4 ms·

FYI it's actually 'Canada Day', equivalent to 'Bastille Day' in France, or July 4th in the US. The 'moving day' bit is a slightly subtle dig at the very notion

FYI it's actually 'Canada Day', equivalent to 'Bastille Day' in France, or July 4th in the US. The 'moving day' bit is a slightly subtle dig at the very notion of the country. It's complicated, though as of late less hostile. Source: me, Anglophone living in entirely French district of Montreal.

vaughnegut 8y ago
I'm not inclined to agree. Some holidays are just not as popular with québécois folk (Thanksgiving is another example). A long weekend in summer based around a holiday the majority of the people in the province don't particularly care about is perfect for moving.
- sonnyblarney 8y ago
  That people would literally refer to the Nation's holiday/foundational day as 'moving day' - almost ubiquitously (i.e. on radio, TV etc.) - without reference to the actual holiday, is definitely antagonistic. Imagine if you were in NYC, and reading CNN on July 3rd, and the only mention was: 'hey folks it's moving day tomorrow, here are some tips' - and that was literally the only mention of the July 4th holiday, i.e. no reference to Independence Day or anything else. And when someone piped up and mentioned - "Oh yeah, it's Independence Day" - and the crowd giggled ... (as happened on the radio yesterday with reference to Canada Day) ... In Toronto, Canada activities are big, and way overrepresented by new immigrant Canadians, as multigenerational-Canadian folks generally do a more low-key thing at the cottage. Ottawa is different.
  - Sytten 8y ago
    We (speaking for majority of Québécois) definitely don't care much about the ROC and I don't think we should be offended of that. It's just the reality of two cultures forced to coexist by a foreign power :/ Ans it's reciprocal I think. As a student en computer eng. I see it a lot. All my fellow students apply for jobs in Quebec and I personally have a hard time finding anything outside of Quebec.
    - jkaplowitz 8y ago
      Are you in Montreal or elsewhere in Quebec? I think Montreal is uniquely attached to both lineages and cultures. That is part of what I love about this city and part of why I chose to immigrate here. (Oui, le français faisait fortement partie de ma choix. Or, à Montréal je peux utiliser et maîtriser le français en tant que langue primaire et commune sans abandonner l'anglais et les cultures dont il est lié. // Translation for everyone else on HN: Yes, French was a big part of my choice. However, in Montreal I can use and master French as the primary and common language without abandoning English and the cultures linked to it.)
jkaplowitz 8y ago
Hello fellow anglophone in Montreal! I too assumed thought that was the reason, but turns out it's not: the party that created this conflict one year in the 1970s by adding two months to all leases which ended on April 30 is the Quebec Liberal Party, who are federalists. Apparently back then Canada Day, which was then called Dominion Day, was simply less of a big deal than it is now.
- sonnyblarney 8y ago
  That's a really great point, but I there's no reason that this legislation would 'create' such an outcome, rather it's an influencer. 'Canada Day' has never been a huge deal, which is just fine, but it's definitely 'something'.
  - jkaplowitz 8y ago
    It wouldn't necessarily, but in Quebec's history it did create that schedule conflict - before that there was already a mandatory Moving Day here on May 1 (i.e. ending leases then was required by law), first legislated all the way back in New France colonial times so that landlords didn't force people to move during our harsh winters. The Liberals removed the requirement for specific lease dates in 1974, but they coupled that with a one-time extension to June 30, 1975 of leases that were scheduled to end on April 30 or May 1 of that year, as most were due to the former requirement. Apparently the reasons for the shift were to let schoolchildren finish their school years first, to avoid a time of year with sometimes rough weather, and to let workers move on what was already a holiday (less major then than now) instead of needing to take a day off from work. And I guess they dropped the mandatory aspect since nobody in living memory would have wanted to create such a mandate. If you simply mean that their legislation influenced rather than created the local attitude toward Canada Day, I agree there, although federalists like them wouldn't have acted with hostility toward the Canadian Confederation as a motivation. Quebec was already less gung-ho for that than, say, Ontario. But the disproportionate tendency for Quebec to move on or around July 1 specifically was what the Liberals created with their chosen one-time shift.
    - 8y ago

vaughnegut 8y ago

I'm not inclined to agree. Some holidays are just not as popular with québécois folk (Thanksgiving is another example). A long weekend in summer based around a holiday the majority of the people in the province don't particularly care about is perfect for moving.

sonnyblarney 8y ago
That people would literally refer to the Nation's holiday/foundational day as 'moving day' - almost ubiquitously (i.e. on radio, TV etc.) - without reference to the actual holiday, is definitely antagonistic. Imagine if you were in NYC, and reading CNN on July 3rd, and the only mention was: 'hey folks it's moving day tomorrow, here are some tips' - and that was literally the only mention of the July 4th holiday, i.e. no reference to Independence Day or anything else. And when someone piped up and mentioned - "Oh yeah, it's Independence Day" - and the crowd giggled ... (as happened on the radio yesterday with reference to Canada Day) ... In Toronto, Canada activities are big, and way overrepresented by new immigrant Canadians, as multigenerational-Canadian folks generally do a more low-key thing at the cottage. Ottawa is different.
- Sytten 8y ago
  We (speaking for majority of Québécois) definitely don't care much about the ROC and I don't think we should be offended of that. It's just the reality of two cultures forced to coexist by a foreign power :/ Ans it's reciprocal I think. As a student en computer eng. I see it a lot. All my fellow students apply for jobs in Quebec and I personally have a hard time finding anything outside of Quebec.
  - jkaplowitz 8y ago
    Are you in Montreal or elsewhere in Quebec? I think Montreal is uniquely attached to both lineages and cultures. That is part of what I love about this city and part of why I chose to immigrate here. (Oui, le français faisait fortement partie de ma choix. Or, à Montréal je peux utiliser et maîtriser le français en tant que langue primaire et commune sans abandonner l'anglais et les cultures dont il est lié. // Translation for everyone else on HN: Yes, French was a big part of my choice. However, in Montreal I can use and master French as the primary and common language without abandoning English and the cultures linked to it.)

jkaplowitz 8y ago

Hello fellow anglophone in Montreal! I too assumed thought that was the reason, but turns out it's not: the party that created this conflict one year in the 1970s by adding two months to all leases which ended on April 30 is the Quebec Liberal Party, who are federalists. Apparently back then Canada Day, which was then called Dominion Day, was simply less of a big deal than it is now.

sonnyblarney 8y ago
That's a really great point, but I there's no reason that this legislation would 'create' such an outcome, rather it's an influencer. 'Canada Day' has never been a huge deal, which is just fine, but it's definitely 'something'.
- jkaplowitz 8y ago
  It wouldn't necessarily, but in Quebec's history it did create that schedule conflict - before that there was already a mandatory Moving Day here on May 1 (i.e. ending leases then was required by law), first legislated all the way back in New France colonial times so that landlords didn't force people to move during our harsh winters. The Liberals removed the requirement for specific lease dates in 1974, but they coupled that with a one-time extension to June 30, 1975 of leases that were scheduled to end on April 30 or May 1 of that year, as most were due to the former requirement. Apparently the reasons for the shift were to let schoolchildren finish their school years first, to avoid a time of year with sometimes rough weather, and to let workers move on what was already a holiday (less major then than now) instead of needing to take a day off from work. And I guess they dropped the mandatory aspect since nobody in living memory would have wanted to create such a mandate. If you simply mean that their legislation influenced rather than created the local attitude toward Canada Day, I agree there, although federalists like them wouldn't have acted with hostility toward the Canadian Confederation as a motivation. Quebec was already less gung-ho for that than, say, Ontario. But the disproportionate tendency for Quebec to move on or around July 1 specifically was what the Liberals created with their chosen one-time shift.
  - 8y ago