The Past Speaks

AS: Today, people in Ontario and several other Canadian provinces celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday. In Quebec, the holidday is known as Journée nationale des patriotes and it honours the nationalists who rose against British rule in 1837-8, at the very start of Victoria’s reign.

 I originally posted the material below in 2010. I’m now reposting this material, precisely two years later. 

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Yesterday was Victoria Day in English-speaking Canada, the annual holiday that commerorates Queen Victoria’s birthday. Nowadays, Victoria Day is essentially a bank holidy, just an excuse for a long weekend in May. In Quebec, the Monday before 24 May is know as the Journée nationale des Patriotes. It commemorate the rebellion against British rule that took place in Lower Canada in 1837, which was the year Victoria ascended to the throne. Check out this video of patriots day celebrations in Quebec. I really like the part where a speaker’s statement “Victoria ascended to the throne in 1837” is greeted with jeers from the audience. In 2010, Canada is probably the only place in the world where a factual statement about Queen Victoria would elicit an emotional response from a drunken crowd of political activists.