The government should stop telling us to celebrate Easter
Christian holidays are the only religious holidays that receive statutory status across all provinces and territories. We should reform our general holidays to reflect freedom of choice.
Mariel Aramburu (MA) is a graduate student at the Max Bell School of Public Policy where she is co-editor of The Bell. She celebrates Easter with her family and faith community. Write us at newsletterthebell@gmail.com
TODAY, MANY CANADIANS CELEBRATE EASTER. Does that mean all Canadians should mark the occasion? Our governments certainly seem to think so. Only five holidays are recognized as statutory holidays by all provinces and territories – Easter Monday (or Good Friday) and Christmas make up 40 percent of those dates. The other shared holidays? New Year’s Day, Canada Day, and Labour Day.
The future of our country rests on our ability to embrace religious diversity, and it’s time for our general holidays to reflect Canada’s multicultural society.
At the height of the second pandemic wave, some provincial governments chose to make Christmas celebrations a priority. After reports that Ontario would enforce lockdown measures on Christmas Eve, the Premier later announced it had landed on the day after Christmas, “to give businesses time to prepare.” While later reversed given the escalating number of COVID-19 cases in the province, Quebec jumped through hoops in November to design guidelines allowing people to gather for four days over Christmas. The Jewish community in Quebec requested a similar easing of restrictions to celebrate Hanukkah earlier in December and were denied the same liberty by Premier Legault. This decision was seen as the government “priz[ing] one faith community over the other.”
In Canada, statutory holidays are typically defined by federal and provincial employment legislation where pay rules apply. This generally means if an employer is not able to give its employees the day off, they must provide an additional holiday pay rate (typically 1.5 times their wage or an additional day off with pay). Most employees operate under provincial employment standards where each province defines its own list of general holidays. While federally regulated industries and workplaces will observe a list of statutory holidays defined by the Canada Labour Code, the majority of Canadians are subject to dates selected by the province in which they reside.
Surprisingly, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island still maintain restrictions on retail operations for Easter and Christmas holidays. In Ontario, the Retail Business Holidays Act stipulates retailers are not permitted to be open on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Christmas unless municipalities have passed specific bylaws. Most retail, including grocery stores, are prohibited from opening on Easter Sunday and Christmas Day in Quebec (while Montreal may prescribe specific bylaws). Manitoba only removed its similar restrictions last year, following an outcry after a grocery store owner in Winnipeg was fined $10,000 for opening on Good Friday.
The latest available Canadian census data on religion is from 2011 and shows nearly 33 percent of Canadians subscribe to a religion other than Christianity (such as Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist religions) or have no religious affiliation. If we consider changing demographics and religious trends in Canada, the 2021 Canadian census is likely to reflect an even larger percentage of religious diversity. By including Easter and Christmas as general holidays – and in fact the only religious statutory holidays – government is arguably showing support for the Christian tradition over the many religious practices of Canadians. This seems at odds with the spirit of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which ascribes to the “equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination,” including religion.
Easter and Christmas are important religious and cultural holidays for many. Moving away from recognizing them as statutory holidays does not discredit their value but rather opens up space for others to observe holy days and festivals of significance. Presently, employees will typically need to take vacation time to celebrate any religious observance that is not a statutory holiday – while others keep their vacation days and do not have to go through any trouble asking for time off for Easter or Christmas.
Some employment law experts have stressed employers' “duty to accommodate” on religious grounds, where employers have the responsibility to explore options (beyond the use of vacation time) for their employees, without loss of wages. Examples include making changes to an employee’s schedule, providing them with overtime hours to make up pay for a day off, the ability to use time in lieu, or even providing paid leave under certain provisions.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Policy on Preventing Discrimination Based on Creed includes a recommendation for “inclusive design.” It highlights how choices in design can serve to both establish or reduce barriers for the full participation of individuals and communities, and organizations' responsibility to account for differences in religious belief in every aspect of the workplace, including policies and procedures. Recently, other employment law experts have proposed two “floating” days off (with pay) where employees may select the religious or cultural dates of their choosing. While not without its operational complexities, this presents a clear and workable solution that addresses the existing structural barrier that has been entrenched by governments themselves.
By moving away from holding Christian observances as statutory holidays, we can encourage religious literacy in our multicultural country. Religious intolerance and discrimination prevent Canadians from full participation in society and ultimately serve to weaken social cohesion. It's in our collective interest to strengthen understanding and celebration of Canadians’ religious and cultural differences.
We should proactively respect Canadians’ choices to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, Yom Kippur, and many other symbolic days. The health of our country depends on it. (MA)
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The Bell is edited by Emily Nickerson, Mariel Aramburu, and Andrew Potter of the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University. If you have any feedback or would like to contribute to this newsletter, please send an email to the editors at newsletterthebell@gmail.com