Ont. Liberals promise February stat holiday if elected
Last Updated: Monday, September 3, 2007 | 2:14 PM ET
CBC News
Related
Internal Links
Ontarians will be treated to another long weekend every year if the Liberals are re-elected next month, the government announced Monday.
The holiday, proposed for the third Monday in February, would be called Family Day and focused on giving families more time to spend together.
Finance Minister Greg Sorbara, also the Liberal campaign chairman, said the party would include the proposed day off in their election platform.
"Ontarians work very, very hard. Ontario winters are very, very long and Ontarians deserve a statutory holiday in February," he said on Labour Day, five weeks before the Oct. 10 provincial election. "I think this is going to be very, very welcome in Ontario. It's something we've talked about for more than a decade."
He said the province's economy is now strong enough for the government to give workers another holiday.
The new long weekend would bring the number of annual statutory holidays in Ontario to nine, putting the province on par with Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the three territories for days off.
With files from the Canadian PressShare Tools
Latest Toronto News Headlines
- Toronto council approves deal with outdoor workers
- City council has given its final stamp of approval to a labour deal reached with the city's outdoor workers. more »
- Wallenda will tightrope walk over Niagara Falls
- Daredevil Nik Wallenda has overcome the final obstacle and received permission to walk a tightrope over Niagara Falls. more »
- Drummond calls report 'culmination' of his career
- Don Drummond says the report he has put together to advise the province on ways it could cut down on spending is a "culmination" of everything he's done in his career. more »
- Inquest into 2009 death hears from paramedic
- Paramedics waited more than 30 minutes to help a Toronto man suffering from a heart attack because they were concerned for their safety, an inquest into James Hearst's death hears. more »
Top News Headlines
- Drummond report on Ontario calls for cutbacks
- The Ontario government must curtail its spending with the kind of cuts not seen since the Mike Harris years, according to a report by former TD Bank chief economist Don Drummond. more »
- Children of immigrants challenged at school, home
- By 2016, foreign-born youth and Canadian-born youth from immigrant families will make up a quarter of the country's population, according to predictions by the Canadian Council on Social Development. As their numbers grow, more attention is being paid to their successes and failures. more »
- B.C. house party trial hears from tearful teens
- Two teenagers cried as they testified at the trial of a B.C. woman who was charged after a teen died while her son was hosting a party at her house in 2008. more »
- Whitney Houston funeral to be livestreamed
- Whitney Houston's funeral will be livestreamed, to satisfy the desire of fans to grieve alongside family members at the Saturday memorial. more »
- Toronto NBA fans experience 'Lin-sanity'
- Drummond report on Ontario spending due today
- Ontario 'confinement room' arrest made
- RIDE's top cop suspended for alleged intoxication
- Wallenda will tightrope walk over Niagara Falls
- McGuinty backs Wi-Fi in schools
- Drummond calls report 'culmination' of his career
- Mandatory gun sentence struck down by Ontario judge
- McGuinty hints at pay freeze for public sector execs
