General Chat

I'm sure Sylvia will confirm as I said the main services were held on the 11th but it's not a public holiday. :-)

In France 11 Nov is a statutory holiday just like a Bank Holiday. Shops are open half day. The schoolchildren (no option) go from school to the war memorial for the village or arrondisement . The "fanfare" or band for the village/suburb will play the Marseillaise followed by the major or, increasingly one of the children, reading out the list of men and women who were killed during the two world wars. Very often the names are the grandparents and gt grandparents of the children incouding a lot of Polish, German and Arabic names.
Then, being France, everuybody goes to the community centre for a 4 course lunch.
There is nothing very much on a national level. Business seems to cope ok.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c2ch8v72LI

Kath, there is no confusion on my part because conflict was one of my fields of study.

Remembrance Sunday occurs as a result of the Armistice because some people want to pay homage at church services but I see no reason why there should not be one day of remembrance, 11 November. It is THE significant date on which ceremonies should take place.

I know that when Anzac Day is celebrated in Australia it is a national holiday and everyone, young and old, realises the significance of the day. It is not 'watered down' by having a separate day for different aspects of the same ceremony. Children learn why parades and ceremonies take place on 25 April.

I see what you mean about Whitsun - we used to have a Whit week holiday when I was young - and I agree, few young people realise the significance of Whit Sunday.

May Day bank holiday is completely different - one for the workers I believe, and one which a lot of young people will be familiar with as I believe they should be.

Caroline, I first mentioned a national holiday for 11/11 as I was aware that an extra day's public holiday has been mentioned over the last few years and if it was going to be, then I believe 11/11 would be an ideal date.

Yes, Sylvia mentioned the main services in Canada took place on 11/11 and I can't see why that should not happen here. It is the date that is significant.

France, as Rollo, writes, has got it right, I believe.

There seems to be no sense of a split in ceremonies in France and Canada, nor in Australia with its own day of ceremony and celebration.

If France and Canada can organise it, why can't we?

Rollo, watched that - perfect!

November 11 is a Statutory Holiday in most but not all provinces in Canada.

It is in BC, and 5 other provinces plus all 3 territories.

It is not a Stat holiday in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and Nova Scotia.

There are always discussions about changing this situation and designating a National Stat Holiday.


I think this discrepancy may mean that Caroline has a different experience to myself.


Yes, stores open here ............. it used to be that they did not open until noon, but now they open normal "holiday" hours. The major department stores began that .............. Head Offices in Ontario ordered it, and force was placed on the Provincial government to change their law to allow the earlier opening. I remember the public outcry very well when that happened :-)

However, we have noticed that several small stores did not open this year. I think this is becoming a trend.

Schools are closed ...... most of them hold some sort of ceremony on the day before.

Attendance at the Cenotaphs is increasing every year ....... and is largely due to young parents bringing their small children.

Having Remembrance Day as a holiday does not appear to have made a joke of it .

Yes, people treated this particular weekend as a long weekend ........ but traffic on the roads, at the border and on the ferries was heavier in the afternoon than in the morning. That implies to me that people used the "free" afternoon to go away or to do things, rather than the whole day.


To me, it is even more sincere by being on the day and at the hour as determined by our ancestors.


Some of you MIGHT be interested to know that a new Memorial was dedicated in BC this past November 11 .......... commemorating the Japanese-Canadians who served with the Canadian Forces in WW2 and succeeding wars. Certain special Japanese-Canadians groups were parachuted behind the lines in areas in Asia, where they fought rearguard actions, as well as serving in regular companies.

This was very important recognition for them as the black period of Canadian history includes the WW2 designation of anyone of Japanese origin as "an enemy" and their forced movement to internment camps away from the coasts, especially the West Coast.

Many were 3rd and 4th generation Canadian born :-( . BUT these were also the men who campaigned to be allowed to join the Forces.

Sylvia, I landed in Vancouver one year on 11 November and received a cordial welcome from one elderly female poppy seller. I spoke to her for quite a few minutes and it was obviously a day she revered so it was no surprise to me that 11/11 remains the significant date in Canada.

It is interesting to learn about the memorial in BC dedicated to the Japanese.

Thank you for your information.

Church services were mentioned.


I do not go to Church .................. but I know that Anglican churches held special memorial services this morning, as they usually do. I do not know whether they are always held on the Sunday after November 11, or on the Sunday closest. I shall have to ask my husband, as he is there right now

I presume that other religions hold some sort of memorial service on the day most suited for them.


The ceremony at the downtown Cenotaph on Nov 11 is mostly ecumenical, and recognises all the different religions involved.

Canada's Minister of Defense laid a wreath here this year .............. a veteran who served in Bosnia and 2 tours in Afghanistan, wounded in Bosnia, and a Sikh who proudly wears a turban, as he did throughout his service.

Joy ..........


it is extremely important to all the veterans that Nov 11 be revered.

and, yes, many of the poppy sellers are now very elderly. You also see young cadets selling them. Plus boxes being placed in banks, stores, and coffee shops.


Do you have Silver Cross Mothers in the UK?

A Silver Cross is awarded to the mother of any soldier killed in action, and the Canadian Legion chooses one every year to be honoured at the National Cenotaph in Ottawa. She lays a wreath on behalf of all the other mothers.

These mothers are getting younger .............. this year, the soldier was 21 when he died after being injured by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2010.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Cross_Mother

No, Sylvia, we do not have Silver Cross Mothers. What a day of conflicting emotions it must be for them.

We do have cadets as well as older people selling the poppies though.

My apologies I did not know some parts of Canada had the day off, most of the population don't though !
I'm pleased to hear in BC they tend to attend ceremonies, I doubt that would happen here different mind set over all. Also the weather tends to be cooler !!

Ironically the National service in Ottawa is in Ontario so not everyone can attend...unless you look on most of the workers there are Government workers..

Well what can I say apart from I live in Scotland not Canada or France , but I am saying 11/11 should not be a bank holiday .& I enjoyed watching the Marching & Music from The Remembrance Week End .Saturday Evening & Sunday Morning .Respect The Dead & The living .God Bless each & everyone of them & Thank You for our Tomorrow <3

Caroline ...................

It is certainly very different in most provinces from what you have in Ottawa. Ironic, eh!

It's also colder and snowier in some of those other provinces right now!

It was warm-ish but not wet here ........... the rain stopped for about 3 hours :-)

I'm not sure you are correct in saying the majority of the population has it off or not ................... not sure if there are more people in 6 provinces + 3 territories than in 3½ provinces (see my report on NS below)


I've just been talking to my daughter re Nov 11 in NS .............

it is only recently that it has not been a full day off in NS ........... it is only 2 years ago that she took her son to the service in their town, and found the coffee shop was closed when they wanted to warm up with hot chocolate afterwards.

Now, Federal and Provincial government offices are closed, many private offices also close, some shops close, schools are closed but have a ceremony of some sort on the day before.

Cenotaph services are well attended ................ I've just been looking at some online. Even the Beavers groups parade.

Barbra .........


you like what you like, we like what we like


I like the way Canada remembers, and the way we remember also people of all nationalities and faiths.


It is good for us all to know and appreciate that things are done very differently in other countries.

I do find it very ironic that the country that brought in Remembrance Day to honour the fallen of WW1, no longer has the major Cenotaph services at 11 am on Nov 11, while those countries often denigrated as "the colonies" still do :-)

I'd have to check but I think the highest population is Ontario, Quebec then BC...Ontario being at bursting point it seems some days.

I know this isn't of interest to anyone else sorry....

Whereas the territories are small in number compared to that.....but not of importance to this subject just a side note

Maybe the colonies are just behind the UK....

As for Barbra...totally agree with you.

Your last paragraph, Sylvia, exactly epitomises how I feel.

While church services still occur daily in a lot of places and more so on Sundays, I believe we should hold our major ceremony on 11 November. I am not advocating that there ought to be no church services or prayers on Sundays but only that the ceremonial aspects of the 11th November take place on that day.

Barbra, those marches are equally valid and poignant when they take place on the 11th too. One of my nephews marched in Paris a few years ago on the 11th, representing his branch of the UK Armed Services. It was so right whether or not it was a national holiday.

We shall have to agree to disagree, I think.

Caroline ......

I was thinking of the total population In Ontario against the total populations of the 6 + 3 ................ not against the individual province or territory

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
persons (thousands)

Canada 34,750.5 35,155.5 35,544.6 35,848.6 36,286.4

Newfoundland and Labrador 526.5 527.4 528.3 528.7 530.1

Prince Edward Island 145.1 145.2 145.8 146.7 148.6

Nova Scotia 944.9 943.5 943.3 943.4 949.5

New Brunswick 756.8 755.8 754.9 754.3 756.8

Quebec 8,085.9 8,155.5 8,214.5 8,259.5 8,326.1

Ontario 13,413.7 13,556.2 13,685.2 13,797.0 13,983.0

Manitoba 1,250.3 1,265.6 1,281.0 1,296.0 1,318.1

Saskatchewan 1,086.0 1,105.0 1,121.3 1,132.3 1,150.6

Alberta 3,880.8 3,996.6 4,108.3 4,179.7 4,252.9

British Columbia 4,546.3 4,589.0 4,645.3 4,693.0 4,751.6

Yukon 36.1 36.3 36.9 37.4 37.5

Northwest Territories 43.6 43.8 43.9 44.2 44.5

Nunavut 34.7 35.4 36.0 36.5 37.1


Note: Population as of July 1.
Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM, table 051-0001.
Last modified: 2016-09-28.


There you go Sylvia population of Canada as of last July !!
Sorry everyone else !

Thank You for all your comments didn't think it would take off but appreciate your contributions . Barbra :-)