CANADA – Justin Trudeau has announced a new federal holiday. After more than 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8th, 2022. The monarch’s funeral is Monday, September 19th and Canada will have a federal holiday to “mourn the queen”.
“We have also chosen to move forward with a federal holiday on Monday. We will be working with the provinces and territories to try and see that we’re aligned on this,” Trudeau said.
“There are still a few details to be worked out, but declaring an opportunity for Canadians to mourn on Monday is important,” the prime minister continued, adding that federal employees will not work on the 19th.
Most of us don’t get the day off, similar to Remembrance Day, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford already announced that the province will recognize Monday as a day of mourning, but there will not be a provincial holiday. But should there be any holiday at all to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II?
The royal family and Queen Elizabeth are controversial figures in many countries. For many people in countries that the British invaded under colonialism, the royal family represents harm, oppression, and violence. Many Canadians don’t understand why it’s being recognized at all.
Many Don’t Understand Why Canada is Recognizing the Funeral
“It’s just interesting. But hey if they’re going to pay people stat pay, work on Monday guys! Get your stat pay,” said one woman we caught up with in Toronto.
“So 11 days apart we’ll have a holiday celebrating genocidal colonialism and another celebrating the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in the same month? #cdnpoli Make it make sense,” shared one woman on Twitter.
“He didn’t recognize Sept 30 for Indigenous people so him couldn’t be so bright and really say yes let’s give the head colonizer a holiday,” someone wrote on Instagram.
While others feel that it’s a good opportunity for Canadians to take a day to rest, not mourn.
“I think everyone, we’re working a lot, and a federal or provincial holiday really helps,” explained one woman, adding that perhaps the government should swap out the Victoria Day holiday with one to commemorate the death of the last British monarch.
We hit the streets to see how Toronto is feeling about Queen Elizabeth’s death, whether Canadians think we should get the 19th off, and more on this episode of The Brandon Gonez Show!
