Canada celebrates Thanksgiving today
The second Monday in October may not mean much to most Americans, beside the fact that Halloween is less than three weeks away. However, Canadians will be wishing family and friends across Canada a happy Thanksgiving.
According to Jodi Cullum, a Canadian and graduate student in psychology, “Most Canadians view Thanksgiving as a celebration of a successful harvest, which happens a little earlier than in the U.S., hence the earlier date.”
Shauna Leavitt, a senior majoring in print journalism from Calgary, Alberta, thinks the biggest difference between Thanksgiving in Canada and in the United States is the time of year it is celebrated. Thanksgiving in Canada is further away from Christmas than it is in the United States.
“In the U.S., it feels like one holiday season. In Canada, they are completely separate,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt also commented on the fact Canadians don’t have a big shopping rush the day after Thanksgiving.
“We don’t have the all the big Christmas sales the next day,” she said.
A similarity between Thanksgiving in the United States and Thanksgiving in Canada is the type of food that is served.
“I really don’t think there is any differences in food since we really come from the same base culture. We have turkey, ham, potatoes – the whole nine yards – except in metric,” David Murray, a landscape architecture junior from Edmonton, Alberta, said.
Leavitt’s view on the Thanksgiving feast agrees with David’s. Her mom was from Idaho, so her family ate the traditional American Thanksgiving fare.
However, she pointed out sweet potatoes and yams are not a very common side dish like they are here in that states. Rather, Canadians eat a lot of brussel sprouts.
Not only is the food similar, but the décor used to add festivity to tables, homes and businesses is much the same as what’s used in the United States.
“The decorations I grew up with were more of a general fall theme with the occasional turkey thrown in for good measure.
I don’t recall there being much of a pilgrim or Native American theme at any time,” Cullum said.
Post-feasting activities in America often include watching a football game on TV.
According to encarta.msn.com, many Americans digest their thanksgiving meal while watching football games on television. Traditionally, two National Football League teams, the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys, host games on Thanksgiving Day. High viewership of these holiday games has made football an American Thanksgiving tradition.
Many Canadians, however, choose to watch hockey rather than football after having their big feast.
“I grew up in a hockey-loving household, so football was of very little interest, unless it was the CFL. I am not sure about other families and post-Thanksgiving football watching. It is probably fair to say that there is less interest in catching a football game after dinner in Canada though,” Cullum said.
Unlike the United States’ traditional fourth Thursday in November, Canada celebrates its Thanksgiving holiday on the second Monday in October. According to the Web site thanksgiving-traditions.com, the first Canadian Thanksgiving was celebrated on April 15, 1872 in thanks for the recovery of the future King Edward VII from a serious illness. The next Thanksgiving wasn’t held until 1879.
Over the next 70 plus years, Canada had a difficult time deciding on an exact date Thanksgiving should be held. On Jan. 31, 1957, Parliament issued a proclamation to permanently fix the second Monday in October as “a day of general Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.”
-nnaylor@cc.usu.edu