The federal government has announced that Sept. 19, the date of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, will be a holiday for federal government employees. It’s up to the provinces to decide whether anyone else gets the day off.
Ottawa did not extend the holiday requirement to federally regulated industries, such as banks and airlines. Those industries may follow the government’s lead but won’t be forced to.
The Canadian Bankers Association says the country’s banks will observe a moment of silence on Monday but will remain open for normal business.
Provincial governments regulate about 85 to 90 per cent of workers in Canada. Here is how each province has decided to mark the Queen’s funeral.
CBC will have live televised coverage on Monday on CBC News Network, CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBCNews.ca and the CBC News app, as well as audio coverage on CBC Radio and the CBC Listen app.
Live coverage will get underway on CBC TV, CBC News Network, CBC Gem and CBCNews.ca at at 5 a.m. ET on Monday. CBC Radio One will air special coverage of the Queen’s funeral starting at 5:30 a.m. ET, which will also be available on the CBC Listen app.
Newfoundland and Labrador
The Newfoundland and Labrador government has declared Monday a one-off provincial holiday in honour of Queen Elizabeth II.
Provincial government offices and schools will close. Other businesses and organizations will not be required to close or to treat the day as a paid holiday.
“Businesses and other organizations in the province are encouraged to commemorate Her Majesty in a manner that works best for them,” said a government news release.
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia will recognize Sept. 19 as a provincial holiday.
Government offices and schools will be closed but health care services will continue.
A multi-faith memorial service will be held at the Cathedral Church of All Saints in Halifax at 2 p.m. local time. It will be livestreamed on the provincial government’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
New Brunswick
New Brunswick will have a temporary provincial holiday to mark the Queen’s funeral. Government offices and schools will be closed for the day.
Books of condolence are available for members of the public to sign at Government House and at the legislature in Fredericton. Signatures are also being accepted online.
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island will mark Sept. 19 as a statutory holiday for all provincially regulated workers, the government announced on Tuesday.
All government offices and schools will be closed.
A ceremony will be held at St. Peter’s Cathedral Church in Charlottetown at 2 p.m. local time and will be livestreamed online.
Quebec
Quebec Premier François Legault said the province will have a day of commemoration but won’t have a public holiday.
Ontario
Ontario will not be having a statutory holiday but will mark the date as a “day of mourning,” according to Premier Doug Ford’s office.
“This will give all Ontarians an opportunity to reflect on the remarkable life of Queen Elizabeth II and her unrelenting commitment to service and duty. It also allows students to be in school learning about the many contributions the Queen made to the people of Ontario,” Ford’s spokesperson Ivana Yelich said in a statement to CBC.
Ontario residents are being encouraged to observe a moment of silence at 1 p.m. ET on the day of the funeral.
Manitoba
Manitoba won’t have a statutory holiday and will instead have a “day of mourning,” a government news release said.
Non-essential government offices will be closed. Schools will remain open but classes are being encouraged to observe a moment of silence.
A 21-gun-salute will take place at the provincial legislature, followed by the firing of 96 rounds to represent each year of the Queen’s life.
A memorial service will be held at St. John’s Anglican Cathedral in Winnipeg at 7 p.m. local time.
Books of condolences are available at city halls in Winnipeg, Brandon, Steinbach and Thompson.
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan will not be having a statutory holiday to mark the Queen’s funeral.
Instead, the province will have “a day in tribute and commemoration of Queen Elizabeth II,” a government news release said.
A memorial service will be held at St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in Regina at 7 p.m. local time.
Books of condolences will be available for the public to sign at the provincial legislature, Regina and Saskatoon city halls and online at the lieutenant governor’s website.
Alberta
Alberta has declared a “provincial day of mourning’ to mark the Queen’s funeral. It won’t be an official holiday.
An outdoor ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. at the legislature building in Edmonton. It will begin with a moment of silence.
Schools and workplaces are being encouraged to take part in their own moments of silence and make other accommodations for employees who want to mark the passing of Her Majesty, a government news release said.
Books of condolences are available to sign at the legislature and other provincial buildings, as well as online.
British Columbia
The B.C. government says it will recognize the federal holiday and give government employees the day off.
Private sector employers are encouraged to mark the day in a way that is “appropriate for their employees,” a government release said.
All schools in the province will be closed.
Northwest Territories
School will still be in session, territorial government offices will still be open and business will continue as normal for most employees in the N.W.T. on Monday.
In a statement, N.W.T. Premier Caroline Cochrane said the territory’s public service is “much broader” than other areas of the country.
“Providing an additional holiday at this short notice would have far-reaching service delivery implications,” she said.
Cochrane said there would be a memorial event at the Legislative Assembly on Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. local time.
Yukon
The Yukon government said it will observe a one-time holiday for public sector employees on Monday.
Schools and government offices will be closed. Private sector employers are encouraged to observe the day in a way “suitable for their employees and operations,” a government news release said.
The national commemorative ceremony will be screened at the Jim Smith Building foyer in Whitehorse at 8 a.m. local time. A book of condolences will be available for signing.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
