the watch of time

The first Monday in August is one of those non-Federal holidays in much of Canada.

Federal holidays – like Labour Day or Thanksgiving – are statutorily recognized by governments and businesses alike. Almost no workers in the former category, and only a limited number of the latter (primarily retail service) are required to work that day.

But days like Monday are recognized on a provincial basis in Canada, so the degree of application depends. The most bizarre is in our smallest province, P.E.I., where about one-half of the island celebrates today, and the other part later this month!

It’s particularly interesting in the national capital region, because of the explicitly different impacts in the river separated communities of Ottawa, Ontario, and Gatineau, Quebec. Quebec has a unique provincial holiday on June 23^rd, with other provinces essentially making that up in August. However, competitive conditions and consumer expectations have lessened its universality, especially because of the option Ottawa area consumers would have to go across the bridges to Quebec.

One wonders, therefore, what are the implications of only partially observed holidays…

• One can be confident it’s only the most experienced staff working on a holiday
• The more idyllic non rush hour, daytime drive of is muted by extra travellers doing commerce
• Maybe there won’t be as many noisy neighbours around home, after all
• Almost impossible to figure out the logic of adjusted public transit schedules
• Beginning of the work week blues are staggered over two days
• More opaque excuses for oil companies to play gas price roulette
• The joy of parking in open spaces without being clipped by others is less than one would hope
• The logic of what’s open and what isn’t is ever more amorphous
• More time to read, but not the unpublished daily newspaper
• At least politicians won’t be in out in public as much for photo ops