Family Day is the name of a public holiday in South Africa, in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan, and (as "Family & Community Day") in the Australian Capital Territory.
Australia
Australian Capital Territory
Family & Community Day is celebrated on the first Tuesday of November, which coincides with the
Melbourne Cup. This public holiday was declared in 2007 under section 3(1)(b) of the Holidays Act 1953 (ACT) and is expected to be declared again in 2008. In his speech to the
Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, Mr Andrew Barr, the
ACT Minister for Industrial Relations stated the purpose of the new public holiday was:
"...to enable workers to take a break from their hectic working lives and to spend some quality time with their family and friends. ... Australians do work the longest hours of any country in the western world. We do deserve a break." (Hansard, Legislative Assembly for the ACT, 25 September 2007, page 2608)
Canada
Alberta
It is celebrated on the third Monday in February each year, thereby coinciding with the US holiday
Presidents Day. The holiday was first celebrated in
1990. Alberta was the only province in Canada to have a statutory holiday in February, until it was proposed in Saskatchewan beginning in
2007.
The holiday was proclaimed by
Lieutenant Governor Helen Hunley, on the advice of her
premier,
Don Getty, in response to a drug scandal involving the premier's son,
Dale Getty, who had been arrested for possession of cocaine and was revealed to have cocaine addiction. Premier Getty was embarrassed by the revelation, and admitted publicly that he had neglected his family, saying that it was also important for all Albertans to take more care with their families.
Getty came in for considerable criticism at the time. Many people felt he had abused his position to compensate for his feelings of guilt with respect to his own family. Also, many employers felt that an additional statutory holiday was an unnecessary fiscal burden. In response to the criticism, the holiday of
Heritage Day was downgraded to a
civic holiday, meaning employers are not required to observe this day. Under Alberta law, the employer may choose to observe Heritage Day as a general holiday, under which rules applying to general holiday pay will be used.
Manitoba
In
February 2007, it was reported that the Manitoba government had been considering a holiday in February. Legislation that included the proposed holiday was passed by Manitoba's Legislative Assembly on April 17, 2007. It will be celebrated every third Monday of February, and it will be celebrated for the first time on February 18, 2008. Although the holiday will be known as
Louis Riel Day rather than Family Day in honor of Louis Riel, the founder of
Manitoba.
Ontario
It was established on
October 11,
2007, following the 2007 fall Ontario election campaign when Premier
Dalton McGuinty was re-elected, and the first one will be on
February 18,
2008. Its creation raised Ontario's number of statutory holidays to nine per year.
Saskatchewan
In October 2006,
Saskatchewan's
Premier proposed the holiday for the province, beginning in 2007. The bill for the Labour Standards Amendment Act, 2006, was introduced in the legislature on
November 1,
2006, and received
Royal Assent on December 6. The act officially declares the third Monday of each February Family Day and came into effect immediately; the first Family Day in Saskatchewan was
February 19,
2007.
The overall effect in annual days off remains unchanged for many, as Easter Monday is no longer considered a holiday by private businesses. Businesses suggested it might cost them as much as $140 million a year for this new holiday, and have requested tax breaks to soften the economic impact. The Saskatchewan government has given $95-million corporate tax cuts, but most of the companies benefiting have adjusted the official days off such that the annual allotment remains exactly the same.
South Africa
After 1995
Easter Monday was renamed Family Day. In 2007 it was observed on
April 9.
