Victoria Day!

 

Today is Victoria Day in Canada. It was originally created to honor (or as the Canadians write "honour") Queen Victoria's birthday. Now it is a day to remember the current Canadian King or Queen - in this case Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Canada. Today is also considered the unofficial start of summer - the same way Memorial Day is in the US. Most Canadians don't even know they have a Queen as their head of state and so don't know what Victoria Day celebrates and instead they focus on the fireworks and BBQs (again the same way most Americans don't remember the men and women who fought and died for their freedoms as Memorial Day is supposed to mean.) One thing to remember today is that the Canadian Monarch is only legally  allowed to be  Protestant - the same way it is in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and the other Commonwealth Realms. That means those countries (including Canada) officially and openly discriminate against every other religion since they are saying that only Protestants are capable of being good Queens and Kings. This one official statement has hurt the minorities in the different Realms (the Catholics in Northern Ireland and the Catholics in Quebec.) While I believe Queen Elizabeth II is a great Queen of Canada (and of the other Commonwealth Realms) I do not think the "position" should only be allowed to those of the Protestant faith.