That's my recommendation for mid-week Canada Days. We have an automatic After Canada Day holiday. So far, there is the only idea in the press - Terry Fox Day.
I would vote for that. Would that be a referendum? How often should we be voting directly? It would keep us active in decisions that relate to our daily life. Burt it doesn't seem to be Canadian-style to have referendums.
One big referendum was in 1898 on prohibition. It is a telling chart. All the provinces voted against prohibition except Quebec. Is that an indicator of how differently Quebekers thought compared to the rest of the provinces? The government did not adopt Prohibition, saying the overall majority in favour was slight and turn-out was low.
Then there was conscription in 1942. (Again Quebec voted the opposite of everyone else). The government "adopted conscription but with a light touch, initially adopting the policy that those conscripted would not be sent overseas to active fighting." Do you know what these conscripts were nicknamed? Zombies. Who would have thought zombies were already ingrained in our social psyche in 1942. Maybe it was the 1940 film The Ghost Breakers with Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard.
The big national referendum so far was the Charlottetown Accord. While most of the politicians at national and provincial levels supported it, it had some notable opponents, and eventually the no vote won over.
With the Alberta referendum is coming up, so we're getting prepared for political stress. We don't seem to do well on referendums historically. In that light, would we really have a referendum on Terry Fox Day being the After Canada Day holiday? Messy thoughts all-round.
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