# Wishing our northern friends a happy Victoria Day **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 20, 2002, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963 "2002-05-20T17:07:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/1 "2002-05-20T17:07:53Z")
Happy Birthday to the Sovereigns, and happy Victoria Day to our Canadian Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/2 "2002-05-20T17:29:18Z")
Thanks **Johnny L.A.**! Just watching the parade here in Victoria–the biggest Victoria Day parade in Canada. For over 50 years, we’ve had a couple of dozen high school bands from Washington, Oregon and northern CA join us: a hands-across-the-border thing that means more than ever this year. _And_ it was good to see our military units get cheers along the parade route this year, instead of the usual indifference (or even hostility). I’m just waiting for my 2 babies to go past on our flatbed: the 1887 13-pounder RML field gun and our 1942 Willys (with some beautiful young ladies dressed as WW2 Canadian Women’s Army Corps inside). And tonight…fireworks!! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/3 "2002-05-20T17:41:32Z")
> [@](#): > > and our 1942 Willys (with some beautiful young ladies…) Did somebody say “Willys”? Here’s [my 1946 Willys CJ2A](http://www.thecj2apage.com/jw46.html). How 'bout fixing me up with a pretty Canadian girl? You know, to keep up international relations, and all… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/4 "2002-05-20T19:11:11Z")
Thanks **Johnny L.A.** Ahh - 27 degrees, sunny, no wind, no clouds. All in all, it’s a pretty decent Victoria Day - I’m going to be heading back out to my balcony in a minute to check on my pigeons. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/5 "2002-05-20T20:29:35Z")
Thanks! Now if only I had actually had the day off instead of going to work for a show-- and then finding out at one minute to air THAT SOMEBODY SCREWED UP AND WE DIDN’T HAVE A TIMESLOT!!! \ A wasted holiday! ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/6 "2002-05-20T20:59:30Z")
Thanks, \*\*Johnny L.A.[/b0! **Alice** , I wish I had some of your weather; here, it was raining earlier today, and it’s only 10 degrees! Still, it’s a holiday and makes for some pretty long weekends for some people I know. (they get Friday off school, so it’s an extended long weekend for them) ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/7 "2002-05-20T21:00:53Z")
Darn coding… I knew I should have previewed more carefully. ---
**Author:** ![Arwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7c8e57/32.png) [@Arwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwen)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/8 "2002-05-21T03:10:57Z")
Hey! Thanks-I spent the day (well, 3 hours of it) watching Star Wars…bliss! The weather was even beautiful! Hip-hip-horray! ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/9 "2002-05-21T04:23:07Z")
Don’t forget Dollard des Ormeaux! ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/10 "2002-05-21T04:24:56Z")
Happy Victoria Day to my favorite neighbors! It is wonderful having you in my “backyard”. And special ::huggles:: and ::smooches:: to **rjk** recuperatiing in the hospital. Hope you feel like new really soon. Much Love to ALL, Cheri ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/11 "2002-05-21T08:17:33Z")
Can anyone explain why Canadians have Memorial Day a week early? My Canadian friend had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/12 "2002-05-21T12:40:31Z")
For the simple reason that it’s not Memorial Day - that’s an American holiday. Victoria Day, as the name suggests, is a holiday dating back to Queen Victoria’s reign, to celebrate her birthday (which was actually May 24, but is celebrated on the third Monday in May, to make a long weekend 🆒 ) It’s also the official day to celebrate the reigning monarch’s birthday - 21 gun salute at the Legislature and everything. So, what’s Memorial Day? I’ve never known. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/13 "2002-05-21T16:19:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Can anyone explain why Canadians have Memorial Day a week early? My Canadian friend had no idea. [Victoria Day](http://www.pch.gc.ca/ceremonial-symb/english/day_vic.html). > [@](#): > > So, what’s Memorial Day? I’ve never known. [Memorial Day](http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html). ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/14 "2002-05-21T17:14:35Z")
Thanks for the well wishes. I spent the the only three hours of sunshine we had working under the hot sun in my flowerbed. It became nice and cool as soon as I was done. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/15 "2002-05-22T04:59:20Z")
Of course I know that Victoria Day is not Memorial Day and that it originated as a celebration of Queen Victoria. I’m teasing Canadians for 1) having traditions that are suspiciously similar to American traditions and 2) celebrating another country’s monarchs despite supposedly being a sovereign democracy. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/16 "2002-05-22T05:27:36Z")
Aren’t your two reasons logically inconsistent? How is “celebrating another country’s monarchs” a tradition that is “suspiciously similar to American traditions”? And in any event, the celebration is to commemorate the Queen of Canada - Lizabeth has several different crowns. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/17 "2002-05-22T05:48:07Z")
I was referring to the fact that the timing is exactly one week before Memorial Day. I’ve had Canadians tell me they’re embarassed to have an English monarch as their head of state. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wishing-our-northern-friends-a-happy-victoria-day/109963/18 "2002-05-22T13:05:07Z")
Embarassed? Most of us never think about it…