mackaycartoons

Graeme MacKay's Editorial Cartoon Archive

  • Archives
  • DOWNLOADS
  • Kings & Queens
  • MacKaycartoons Inc.
  • Prime Ministers
  • Special Features
  • The Boutique
  • Who?
  • Young Doug Ford
  • Presidents

Saturday, August 2, 2014

August 1, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Saturday, August 2, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, August 2, 2014

How to celebrate the first Monday in August

The first Monday in August is known by several different names across the province.

In Niagara Falls, it’s officially referred to as Civic Day.

In Toronto, the holiday has been known as Simcoe Day since 1969 in honour of John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada who supported legislation to ban slavery.

The John Simcoe Foundation requested in 1970 that Niagara Falls council change the name to Simcoe Day but the council at that time did not approve the name change.

Simcoe St., one of the oldest streets in Niagara Falls, was named in honour of Simcoe.

Janice Thomson, chairwoman of the Niagara Parks Commission, would like to see the holiday Monday known as Simcoe Day.

The NPC will celebrate the holiday this weekend at the Mackenzie Printery where some of the first government documents produced in Upper Canada were printed.
The First Emancipation Act was passed in 1793 and the printed act came from the press. The first Monday in August is also referred to as Emancipation Day.

“The event at the printery is a good example of what may be needed to raise awareness for Lord Simcoe and the role he played in the province, as the first Lt . Gov. To Niagara-on-the-Lake, he is an important figure, as he named the town Newark and established Niagara-on-the-Lake as the first capital of Upper Canada,” Thomson said.

There is a statue in his honour at Simcoe Park on King St. in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
The problem is, however, with all the visitor traffic through the historic town, it was hard to find someone who knew of Simcoe.

“I have no idea who he is or what he did,” said Karl Weber, from Germany.
“But, he must be important if there’s a statue in his memory.”

City historian Sherman Zavitz favours naming the holiday Champlain Day in honour of French explorer Samuel Champlain.

“He was great explorer and I would support that,” he said. “He was a man with great vision.”

Zavitz would also support naming the holiday Macdonald Day, after Canada’s first prime minister John A. Macdonald.

In Ottawa, the first Monday in August is Colonel By Day, George Hamilton Day in Hamilton and Joseph Brant Day in Burlington.

In British Columbia, it’s British Columbia Day, Heritage Day in Alberta, Natal Day in Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan Day in Saskatchewan. (Source: Fort Erie Times)

SOCIAL MEDIA

Some suggested name changes for the coming #civicholiday Monday in #HamOnt: http://t.co/ITHvcc8R6j pic.twitter.com/Xktybk7JB2

— mackaycartoons (@mackaycartoons) August 1, 2014

Posted in: Hamilton Tagged: August, Charles Juravinski, Editorial Cartoon, George Hamilton, Hamilton, holiday, Long weekend, Ontario, Simcoe Day, Summer
← Thursday July 31, 2014
Wednesday, August 6, 2014 →

Please note…

This website contains satirical commentaries of current events going back several decades. Some readers may not share this sense of humour nor the opinions expressed by the artist. To understand editorial cartoons it is important to understand their effectiveness as a counterweight to power. It is presumed readers approach satire with a broad minded foundation and healthy knowledge of objective facts of the subjects depicted.

  • The Hamilton Spectator
  • The Toronto Star
  • The Globe & Mail
  • The National Post
  • Graeme on T̶w̶i̶t̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶(̶X̶)̶
  • Graeme on F̶a̶c̶e̶b̶o̶o̶k̶
  • Graeme on T̶h̶r̶e̶a̶d̶s̶
  • Graeme on Instagram
  • Graeme on Substack
  • Graeme on Bluesky
  • Graeme on Pinterest
  • Graeme on YouTube
New and updated for 2025
  • HOME
  • MacKaycartoons Inc.
  • The Boutique
  • The Hamilton Spectator
  • The Association of Canadian Cartoonists
  • The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists
  • You Might be From Hamilton if…
  • Young Doug Ford
  • MacKay’s Most Viral Cartoon
  • Intellectual Property Thief Donkeys
  • Wes Tyrell
  • Martin Rowson
  • Guy Bado’s Blog
  • National Newswatch
...Check it out and please subscribe!

Your one-stop-MacKay-shop…

T-shirts, hoodies, clocks, duvet covers, mugs, stickers, notebooks, smart phone cases and scarfs

2023 Coronation Design

Brand New Designs!

Follow Graeme's board My Own Cartoon Favourites on Pinterest.

MacKay’s Virtual Gallery

Archives

Copyright © 2016 mackaycartoons.net

Powered by Wordpess and Alpha.

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial
 

Loading Comments...