Do We Really Need Pope John Paul II Day?

I just stumbled across this one.  Bill C-266, An Act to establish Pope John Paul II Day.

Seriously?  Yeppers.  MP Wladyslaw Lizon (Harper Party) of Mississauga East-Cooksville, Ontario is sponsoring this bill to make April 2^nd Pope JPII day in Canada.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked Pope John Paul II and I’m sure some people think this is a great idea.  But I don’t.

If we are to do this, shouldn’t we also have a Martin Luther Day for the Lutherans or a John Calvin Day for the people who belong to Calvinist Churches?

We already have Christian Days, like Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter to name a few, isn’t that enough?  I’m sure some other religions would like to have special days to honour their founders or individuals that they hold in high regard or certain celebratory days.  That might be nice.

We don’t even have a Prime Ministers’ Day here.  Our friends to the South have Presidents’ Day, mind you that’s just an excuse to sell bed sheets anymore.

But we do have Victoria Day, and I like that.  After all, she’s the Queen that signed the papers to make Canada a Country, or a Dominion, or whatever you please.  But she’s the only one.  I do miss the firecrackers though.

We don’t celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday here or her Coronation Day do we? 

It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

I personally have no issues with the Catholic Church or most any other church as far as that goes, but there are people in Canada who do have a sore spot with the Catholic Church.  I’m thinking Residential Schools here.  There are probably others who’d think that having Canada officially endorse a Pope would be less than wonderful as well.

Why can’t we have a special Canadian Day?  Maybe we could have a day for Frederick Banting for his work on Diabetes or Tommy Douglass Day for his work on getting us Universal Healthcare?  There are plenty of others, just pick some. 

Tell you what, I’ll even support a Bear Cat Day.  That would be the day that you remember to donate a couple of bucks to your local SPCA.  I’m so magnanimous that I’ll share my day with a Dog.  [I almost went with Goggie there, but that would just be too cliché]

Look, I like John Paul II, but I don’t think that qualifies him for a special day in his honour.  I’m a Canadian, we like things to be inclusive, and having a special day for the head of a church that I don’t ascribe to just doesn’t seem all that inclusive to me.

On second thought, scratch out Bear Cat Day, I think Tuxedo Stan has the inside track on that one… but you can still make that donation to the SPCA.

Cheers!  BC