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Leave Remembrance Day alone In Tuesday's issue of The Independent & Free Press, there was an editorial regarding Remembrance Day. The editorial told how Lisa MacLeod, MPP for Nepean-Carleton, has put forward a private member's bill, to have Remembrance Day designated a statutory holiday. I'm totally against the idea. Now I'm all in favour of statutory holidays. We all need a long weekend from time to time to recharge our batteries. But not for Remembrance Day. Making Remembrance Day a stat, like Family Day, or Civic Holiday-- well, I fear it just wouldn't be observed as a tribute to the veterans who died or were maimed during all the past conflicts. It would become a day off school and time to get some early Christmas shopping in. And you can bet if it fell on a Tuesday or Thursday, the schools would have a Professional Development Day on the Monday or Friday, the same way it coincidentally happens for Thanksgiving weekend, giving the kids a fourday weekend. When I was a kid, Remembrance Day (or Armistice Day, as it was called then) was a school holiday, and there was a valid reason for it. Most of the kids in school back then had parents and grandparents who had served in either the First World War or the Second World War. In some cases, they'd served in both. Having the day off school gave kids the opportunity to attend the Remembrance services with their parents-- the very people the day was intended to honour. As my age group of students got older, the vets got older too. It didn't seem to be that important to attend the services anymore. Apathy set in, and as a result, the day was no longer a school holiday. If Remembrance Day becomes a stat holiday, I'm certain the same would happen, all over again. Sure, for the first few years, we'd faithfully trudge to the local Cenotaphs, ready to observe that two minutes. But in time, I'm sure that giving Canadians a day off from their jobs in chilly November, most would simply stay home and not attend any local Remembrance Day ceremonies or watch the national ceremonies on television. Worse still, the holiday could eventually be bumped to the closest Friday or Monday, to be more convenient for Take the road less travelled and explore Tuscany and Umbria's smaller, more authentic towns. 7 Independent & Free Press, Thursday, November 11, 2010 Ted Brown ENCHANTED TUSCANY & UMBRIA 11 Day Italian Countryside Highlights: Orvieto, Assisi, Siena, Florence October 21, 2011 $3149 per person the businesses to accommodate the Call us today to book this incredible journey! 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McLeod's private member's bill has most likely been put forward with the Wednesday, November 17, 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm very best intentions, but I don't think The Hide House (Eastern & Mill) she, and her supporters, have thought 20 LB. BOX OF FLORIDA $ out the full implications. Seedless Navel Oranges Last Saturday night, I sat at the anPER BOX or Ruby Red Grapefruit nual Remembrance Dinner at Branch 120 of the Royal Canadian Legion. During the course of the evening, Legion president Ray Clarke spoke to the group about McLeod's private member's bill. An overwhelming percentage of the group there-- veterans, Legion members, and civilians like myself-- were dead against the concept. "Leave Remembrance Day alone. 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