What is labor day all about in Canada?

A Labour Day tradition in Atlantic Canada is the Wharf Rat Rally in Digby, Nova Scotia, while the rest of Canada watches the Labor Day Classic, a Canadian Football League event where rivals like Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts and Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers play on Labor Day weekend. Before the demise of the Ottawa Renegades after the 2005 season, that team played the nearby Montreal Alouettes on Labor Day weekend. From 2006 to 2013, the Alouettes played the remaining team in the league, the BC Lions. Starting in 2014, when the Ottawa Red blacks begin play, the Montreal–Ottawa Labor Day tradition will be revived. Likewise, Ontario University Athletics has a long-established tradition to play university football on Labor Day.

History of Labor Day:

Labor Day (French: Fête du Travail) has been celebrated on the first Monday in September in Canada since the 1880s. The origins of Labor Day in Canada can be traced back to December 1872 when a parade was staged in support of the Toronto Typographical Union’s strike for a 58-hour work-week. The Toronto Trades Assembly (TTA) called its 27 unions to demonstrate in support of the Typographical Union who had been on strike since March 25. George Brown, Canadian politician and editor of the Toronto Globe hit back at his striking employees, pressing police to charge the Typographical Union with “conspiracy.”Although the laws criminalizing union activity were outdated and had already been abolished in Great Britain, they were still on the books in Canada and police arrested 24 leaders of the Typographical Union. Labor leaders decided to call another similar demonstration on September 3 to protest the arrests. Seven unions marched in Ottawa, prompting a promise by Canadian Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald to repeal the “barbarous” anti-union laws.Parliament passed the Trade Union Act on June 14 the following year, and soon all unions were seeking a 54-hour work-week.

The Toronto Trades and Labor Council (successor to the TTA) held similar celebrations every spring. American Peter J. McGuire, co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was asked to speak at a labor festival in Toronto, Canada on July 22, 1882. Returning to the United States, McGuire and the Knights of Labor organised a similar parade based on the Canadian event on September 5, 1882 in New York City, USA. On July 23, 1894, Canadian Prime Minister John Thompson and his government made Labor Day, to be held in September, an official holiday. In the United States, the New York parade became an annual event that year, and in 1894 was adopted by American president Grover Cleveland to compete with International Workers’ Day (May Day).

While Labor Day parades and picnics are organised by unions, many Canadians regard Labor Day as the Monday of the last long weekend of summer. Non-union celebrations include picnics, fireworks displays, water activities, and public art events. Since the new school year generally starts right after Labor Day, families with school-age children take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer.

Why Can’t You Wear White After Labor Day in Canada?

An old fashioned tradition in Canada and the United States frowns upon the wearing of white after Labor Day. Explanations for this tradition vary; the most common is that white is a summer color and Labor Day unofficially marks the end of summer. The rule may have been intended as a status symbol for new members of the upper and middle classes in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Labor Day Images Pictures Images:

Labor Day parade:

The Labor Day parade in Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland started in 1921 and still continues today, over 90 years later. The celebrations go on for three days with a parade on Labor Day Monday

Labor Day weekend Canada 2014:

Labor Day in Canada is celebrated on the first Monday of September and it is a federal statutory holiday. This holiday officially celebrates workers and the labor union movement, however, most of us only think of it as the last long weekend of the summer, a perfect occasion for one last BBQ or canoe trip. Many seasonal attractions and vendors close after the labor day long weekend and it is generally the start of the fall shoulder season.

The last long weekend of the summer has arrived, bringing with it a variety of events and closures. Here’s what’s happening in Toronto this Labor Day weekend.TTC will be operating on holiday service hours. GO Transit will operate on a Sunday schedule, and will have extra service to the CNE Saturday through Monday.
Canada Post will not be in operation on the holiday. All banks will also be closed.
All Beer Stores and LCBO stores will be closed on Labour Day.
Major malls, including Toronto Eaton Centre, will be open. Most major tourist attractions such as the CN Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada, and the ROM will also be open Monday.

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Labor day Slogans Quotes & SMS Wishes:

God give me work, till my life shall end
And life, till my work is done.
– Epitaph of Winifred Holtby
The end of labor is to gain leisure.
– Aristotle

If all the cars in the United States were placed end to end, it would probably be Labor Day Weekend.
– Doug Larson

If any man tells you he loves America, yet hates labor, he is a liar. If any man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool.
– Abraham Lincoln

Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another.
– Anatole France

A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor.
– Victor Hugo

 Labor Day Canada  Wishes Slogans Pictures History Date Images Parade Sale- Wear White After Labour Day 2014

Originally posted 2014-08-31 05:56:01.

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