Ted Barris

They tell me if things go a certain way, one day soon I’ll have this day to myself. I’ll be able to rise, take a leisurely breakfast and then do the right thing. They tell me if their plan is accepted, I’ll have all day to pay my respects to Canada’s veterans. That plan will mean I’ll have a statutory holiday on Nov. 11, on Remembrance Day. At least, that’s what the sponsor of a private member’s bill, MPP Lisa MacLeod, believes.

“There’s been an outpouring of support for Canadian soldiers, our war veterans and our war dead,” she told CBC a few days ago.

On Nov. 4, the Conservative MPP from Nepean-Carleton introduced a piece of legislation called “Respect for Ontario Veterans, Soldiers and War Dead Act, 2010.” As clumsy as its name looks, the bill would make Remembrance Day a statutory holiday in Ontario (in place of February’s Family Day). The legislation says, in part, that the act would alter the Retail Business Holiday Act to more appropriately reflect sacrifices made by Ontario’s veterans and war dead. Her rationale is certainly sound.

“You only have to see the grassroots campaign that has happened on the Highway of Heroes, every time one of our fallen comes back to Canada,” MacLeod added.

It didn’t take me long to react to the idea of making Nov. 11 a statutory holiday. I don’t think it’s wise. I don’t think it would serve the right purpose – focusing our attention and respect on veterans and war dead. In fact, I think the legislation would blur such a focus. And as much as I sense her heart is in the right place, I believe MacLeod’s bill will do just the opposite of its noble intentions.

Just think about it for a second. What would most adults or kids do with another statutory holiday, i.e. a day off? Of course, they’d go to the mall and shop their brains out. They’d go to the movies or join their friends at Starbucks. They’d do everything and anything but what the time off is intended to achieve. And if you doubt that logic, think about the commercialization of Thanksgiving, Easter and even Canada Day, now that they’re holidays.

Or worse, what about Boxing Day? That day was traditionally set aside for families to gather for an additional breather in the Christmas-New Year’s rush. And look what happened to Dec. 26, with its Boxing Day sales gone mad. Thankfully, the Royal Canadian Legion has already balked at the notion that any merchandising be attached to Nov. 11.

Now, I grant MPP MacLeod that, yes, Ontario is one of only three provinces (including Manitoba and Quebec) that does not officially recognize Remembrance Day; although, there are numerous Ontario government departments that shut down on Nov. 11 to allow civil servants to attend Remembrance Day observances. Macleod pointed to a massive social media campaign that has seen as many as 13,000 Facebookers support the move as rationale for her bill.

Well, I’ve got greater numbers than she has – the 60,000 dead from the First World War, the 40,000 dead from the Second World War, the 516 dead from the Korean War and the 152 dead in Afghanistan.

I believe those lost Canadians deserve more attention than any social media outlet can ever bring to bear. I believe that living Canadians need to have their workday interrupted by such war-dead statistics. I believe that employers, supervisors, elders and principals need to bring business, education and even public service to a halt in order to have their staffs attend Remembrance Day observances – for an hour or two.

I believe it should be mandatory for people to go to a cenotaph, join a veterans’ parade, participate in the readings and songs of remembrance. And if, by chance, those staffs have any time left over away from the job, they should take a vet for a coffee and listen to learn what she or he has experienced.

I do endorse one aspect of MacLeod’s proposed bill – the clause that requires every school to hold a Remembrance Day event on the last school day before Nov. 11. But it should be more than the “The Last Post,” “Reveille” and two minutes’ silence. Since I began organizing the Remembrance Day service at Centennial College about 10 years ago, each Nov. 11, I have invited specific veterans to speak to students, faculty and staff at the college. The exchange has always been electrifying and enlightening for all concerned.

I appreciate the notion of a statutory holiday on Nov. 11, but rather than encourage people to waste their time on such a day off, I’d prefer that they make the time to remember and do it with as much conviction as those who’ve volunteered for military service in this country.