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In Our Opinion: National Indigenous Day, could it not be a statutory holiday?

National Indigenous Peoples Day held June 21, coincides with the longest day of the year
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(Geoffrey Yue photo)

National Indigenous Peoples Day is held June 21, to coincide with the summer solstice — the longest day of the year. Could it not be a statutory holiday?

Now, before everyone starts running off in the myriad of directions this simple suggestion often causes — from, it damn well should be to it would be too expensive for employers to the date doesn’t work well etc, … — what about this?

Ditch the May long weekend, a.k.a. Victoria Day that celebrates Queen Victoria’s 1819 birth (sorry monarchists), or National Patriotes Day (sorry Quebec) and replace it with June 21. But what happens if it doesn’t fall on a weekend? Well, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Canada Day, Remembrance Day don’t always follow weekend rules either.

Granted, the list of complications is long, such as it’s too close to the school year’s end and it’s a long time between the Good Friday long weekend in April and too close to Canada Day at the start of July.

Beginning Friday June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day, we invite everyone to visit thenorthernview.com web poll and make your thoughts known. It should be an interesting and needed discussion.


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