Starting next year, British Columbians will have their Family Day holiday on the same day as their relatives in other parts of the country. Now, let’s take the next step and give the day some real meaning.
B.C. will celebrate Family Day on the third Monday of February instead of the second, just as much of the rest of Canada does.
When then-premier Christy Clark introduced the new holiday in 2013, she heeded pleas from ski hills and other tourism operators for a unique date to give them two weekends of revenue instead of one. Many skiers liked it because the hills were less crowded on our Family Day than on a day swamped with other Canadians and with Americans off work for Presidents’ Day.
Last week, however, Premier John Horgan’s government announced it would set things right — but why not go further, and change the name?
In most provinces that celebrate the February holiday — Ontario, New Brunswick, Alberta and Saskatchewan — it’s plain old Family Day. But shouldn’t every day be family day? What about people who don’t have families or are too far from them?
B.C. could leave that behind and follow the lead of more inventive provinces. P.E.I. celebrates Islander Day, and Manitoba holds Louis Riel Day on the same Monday.
With our growing recognition of the need to build bridges between Indigenous and non-Indigenous British Columbians, we could rename the holiday Reconciliation Day.
Rather than having an ill-defined day whose purpose is unclear, we could focus our celebrations on making positive change. Instead of meeting our own small family, let’s meet another family halfway on the road to understanding.
The names we give to special events reflect our values and priorities. They remind us of our goals.
Holidays can be more than just a day off work. They can be days with a purpose.
