Tread lightly on the topic of Victoria Day
Royal connections shouldn't `tire' us, says Mel Simoneau.
There are different ways to check vehicle tire tread, including inspecting the tread bars or using a gauge. Most drivers can tell tread wear by eyesight and digging their fingertips into the tire.
Try this. Insert a coin (the toonie is a good one) into the tire tread. Use the side with the polar bear. The tread is good and deep if the coin sinks up to the bear's feet. If the silver part of the toonie is visible, there's a questionable degree of wear.
I'm a pre-toonie boomer. In the past, besides a quick visual check of my tire treads, I've used a penny (by the way, thank you, obsolete penny, for that timeless idiom: you're in my thoughts, too). I inserted it on its obverse side with Queen Elizabeth II'S head upside down. I hoped her head would sink deeply. If it was too visible, I knew my tread had significant wear.
Near the end of the Second World War, Elizabeth (then Princess Elizabeth) trained as a driver and mechanic (she was dubbed the “Princess Auto Mechanic”). Known to be practical, she probably knew a version of this tire-tread trick. She was known, too, for her humour and one-liners. Did she ever insert a coin carrying the image of her dad, King George VI, into the tire treads of the vehicles she serviced? Hmm, maybe she joked inwardly: “Father, thank you for the depth of your service.”
Monday is Victoria Day. Queen Victoria, Elizabeth's great-great-grandmother, was born on May 24, 1819, and in 1845 the Province of Canada declared her birthday an official holiday. That time was part of the Great Migration era (1815 to 1850), and the province, already home to many British citizens, would welcome more of them and their commitment to the monarchy. Victoria, of course, also wisely named Ottawa our nation's capital.
The British North America Act, 1867 (now, the Constitution Act, 1867) recognized our new country, but Canada still had a Constitution owing to Britain. Canada evolved into fuller autonomy with the Statute of Westminster in
Do we celebrate the day and its meaning? No. Not really. Kind of. Some do.
1931, an additional move away from British legislative powers. Finally, in 1981, then-prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau pushed to patriate the Constitution, which would go on to include the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and an amending formula so that Canada could make its own changes to its Constitution. After extensive cross-country rancour, primarily by federal and provincial leaders, an agreement (minus Québec) was reached and the Constitution Act, 1982 was proclaimed by Elizabeth II.
That was “old Canada.” What about today — the monarchy, and specifically Victoria Day? Do we celebrate the day and its meaning? No. Not really. Kind of. Some do, a very small number. Many Indigenous Peoples generally liked Elizabeth II, but the Crown also meant centuries of colonial power and its abusive authority. Québec refers to Victoria Day as Journée nationale des Patriotes; it isn't a paid holiday for many workers in the Atlantic provinces; and colloquially, it's often called the “long weekend in May,” or the “May Two-four” weekend (see: “Let's get a case of 24 and head to the cottage”).
Elizabeth II died last September. Polls taken after her death and this winter indicate that roughly 50 per cent of Canadians favour cutting ties with the monarchy, and a larger percentage want a national referendum on the matter. Should we abandon a flawed but viable constitutional monarchy to engage in the enormously complex job of adopting republicanism?
In the image of that earlier-mentioned Arctic bear on the toonie, the debate would be polarizing. The quick-witted “Princess Auto Mechanic” might even add: “It would be tiring.”
How to celebrate Victoria Day, then? It is considered to be the first long weekend that looks forward to summer temperatures (and it has been a cool spring). “Happy First-unofficial-long-weekend-of-summer Day!” Can we reach a consensus on that?