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Today, the first of August, is a holiday in Canada...Simcoe Day here in Ontario, it has different names in different provinces. John Simcoe was the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada (basically southern Ontario) and one of the founders of Toronto. Like most such leaders, there are streets and towns named after him...and for most people the word Simcoe means the street or the town, rather than the man. For Americans it's like attending Harrison Elementary School (as I did). Honestly, without looking it up, have you any idea what President Harrison did? I haven't. I just looked it up...turns out there are two Harrisons. I've no idea which one my old school was named for, which just proves my point. For me, today is a holiday that proves one thing...Canadians like holidays. Not only do they like holidays, and have one pretty much every month, they're well paid for them. In the States you get time and a half, double time if you're lucky, for working a holiday. There's no law governing it - it's entirely up to your employer. In Canada you get time and a half for working the day before or after the holiday! There's also a raft of federal and provincial regulations that dictate when you get time and a half and when you get double...even triple time. Imagine how Uncle Scrooge would react to that. So Canada has guaranteed and generous holiday pay, universal health care, 52 weeks of maternity/paternal leave, and a thicket of laws protecting workers from unjust firing and bad treatment... It's a worker's paradise! |
