Month: November 2005

If Prime Minister Paul Martin's government is defeated, it will be up to Martin to pick a date for the next general election.

The favourite guess among the political chatterboxes is MONDAY JANUARY 16. A second choice is MONDAY JANUARY 9. There is some talk about MONDAY JANUARY 3 but many discount that. Recently, some have speculated about MONDAY JANUARY 23.

Martin now says if the politicians force him into a January election, it will stomp on various religious holidays.

Many academic and other organizations routinely account for religious observances as they plan their institutional calendar. The University of Toronto, for example, circulates an annual memo  cautioning administrators to avoid scheduling exams, etc. on religious observance days.

Here, then, is a list of holidays, religious and otherwise, between now and the end of January culled from that list and a variety of other sources. Let me know if you see something that's incorrect or missing:

• November 24: Guru Tegh Bahadur’s Martyrdom (Sikh)
• November 24: Thanksgiving (USA)
• November 26: Day of Covenant (Bahai)
• November 28: Ascension of Abdul-Baha (Bahai)
• December 8: Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Roman Catholic)
• December 12: Feast Day – Our Lady of Guadalupe (Roman Catholic)
• December 21: Yule Winter Solstice (Wicca)
• December 25: Christmas (Roman Catholic, Protestant, Eastern, Greek and Russian Orthodox)
• December 26: First Day of Hanukkah (Jewish)
• December 26 -January 2: Kwanzaa
• January 1: New Year’s Day
• January 2: Eighth Day of Hanukkah (Jewish)
• JANUARY 3: POSSIBLE FEDERAL ELECTION DAY
• January 5: Guru Gobind Singh’s Birth (Sikh)
• January 6: Feast of the Epiphany (Roman Catholic, Eastern, Greek and Russian Orthodox)
• January 6: Christmas (Armenian)
• January 6: Feast of the Epiphany (Christian)
• January 8: Waqf al Arafa (Islam)
• JANUARY 9: POSSIBLE FEDERAL ELECTION DAY
• January 10 -13 Feast of Sacrifice (Eid of Adha or Eid-al-Adha ) (Islamic) [Date is approximate with sighting of the moon]
• January 14: Maha Shivaratri (Hindu)
• January 14: Maghi (Sikh)
• January 14: Mahayana Buddhist New Year (Buddhist)
• January 15: World Religion Day (Bahai)
• JANUARY 16: POSSIBLE FEDERAL ELECTION DAY
• JANUARY 23: POSSIBLE FEDERAL ELECTION DAY
• January 29: New Year (Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese)
• January 31: New Year (Islamic) [Date is approximate with sighting of the moon]
• February 17: St. Vartanantz Day (Armenian)

The NDP just distributed the text of a statement leader Jack Layton read in Vancouver today:

 “I’d like to propose a common sense solution to the situation before Parliament today. In the spring, we kept Parliament going because the Liberals agreed to some of our good ideas. This fall, we put forward proposals but unfortunately the Liberals chose not to work with us to get things done for people.

The NDP cannot and will not express confidence in a government that won’t get things done. And we cannot condone the Liberal Party’s unethical conduct as outlined by Justice Gomery.

Nobody wants a Christmas election. I don’t want one. Canadians don’t want one, and it shouldn’t happen.
Nor has the Liberal Party earned the right to decide for itself the timing of when it should be judged. People didn’t elect an unaccountable majority, and all parties need to show compromise.

I believe there’s a common sense solution. There are other choices before us than a Christmas election nobody wants and the Liberal Party believing it has the sole right to determine when its conduct is judged.

The New Democratic Party is prepared to introduce a motion on November 24 on our opposition day. We cannot express confidence in this government’s inaction on things that matter. Cannot condone its record.

In that motion, we will call for an election to be called in early January for an election in mid-February.
This avoids the Christmas election nobody wants. I believe that’s important.
It allows Parliament to pass the housekeeping laws before it and for the First Ministers’ Meeting on Aboriginal issues to occur.

And it provides the needed opportunity to clean up Canadian politics so it can get back to what it should be about: Getting things done for people.

That’s what the NDP did in this Parliament and we’re proud of it. We will be asking for your vote so we can get more done for you. If our proposal is accepted, we won’t be doing that over Christmas and that’s a good thing.”

Layton then answer questions from some media attending the event.