Happy Canada Day!!!

[warpus]

I used to wish my Montreal friends Happy St. Pierre and Canada day, just to annoy them.

What was the Best Buy controversy?

 

[Evie]

They printed a "Canada Day sale" flyer in nine provinces out of ten, and a Moving Day sale flyer in the other.

Just a little bit fail-ish.

 

[warpus]

What's the big deal though? There are people in Quebec who don't really celebrate Canada Day, from what I've heard. Seems like a wise business move then, no? I can see them not wanting to unnecessarily antagonize some of their customers. "Pfft.. Canada day. Who cares".. etc.

Is it that they went with "Moving day", which could be (maybe) viewed as a tongue in cheek dig at Quebec?

 

[Evie]

Nah, it's just that renaming it in one province out of 10 to something not-patriotic is not sitting well with much of English Canada.

I'm sure Valka can explain it better than I.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

What's the big deal though? There are people in Quebec who don't really celebrate Canada Day, from what I've heard. Seems like a wise business move then, no? I can see them not wanting to unnecessarily antagonize some of their customers. "Pfft.. Canada day. Who cares".. etc.

Is it that they went with "Moving day", which could be (maybe) viewed as a tongue in cheek dig at Quebec?

We're talking about an electronics company. They don't have that kind of sense of humor.

Nah, it's just that renaming it in one province out of 10 to something not-patriotic is not sitting well with much of English Canada.

I'm sure Valka can explain it better than I.

Thanks.

Okay, first of all, here is the article that I read, courtesy of my twice-daily CBC newsfeed:

Best Buy's latest promotion has provoked an angry response on social media, but the company is defending its decision to recognize what it calls the "Moving Day holiday" in Quebec.

Many people have been surprised to see a flyer promoting a "Moving Day Sale" in Quebec on July 1. The same promotion is being advertised in the rest of the country as a "Canada Day Sale."

July 1 is a popular moving day in Quebec, since many leases in the province terminate at the end of June.

Early Sunday afternoon, Best Buy Canada’s Facebook page had about 30 angry posts from customers, many of them threatening to boycott the store.

"You know we celebrate Canada Day in Quebec too, right?" wrote Facebook user Lori-Anne Sernoskie.

Elizabeth Henry joked, "Can anyone tell me where to find a Moving Day flag? I have a Canadian Flag that needs replacing."

Danielle Jang, spokeswoman for Best Buy, replied to the criticism in a statement sent to CBC News.

"Like every year, we feel it is important to recognize the Moving Day holiday in Quebec because it is a significant day in this market and it's the only place in Canada where this happens," she said.

"We want to celebrate and recognize this as an important day."

The posting history of this article:

CBC News
Posted: Jun 30, 2013 3:42 PM ET
Last Updated: Jun 30, 2013 4:31 PM ET

Keep in mind that comments are now closed on this article, and there are likely more people posting on social media since the story was last updated. I myself not only commented on CBC, but I also sent an email directly to Best Buy.

Warpus, the big deal is that this company was disrespectful to our national holiday. Canadians in general don't express our patriotism and national pride on a daily basis, but we tend to let it all out on Canada Day. We do not appreciate a commercial ad pitch like this acting as though our national holiday is unimportant or even non-existent in part of the country. As one of the commenters says - there are people in Quebec who celebrate Canada Day.

This was like a slap in the face not only to the Quebec populace who celebrate our national holiday, but also to the rest of the country.

 

[warpus]

I think the issue is that a lot of people in Quebec seem to be disrespectful to the national holiday, as a lot of them don't celebrate it or take it seriously. The company is just following the trends and appealing to whichever demographic they're advertising to.

If Canada day was a more accepted holiday in Quebec, this would have never happened.

 

[emzie]

The Moving Day sale thing was hilarious.

 

[Evie]

I don't think it's even so much that they're being disrespectful. It's just that when your lease end on June 30th, and a lot of leases do, then July 1st will be moving day.

As for making Canada day a more accepted holiday: again, it comes right back down to two holidays in seven week...and one of them has far, far, far deeper historical and cultural roots than the other. Even without considering separatism, it isn't even a fair fight. La Saint-Jean has been the french-Canadian holiday far longer than Dominion/Canada day has been Canada's. Celebration of La Saint-Jean was actually actively repressed for a (short) time, Canada Day never. And before it was the French-Canadian celebration, La Saint Jean traces its roots back thousands upon thousands of years, across the entire world, versus less than a hundred fifty for Canada, in a single location.

(This in some ways reflect Canada vs Quebec. Canada building something entirely new; Québec appropriating ancient traditions and spinning them into our own things)

 

[warpus]

I don't think it's even so much that they're being disrespectful. It's just that when your lease end on June 30th, and a lot of leases do, then July 1st will be moving day.

As for making Canada day a more accepted holiday: again, it comes right back down to two holidays in seven week...and one of them has far, far, far deeper historical and cultural roots than the other. Even without considering separatism, it isn't even a fair fight. La Saint-Jean has been the french-Canadian holiday far longer than Dominion/Canada day has been Canada's. Celebration of La Saint-Jean was actually actively repressed for a (short) time, Canada Day never. And before it was the French-Canadian celebration, La Saint Jean traces its roots back thousands upon thousands of years, across the entire world, versus less than a hundred fifty for Canada, in a single location.

(This in some ways reflect Canada vs Quebec. Canada building something entirely new; Québec appropriating ancient traditions and spinning them into our own things)

I didn't even know about this.

Why don't we move Canada day to a day where it doesn't conflict with a major French Canadian holiday? Then we can all celebrate it. I'd even buy you a beer

 

[Evie]

Because then Canada Day wouldn't be Canada's birthday. Confederation DID happen on the first of July.

I haven't found any specific on who picked that date, but my impression is that it was the British imperial government in London. We could blame them for putting us into that mess. (I'm a Quebecer. Blaming Britain is fairly instinctive to us).

Personally, I'll celebrate whichever of the two happens to be celebrated wherever I happen to be. Last year I was in Ottawa, so it was the 1st. Year before that, and this year, I was in Quebec on the 24th, so it was the 24th.

 

[warpus]

Because then Canada Day wouldn't be Canada's birthday. Confederation DID happen on the first of July.

Meh, who cares. They moved Christmas by 6 months and nobody cares. It's the sentiment that matters, not the actual date.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

So we should move our national holiday because it's inconvenient to one segment of one province?

I find the first day of spring inconvenient since the official day falls during what is still winter in this part of the world, but I doubt there would be much support for my preferences.

 

[Evie]

It's not "inconvenient" in the sense that it bothers us. It's inconvenient in the sense that people who really think we should make a huge celebration out of it are always going to be disappoitned because we're not moving our pre-existing, was-there-a-long-time-before-Canada-day celebration either

 

[warpus]

Let's move it to a month where we don't already have a long weekend. June? We should really have 1 long weekend per month anyway..

 

[Valka D'Ur]

It's not "inconvenient" in the sense that it bothers us. It's inconvenient in the sense that people who really think we should make a huge celebration out of it are always going to be disappoitned because we're not moving our pre-existing, was-there-a-long-time-before-Canada-day celebration either

I never said anything about moving St-Jean Baptiste Day. I never even said anything about changing your "Moving Day" if you're so determined to keep such a thing.

All I ask is that if you don't celebrate Canada Day personally, at least don't disrespect the people who do. (not meaning you personally, Oda Nobunaga, "you" in the generic sense)

Let's move it to a month where we don't already have a long weekend. June? We should really have 1 long weekend per month anyway..

Don't some businesses give June 30 off if July 1 falls on Saturday or Sunday?

 

[warpus]

I dunno, I always get the monday off.

 

[Dumanios]

Have a cake, my friends oop north!

In all seriousness, happy late Canada day.

 

[Antilogic]

First time I have seen that cake and it is GENIUS!

 

[Takhisis]

So we should move our national holiday because it's inconvenient to one segment of one province?

You should do things in true political style, give a permanent solution to a temporary problem and expel Quebec from Canada. Since the Quebecois seem to exist merely in order to contradict the English-speaking minority in Canada, they would resist any attempts to sever them from the rest of the Dominion for ever and ever.

I find the first day of spring inconvenient since the official day falls during what is still winter in this part of the world, but I doubt there would be much support for my preferences.

I can support you for the right price.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

You should do things in true political style, give a permanent solution to a temporary problem and expel Quebec from Canada. Since the Quebecois seem to exist merely in order to contradict the English-speaking minority in Canada, they would resist any attempts to sever them from the rest of the Dominion for ever and ever.

Some people have actually said that the rest of Canada should have a referendum in which we get to decide if Quebec gets to stay... the opposite of the referendum that happened back in 1995. The reasons for this opinion include honest anger toward separatists, transfer payments to a province that sometimes is governed by a party that is fundamentally philosophically disloyal to the greater country, to annoyance with referendum after referendum, and the language laws.

As for me, my opinions and feelings have changed back and forth over the past 30+ years. It's a complex, emotional issue. The one constant that has angered me throughout, though, is that one of the country's two official languages could be considered illegal in any way whatsoever.

All that said, Alberta has its own separatists, and they've even tried to form credible political parties. Thankfully it hasn't worked... so some of those people are among those who joined the federal Reform-Alliance-fake Conservatives, and some have joined the Wild Rose party.

I can support you for the right price.

I did not know you have power over Mother Nature!