Monday was a day off for a lot of people, but depending on where you were, it went by different names.
In B.C., we celebrated Family Day, which was also a holiday in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick.
In Manitoba, it was Louis Riel Day.
In Nova Scotia, it was Nova Scotia Heritage Day.
In Prince Edward Island, it was Islander Day (nothing to do with the New York hockey team, I believe).
And if you lived in the United States, you celebrated Presidents Day (or Presidents’ Day, or President’s Day, depending on what style you prefer).
It wasn’t always that simple, though. A lot of people in B.C. probably remember that Christy Clark promised to make Family Day a holiday if she became premier, and that it would be on the third Monday in February, starting in 2013.
Well, they held some committee meetings and decided to make it the second Monday instead, apparently believing that having B.C. businesses open on the weekend the U.S. celebrated Presidents Day would result in millions of tourists flocking across the border to B.C. merchants and resorts.
It didn’t happen.
In 2018, Family Day had moved back to the third Monday so we were the same as everyone else.
Speaking of Presidents Day in the U.S. (as opposed to the one in Botswana), it has moved around a bit as well and has a LOT of different names.
For a while, the U.S. had two separate holidays in February recognizing presidents. Washington’s Birthday (a federal holiday) was held on February 22 for almost 100 years, while Lincoln’s Birthday (not a federal holiday) was held on February 12.
In 1970, the holiday became Presidents Day (except it is still officially Washington’s Birthday for the federal government in the U.S.). And that should be the end of it, right?
Well, it seems nobody ever formally declared what the holiday should be called, so different states have different names. More than 20 of the states have a holiday with Presidents in the title (except some call it Presidents’ Day, some call it President’s Day and some call it Presidents Day), while others use Washington, Washington and Lincoln, or Washington and another person as the name.
I kind of lean toward California’s name: The third Monday in February.