The 'May Long' Weekend

This is not a post about Elizabeth May. It's about the 3-day weekend that Canadians are enjoying right now.

When I was growing up, it was called 'Victoria Day' in honour of long dead Queen Victoria who ruled Britain from 1837 to 1901. A few decades later, almost no one (thankfully) calls it the 'Victoria Day weekend' any longer. Why should Canadians want to celebrate the reign of an ultra prudish English Queen who died 100 years ago?

To fill the void of relevance, a new generation of Canadians has labeled this weekend as 'May Long.' Oh yeah! There's a name that inspires a mood of celebration and festivity throughout the nation!

I have been critical of Canada's ongoing constitutional attachment to Elizabeth II, the current English Queen that we simply can't seem to ditch. Surely, Lizzy's great great grandmother Victoria inspires us even less.

So in all fairness to Canadians, and ignoring the bleating of dinosauric Canadian monarchist voices ... the 3-day weekend in May needs a new, updated and more relevant designation.

I guess 'May Long' will have to do for now, but I like it about as much as I liked it when it was called 'Victoria Day'. Have a nice weekend!


tag: Queen Victoria - not dead enough!