::Nanuenymous::

Today is the Canadian Style Family Day and it's a Public Holiday:)
Well, it has nothing to do with me since I am already in the verge of the "Reading Week". And speaking of which, I have some facts to share with everyone. Enjoy:)

It is celebrated on the third Monday in February each year, thereby coinciding with the US holiday President's Day.The holiday was first celebrated in 1990. Alberta (one of the provinces here) was the only province in Canada to have a statutory holiday in February, until it was proposed in Saskatchewan beginning in 2007.

The holiday was proclaimed by Liutenant Governor Helen Hunley, on the advice of her premier Don Getty, in response to a drug scandal involving the premier's son, Dale Getty who had been arrested for possession of cocaine and was revealed to have cocaine addiction. Premier Getty was embarrassed by the revelation, and admitted publicly that he had neglected his family, saying that it was also important for all Albertans to take more care with their families.

Getty came in for considerable criticism at the time. Many people felt he had abused his position to compensate for his feelings of guilt with respect to his own family. Also, many employers felt that an additional statutory holiday was an unnecessary fiscal burden. In response to the criticism, the holiday of Heritage Day was downgraded to a civic holiday, meaning employers are not required to observe this day. Under Alberta law, the employer may choose to observe Heritage Day as a general holiday, under which rules applying to general holiday pay will be used.

Ontario's Family Day takes place on the third Monday of February and is a statutory holiday. It was established on October 11, 2007 following the 2007 fall Ontario election campaign when Premier Dalton McGuinty was re-elected, and the first one was on February 18, 2008 (which is today!!). Its creation raised Ontario's number of statutory holidays to nine per year. Weee hooo:P

well, say what? Wikipedia DOES help.