Civic Holiday and Fish and Chips
Civic Holiday is the most widely used name for a public holiday celebrated in most of Canada on the first Monday in August, though it is only officially known by that term by the governments of Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and Prince Edward Island. The Civic holiday is recognized as a statutory holiday in those three provinces and territories.
The holiday was renamed Simcoe Day in Toronto effective 1969 in honour of the first Lieutenant- Governor of Upper Canada and the promulgator of the Act Against Slavery,but a motion at the Ontario Municipal Association to extend the name change across Ontario failed. According to a 2005 proclamation this name continues to apply in the present amalgamated city of Toronto. Civic Holiday is now known by one of a number of local appellations such as:
- Colonel By Day in Ottawa,
- George Hamilton Day in Hamilton,
- Joseph Brant Day in Burlington,
- Founders' Day in Brantford,
- McLaughlin Day in Oshawa,
- Alexander Mackenzie Day in Sarnia,
- James Cockburn Day in Cobourg,
- Peter Robinson Day in Peterborough,
- and John Galt Day in Guelph, as well as numerous other names in smaller municipalities.
When not given a local name, it is often referred to as 'Civic Holiday'. Although a work holiday is given to employees of the federal and many municipal governments, the Government of Ontario has not defined this day as a statutory holiday and it is not mentioned in either Ontario's Employment Standards Actor Retail Business Holidays Act. Schools are generally already closed, regardless of the holiday's status, because of summer vacation.
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