Canadians, Happy Civic Day!

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Oh and by the way, what is Civic Day & what do you do to celebrate Civic Day?

Just curious since this month, Americans do not have any national holidays that I am aware of.

What do you mean America doesn't have any national holidays? What's Independance Day? I believe also Thanksgiving and Presidents days are national holidays...

And I'm Australian...

GA

Civic Holiday is not a national holiday, for it to be that it has to be statutory and observed by all provinces and territories. Only 5 provinces observe it.

In Halifax, Nova Scotia, where I live, it's often called Natal Day (which celebrates the founding of the city). Where I live it tends to start off the Scallop Days Festival in Digby NS, it lasts from August 1st to 7th and is a celebration of our seafaring heritage in the town. This is the 30th year of its celebration.

This is what Scallop Days Festival is normally like:

http://www.geocities.com/digbyscallopdays/

Of course, I don't normally go to any of the events or anything as most are during the week.

Honestly what do people do to celebrate it... since it's nothing more than a day off... get drunk, get into trouble, go to the cottage if it falls before or after a weekend and do not a heck of a lot. It's no real big deal, never has and honestly to most I know, never will be. There is nothing really to celebrate about it other than your employer giving a day off.

Hi GalileoAce, didn't mean to get you stirred up. I just meant this month Americans do not have any holidays on the calendar. Sorry, sometimes I phrase things oddly. I'm glad you take notice of our American Holidays though, GalileoAce


Mish - Thanks for all of the info. My curiosity has been satisfied

Pfft...
It's hard not to take notice, America is bloody everywhere! GAH!!

I challenge you to name some of Australia's national holidays, without the assistance of any research tools

GA

GalileoAce wrote:

OMG! Ya got me there, mate. I don't have a clue what you celebrate. You Aussies gotta get out there and advertise more like us Yanks (joking)

Hey GalileoAce, give us one of your more obscure holidays and tell us how you celebrate them?

Let us see, what are US national and/or federal holidays.

January: Martin Luther King Day (3rd Monday)
February: Presidents Day
March:?
April:?
May: Memorial Day (final Monday)
June: Flag Day?
July: 4th of July
August: ?
September: Labor Day (first Monday)
October: Columbus Day (second Monday, trad. on the 12th) aka Día de la Raza in Spanish
November: Veteran's Day (11th), Thanksgiving (
December: ? (Unless someone wants to consider Pearl Harbor Day as one)

Mother's Day (2nd May Sunday) and Father's Day (3rd June Sunday) would be national since the US gov't did establish those days.

So I don't know any in August either.


Let me guess that Aussies celebrate ANZAF Day, I don't know what day but isn't it like Australia's version of Memorial Day and a day to celebrate Nationalism? It honors the battle of Gallipoli in WWI when the Aussies fought the Ottoman Turks and lost many lives while the British pretty much gave no support. Aussie Nationalism rose high that day, for what I know.

From what I just read, it is technically called a Civic Holiday, (which is on the First August Monday) in Canada. Provinices and Territories give it different names like Natal Day in NS and PEI. Or BC Day in BC (which is a statutory holiday, not civic).

Civic holidays means you may not get paid on the off-day since employers aren't obliged to pay employees.

Statutory holiday means the company's must oblige to paying their workers. Or pay their workers who don't get a day off something like "time and a half"


So yeah it is kind of like a labour day, but you may not get paid, or work and get paid more.

I think it is wrong about it not being observed in Alberta. Most summers I am in Alberta for it and they do have it. I think there is variation from province to province about whether it is a civic or statuatory holiday and in Alberta it is not consdiered a stat for employement purposes but most people do get it off all the same.

To be honest, we don't have that much in the way of National Holidays, which is strange given that "we'd use any excuse for a party"; or maybe that's why...

We have Australia Day (26th January) which is sorta like Independance Day.
There's no real set way to celebrate it, some people don't even celebrate it at all.
"Yep, it's Australia Day... whatever."

Canberra (our capital city) usually puts on a concert outside Parliment House, which is televised; they've been trying to boost popularity for the holiday over the last few years, with mixed results. Most people are still apapathetic about it all

During the "Celebrate! Australia Day Live" concert, the Australia Day awards are given out. The following are the major ones:

Australian of the Year
Senior Australian of the Year (60 years and over)
Young Australian of the Year (16 to 25 years)
Local Hero (Local Hero is sorta like runner up to Australian Of The Year, but one for each region... I think)

If you go here, you can see the recipients of the Australian Of The Year award all the way back to 1960. http://www.australianoftheyear.gov.au/recipients-aoty.asp

There's always a ton of other awards given out on the day, a few at the concert, but many are behind the scenes.

This website: http://www.australiaday.gov.au/ is sorta like the official government website for Australia Day.


Other than Australia Day, the only other really national holiday that we have would be ANZAC Day, which is a War related holiday, not exactly celebratory. But it probably brings out the Australian spirit better than Australia Day does. And it's getting more and more popular for people to attend the services each year.

The ANZACs were the Australian and New Zealand Armed Corps during the first World War.
During the WW1, a large group of them led by the British, were supposed to land at a carefully chosen Gallipoli (Turkey) beach along the Mediterraenian, but they were off course and instead landed at a place now called Anzac Cove. It was pretty much a rout the moment they stepped onto the beach, the Turkish were all over them. They did eventually make it up to the nearby cliffs, and dug in with trenches, a long trench war begun.
This is true; The commander of the forces ordered all the men to empty their rifles, and use the bayonets on them and storm the enemy trenches, even though the enemy had a machine gun emplacement... they didn't even make 10 meters.

At Gallipoli there is a large grave site with tombstones for the Australian (and British and New Zealand) and Turkish soldiers lost that day.

On ANZAC Day, at dawn, there are Dawn Services, in which we remember the ANZAC spirit, throughout all wars and combat our "diggers" have been in.

At Gallipoli, in Turkey there is also a Dawn Service which is becoming increasing popular to travel to for the younger generations. (I, myself wouldn't mind going)

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

This Day is probably the most important national holiday we have, and holds a special meaning to many people in both Australia and New Zealand. Even I am touched by it. (I got tears in my eyes from the emotion just from reading the two website below)

The following websites would explain it better than I:
http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anzac_tradition.htm
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/Gallery/Anzac/Anzacday.htm

So those are pretty much the only two national holidays we have.


GA

Civic Holiday: The day you give your Honda an oil change and full interior and exterior detailing.

LMAO! I love that.

For my NT 'spouse', what did he do to celebrate? Got himself drunk and one heck of a hangover and for what reason? I'm still trying to figure that out... he spent over night two nights ago and most of yesterday puking his guts out so much that he burst some blood vessels in his eyes... then he wonders why he did it? Ugh! Some people make me wonder, most time he acts smart and seems to have 'common sense', apparently not as much as he should.

And he'll do it again, won't he?

Likely, but maybe not by having like 7 beers plus a liter of chocolate milk.