So we’re apparently going to get another federal statutory holiday. This one will be to mark the painful legacy of Canada’s Indian residential schools. The National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations says it is important to have a day set aside so Canadians continually get it and will never forget the impact of genocide in the residential schools on Indigenous peoples. The government is consulting with the AFN and other groups to find an appropriate day for what will likely be called the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. I can see a bit of a challenge finding where to put a new stat holiday when you think of where we already have designated holidays. There’s New Year’s Day, Family Day in February, Good Friday in March or April followed by a school break for a week after Easter Sunday, Victoria Day in May, Canada Day on July 1st, the Civic Holiday in August, Labour Day in September, Thanksgiving Day in October, Remembrance Day on November 11th, and Christmas Day and Boxing Day. So where do you put a new federal holiday that isn’t too close to an existing one? I might argue for late November considering Remembrance Day is not a holiday in Canada’s most populous provinces, Ontario and Quebec, as well as in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. They’ll probably put it somewhere I haven’t thought of and wherever it is it will be important to understand why the day is set aside as a holiday, to reflect on the terrible history and legacy of residential schools.

That’s Coffeetalk. I’m Vic Dubois.