their windows at the veterans parade around the cenotaph in their city, or to actually leave their offices to attend the parade, as many do now.  No, 11 November will simply become another long weekend - another chance to have a BBQ or to maybe close the cottage or watch a football game.  The impact will be lost - most Canadians will simply take a day off work and not be bothered to remember or acknowledge why they get to go hunting on a Tuesday, or go shopping in the States for a long weekend in November.  The only people who will put any effort into the day, are us, of course.  But by providing people the opportunity to pause during their schoolday or workday to reflect on the occasion, we keep the memories alive.

I have to agree with QM. In the US, words of "Memorial long weekend" and "Memorial Day Sale" have already polluted the real meaning of rememberance. Two minutes at the cenotaph, I think, would be more appropriate and sincere than a whole day off. It reminds me of the Biblical tale of the little homeless girl who put her only two penies into the donation basket and the rich man, who followed, put in a whole sack of cash. God teaches that he prefered the little girl's donation because it was all she had and she was sincere about it while the man just made his donation for posterity.  The moral of the story is that sometimes two heart-felt penies is worth more than a bundle of indiscriminate cash.
Still confused? (So am I. I can't understand my thoughts sometimes)
Here. Watch this "Pittance of time." Terry  Kelly says it better than me. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvhN5uth8_g