Apparently, despite having the entire month of February set aside to
celebrate Black History Month, Ontario now has ANOTHER whole month, this
time August, set aside to celebrate Emancipation Month. (Slavery was
abolished in the British Empire in 1833, presumably in August.) A black
parliamentarian in the Ontario Legislature, who is leaving because her
child care expenses aren't covered by law, tells us so in this article:

https://kitchener.citynews.ca/2023/07/11/lindo-steps-down-as-mpp-citing-cost-of-childcare/

Over the years since I was growing up, the traffic on the 401, the
highway that links Kitchener-Waterloo to Toronto, where the provincial
legislature is located, has seen a huge upsurge in traffic every day.
It's obvious that a LOT of Kitchener people are commuting to Toronto and
surrounding cities every blessed day. Apparently, that is not convenient
for Ms. Lindo so she's exited the legislature in place of a gig at the
nearby University of Waterloo. She COULD have stayed and worked to
upgrade the roads between Kitchener and Toronto - or worked on
increasing the availability of two-way all-day GO train (commuter rail)
between the two cities, which would have been more in line with her
party's "progressive" views - but apparently having to pay for her own
child care despite a generous salary just wasn't acceptable to her.

--
Rhino

Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

>Apparently, despite having the entire month of February set aside to
>celebrate Black History Month, Ontario now has ANOTHER whole month, this
>time August, set aside to celebrate Emancipation Month.

I had no idea this was a Canadian thing. I just read that it began in
1926 as the week in which both Lincoln's and Frederick Douglass's
birthdays fell, started by Carter G. Woodson, and then it was expanded
to a month in 1970.

>(Slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1833, presumably in August.)

I looked it up. Royal assent 8/28/1833, in effect 8/1/1834, although it
made lots of exceptions to abolishing slavery.

Lots of major cotton-growing and tobacco-growing plantations in Canada
at the time, were there?

>. . .

On 2023-07-12 12:03 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>
>> Apparently, despite having the entire month of February set aside to
>> celebrate Black History Month, Ontario now has ANOTHER whole month, this
>> time August, set aside to celebrate Emancipation Month.
>
> I had no idea this was a Canadian thing. I just read that it began in
> 1926 as the week in which both Lincoln's and Frederick Douglass's
> birthdays fell, started by Carter G. Woodson, and then it was expanded
> to a month in 1970.
>
I didn't hear of Black History Month IN THE US until long after 1970! I
don't remember any mention of it as a Canadian commemoration until a few
years back.

Then again, I believe there are all kinds of special months (and days)
that have "official" recognition in legislatures but are still almost
entirely ignored by ordinary people. I'm thinking of things like
National Secretaries Day, National Firefighters Day, etc. etc. I suspect
Black History Month was like that until relatively recently. I'll be
surprised if Emancipation Month gets any more observance from ordinary
people than National Tulip Day does. It's just more virtue-signalling.

>> (Slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1833, presumably in August.)
>
> I looked it up. Royal assent 8/28/1833, in effect 8/1/1834, although it
> made lots of exceptions to abolishing slavery.
>
> Lots of major cotton-growing and tobacco-growing plantations in Canada
> at the time, were there?
>
Hell yeah! The country was lousy with them! :-)

Actually, I've never heard of anyone ever growing cotton in this
country. We DO have some tobacco farming though and some of it is here
in Southern Ontario, specifically the area around Tilsonburg. One of our
better known musicians, Stompin' Tom Connors, even did a song about it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDItmh42Rio [3 minutes]

Mind you, I don't think Tilsonburg had more than a handful of settlers
in 1833 and I'd be surprised if growing tobacco goes back that long. I
must ask my friend Joe who grew up in Tilsonburg and probably has more
idea of the local history. (Joe actually worked in the tobacco harvest
at least one year.)

--
Rhino

Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>On 2023-07-12 12:03 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
>>Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

>>>Apparently, despite having the entire month of February set aside to
>>>celebrate Black History Month, Ontario now has ANOTHER whole month, this
>>>time August, set aside to celebrate Emancipation Month.

>>I had no idea this was a Canadian thing. I just read that it began in
>>1926 as the week in which both Lincoln's and Frederick Douglass's
>>birthdays fell, started by Carter G. Woodson, and then it was expanded
>>to a month in 1970.

>I didn't hear of Black History Month IN THE US until long after 1970! I
>don't remember any mention of it as a Canadian commemoration until a few
>years back.

>Then again, I believe there are all kinds of special months (and days)
>that have "official" recognition in legislatures but are still almost
>entirely ignored by ordinary people. I'm thinking of things like
>National Secretaries Day, . . .

If secretaries want a celebration, they need to organize it themselves.
They work for people who aren't terribly well organized.

>. . .

>Actually, I've never heard of anyone ever growing cotton in this
>country. We DO have some tobacco farming though and some of it is here
>in Southern Ontario, specifically the area around Tilsonburg. One of our
>better known musicians, Stompin' Tom Connors, even did a song about it:

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDItmh42Rio [3 minutes]

I had no idea.

>. . .

On 2023-07-12 1:52 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>> On 2023-07-12 12:03 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
>>> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>
>>>> Apparently, despite having the entire month of February set aside to
>>>> celebrate Black History Month, Ontario now has ANOTHER whole month, this
>>>> time August, set aside to celebrate Emancipation Month.
>
>>> I had no idea this was a Canadian thing. I just read that it began in
>>> 1926 as the week in which both Lincoln's and Frederick Douglass's
>>> birthdays fell, started by Carter G. Woodson, and then it was expanded
>>> to a month in 1970.
>
>> I didn't hear of Black History Month IN THE US until long after 1970! I
>> don't remember any mention of it as a Canadian commemoration until a few
>> years back.
>
>> Then again, I believe there are all kinds of special months (and days)
>> that have "official" recognition in legislatures but are still almost
>> entirely ignored by ordinary people. I'm thinking of things like
>> National Secretaries Day, . . .
>
> If secretaries want a celebration, they need to organize it themselves.
> They work for people who aren't terribly well organized.
>
Agreed. And ditto for the firefighters, tulip afficianodos and any of
the umpteen "causes" that legislators recognized with special days,
months or years. These special "days" and "months" are just pandering to
groups whose vote the legislators want. (Nobody yet has asked for a
National Pedophile Appreciation Day but maybe they will when pedophiles
are seen as a desirable voting bloc.)

None of this is to say I don't appreciate people in the various jobs and
professions; far from it. I just don't see any necessity for governments
to give them any special recognition. Besides, which would you regard as
the more sincere thanks if you were a member of one of the groups being
celebrated: personal thanks from a person who had used your services or
a form letter from a politician?

>> . . .
>
>> Actually, I've never heard of anyone ever growing cotton in this
>> country. We DO have some tobacco farming though and some of it is here
>> in Southern Ontario, specifically the area around Tilsonburg. One of our
>> better known musicians, Stompin' Tom Connors, even did a song about it:
>
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDItmh42Rio [3 minutes]
>
> I had no idea.
>
>> . . .

--
Rhino

On Wed, 12 Jul 2023 16:03:04 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

>Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>
>>Apparently, despite having the entire month of February set aside to
>>celebrate Black History Month, Ontario now has ANOTHER whole month, this
>>time August, set aside to celebrate Emancipation Month.
>
>I had no idea this was a Canadian thing. I just read that it began in
>1926 as the week in which both Lincoln's and Frederick Douglass's
>birthdays fell, started by Carter G. Woodson, and then it was expanded
>to a month in 1970.
>
>>(Slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1833, presumably in August.)
>
>I looked it up. Royal assent 8/28/1833, in effect 8/1/1834, although it
>made lots of exceptions to abolishing slavery.
>
>Lots of major cotton-growing and tobacco-growing plantations in Canada
>at the time, were there?
>
>>. . .
I'm in BC and had never heard of any such proclamation so it must be
an Ontario thing - not that I doubt Justin doesn't wish he had thought
of it first.

Mind you in the first towns in BC were founded in the 1840s so we
never had slavery. Heard some stories about explosives handling during
the building of the CPR that were nearly as good (and note BC's
terrain made it need explosives more than the rest of the route
altogether) but never actual slavery.