The fascinating history of Ontario's August Civic Holiday Ontario Holiday
Here's how it originated at Toronto City Council.
In the first week of September 1861, John Carr — serving as a local alderman at City Council for St. Andrew's Ward and later St. Patrick's Ward — introduced the following motion to City Council: The motion passed at City Council 19 to 5. The Mayor subsequently proclaimed Thursday, 12 September 1861, the first of the Public Holidays.The Globe reported that only about a dozen stores on King Street and Yonge Street — then the commercial heart of the City — opted to close and that business and municipal activities largely carried on as normal. A few citizens with the day off coordinated large group picnic trips to Hamilton, Niagara Falls, and Weston.
Whereas the holiday occurred in early September in 1861, Council voted the following year, in 1862, to celebrate it in mid-August, with significant debate arising as to whether to celebrate it on Monday the 18th or Tuesday the 19th. In an August 1957 retrospective examination of the holiday , The Globe and Mail notes that by the late 1860s, Toronto business owners had begun to revolt over City Council meddling in the"natural course of business affairs" and were calling the holiday The Forced Holiday.
In 1871, the holiday gained the attention of the British Parliament, who were looking to introduce a midsummer holiday in the United Kingdom. Sir John Lubbock favourably viewed Toronto's holiday and included reference to it in debates around the Bank Holidays Act of 1871.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Fireworks greenlit for Monday’s Civic HolidayMonday, Aug. 7, has been declared an additional permitted day to discharge fireworks in the City of Greater Sudbury
Read more »
Fireworks greenlit for Monday’s Civic HolidayMonday, Aug. 7, has been declared an additional permitted day to discharge fireworks in the City of Greater Sudbury
Read more »
Long weekend weather: Nice Saturday and Sunday, showers MondayGet out and enjoy your Civic Holiday long weekend!
Read more »
Long weekend weather: Nice Saturday and Sunday, showers MondayGet out and enjoy your Civic Holiday long weekend!
Read more »