Acadians are pushing to mark Aug. 15, which they celebrate as National Acadian Day, a countrywide holiday.

Acadians should be able to celebrate the holiday the same way the rest of the country celebrates July 1, said Françoise Enguehard, president of the Société Nationale de l'Acadie.

"If you want to organize activities like you would on July 1, for example, there is no funding for that," Enguehard said. "That is a problem for smaller communities and especially for communities outside of New Brunswick."

Aug. 15 should be a national holiday, Enguehard said.

Heritage Canada uses a strict set of regulations, which are included in the Holiday Act, to define national holidays in the country.

The decision to turn the day into a statutory holiday is left to the province. But New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham said it is not a priority for his Liberal government.

"It's important that we continue to make sure we have a balance," Graham said. "We look at other jurisdictions as well. So it's not on the radar screen at this time, but there's ample opportunity for Acadians and New Brunswickers to celebrate the 15th of August across the province."