Have your say about family day

Minister of Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government, Margaret MacDiarmid and Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation, Pat Bell were joined by families and community members at the Royal BC Museum to announce a consultation process with British Columbians for choosing which Monday in February will be the new official statutory holiday, Family Day.

Whether families choose to enjoy a local tourist attraction, a visit to a park, a meal out, a day of skiing or just to spend time with their loved ones, celebrating Family Day will be a great  chance for families to spend quality time together starting February 2013 – and British Columbians now have the opportunity to tell government which day will work best for them.

Presently, in parts of Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan & Ontario), Family Day is a statutory holiday occurring on the third Monday in February.  The timing of a Family Day on this day also coincides with Presidents Day in the United States.

British Columbia is considering both the second and the third Monday in February for our new Family Day and Kootenay Rockies Tourism encourages you to vote for the second Monday.  Many of our region’s tourism businesses are already running at capacity for the long weekend incorporating the third Monday, so by having a long weekend the week before for British Columbians, our resorts, hotels, restaurants and many other businesses would all benefit from increased visitor activity as a result of two back-to-back long weekends.

The BC Family Day will be a welcome boost to our thriving recreation industry, will support jobs and will facilitate growth.  You can vote to make it the second Monday in February here: http://blog.gov.bc.ca/bcfamilyday

Quick Facts:

.  Consultation Process is May 8-22, 2012

.  With the addition of Family Day in 2013, the province will have 10 statutory holidays.

.  Manitoba & PEI also have a stat holiday on the third Monday in Feb, but is instead termed Louis Riel Day & Islander Day, respectively.

.  In Newfoundland & Labrador, the third Monday of Feb is a school board holiday, but not an official provincial holiday.

.  The third Monday in February is a regular working day in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Territories.