The B.C. government is promising to give residents a new civic holiday.
A throne speech yesterday at the B.C. legislature saw Premier Christy Clark’s Liberals introducing the Family Day holiday in February,
“Family Day will be inscribed in calendars across British Columbia, joining three other provinces with holidays in February celebrating families,” said Lt.-Gov. Steven Point.
“Given our economic circumstances, B.C.’s employers will need time to adjust to this new statutory holiday,” he said. “Therefore, the first B.C. Family Day will fall on Feb. 18, 2013.”
Clark, who ran for the Liberal leadership with a pledge to put “families first,” had promised to create a Family Day holiday on the third Monday in February as part of her leadership bid.
“This might … help them through a lengthy stretch of the calendar and beat the winter blues,” Clark told Metro at the time, while acknowledging that businesses had legitimate concerns about adding another holiday.
Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario already celebrate Family Day. Prince Edward Island has Islander Day, and Manitoba has Louis Riel Day.
The throne speech also called on the courts to televise the trials of people charged in connection with last spring’s Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver.
Point said the riot was a dark stain on the province and the breakdown in civil order requires that justice be done and also seen to be done.
“The government also respectfully asks and has asked Crown counsel to advocate for television and radio access to the courts during proceedings for those charged in relation to the Stanley Cup riot,” he said.
Television cameras and broadcast recorders are currently not permitted inside courtrooms during trials.
The canadian press/with files from kristen thompson
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
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