In Praise of Family Day

Here in Ontario, as in most other Canadian provinces, we've just celebrated the Family Day long weekend.

Held on the third Monday in February, the holiday originated in Alberta about twenty years ago and goes by different names in some provinces. It's a provincial holiday, meaning that federally-regulated employees (such as postal workers) do not enjoy the day off.

Canadians, slogging through the wearying weeks of winter, have long called for a February holiday, and a day to mark the adoption of our national flag on February 15, seems appropriate, but successive federal governments have failed to act. Instead, the provinces, in piecemeal fashion, have stepped in.

Ontario adopted the holiday in 2008 and it's been a hit from the outset. Some employers have complained about having to provide workers with the day off, but others, such as restaurants, movie theatres, hotels, and ski resorts, have seen a boom in business.

Our own extended family gets together at a restaurant for a long, leisurely lunch, and that, I think is the secret to Family Day's success: time off with no demands.

We're all too familiar with the unrealistic expectations and financial burdens of Christmas. The proscribed jollity and next-day aching head of New Year's. The demands of preparing a huge meal and hosting a crowd on Thanksgiving. The back-to-school anxiety of Labour Day (or the performance anxiety of Valentine's Day). The fact that Hallowe'en has become a decorating season.

Even Victoria Day, the May 2-4 weekend which marks the start of summer in these parts, can't be properly enjoyed until the cottage is opened or all the yard work is done. Only Canada Day, which comes with no greater demands than that one show a little patriotism and watch some fireworks, comes close to the freedom offered by Family Day.

Because it sprang upon us suddenly with no preconceived expectations, Family Day is the one holiday truly worthy of the name. You don't have to buy anything or do anything in particular. So let's keep it that way.

I worry that the forces of commerce will get hold of Family Day and turn into something tawdry. That next year, Wal-Mart will have piles of plastic merchandise made in China that I'll be expected to purchase for Family Day "gifting".

Don't let it happen, friends. Keep Family Day pure and simple. Spend it with your family or avoid them entirely; I don't care. But spend nothing but time off. And spend it wisely.

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