Manufactured Holidays

The Proud Islamist is about to object to a holiday, but it's not the one you might think. Everyone knows that Valentine's day, like Hallowe'en, is a commercial holiday, and that if it weren't for the advertising efforts of confectioners and florists, most people would forget it entirely. Insecure single people might be offended by it, but as silly and distasteful as some of its gaudier trappings may be, I am not.

No, what I wanted to talk about today is Ontario's new long weekend, "Family Day," which has already been adopted by 4 other provinces. The purpose of Family Day, as its name explains, is for people to spend more time with their families. The first Canadian Family Day was adopted by Alberta (heh, figures) in 1990 after Premier Don Getty "discovered" (but not before the cops did) that his son was a coke-head. Since every Albertan obviously felt the man's pain, Alberta has observed Family Day ever since.

The notion should already sound ridiculous - one day a year to recognize the importance of family is an insult to your loved ones, not a veneration. What's more ironic is that we used to have 52 such days every year - it was called "Sunday."

There is no Sabbath in Islam, but that doesn't make it a bad idea. People need a reminder that the accumulation of material wealth is a means, not an end in itself .We Muslims have that reminder 5 times a day, when we make time in our schedules to remind ourselves that there are more important values than that of money, and that the universe is much larger than that which falls within our daily experience. Not everyone does this, however, and while regular prayer might promote social cohesion within the community that practices it, it does not force people to leave their worldly pursuits behind and play a significant role in the lives of their families.

A society is composed of people who are dependent on one another. That's what "society" means. I may have a choice to refrain from participating in activities on Sunday if I don't want to, but that choice becomes impractical when everyone around me is arranging their schedule otherwise. When we force a conventional day of rest, we force schedules to synchronize; we force people to really start living together in relationships besides those of producers and consumers.

Most of Canada now permits Sunday shopping, the argument being that consumers and businesses (the only two groups in society) should have the choice of when they want to do business. If people want to spend more time working and shopping, the state is not going to force them to spend it with their families instead. And as the "My Sunday My Choice" campaign in Britain notes, this would open up more employment for students and low-income families.

It's always convenient to have desperate people around.

More importantly, proponents of legalizing Sunday commerce argue, the pace of life is different now from the way it was in the 1950s. Or as the My Sunday. My Choice campaign so neatly puts it:

"Society has changed. Consumers have increasingly busy lives and the traditional image of the housewife who could do the shopping during the week is now an anachronism."

After all, she has to work during the week, doesn't she?

Statistics Canada data analysed in a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives shows that the bottom 4 income deciles have seen their incomes stagnate over the past 30 years in Canada, but that they have increased their working hours more than any other group, especially more than the top decile, which has actually been working less. It's the difference between the people who own the store and the people who are showing up for their Sunday evening shift, making the same minimum wage they did before 10 years of inflation had happened.

So I approve of any attempt by the government to get people to spend time with their families, but let's be honest: We aren't getting a new holiday. We're getting one back.