Happy Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving in Canada, which is a good thing for hard working Canucks. It's a day off to sit around and do zip. It also means I won't have to hear "Happy Turkey Day!" for another year. Likewise, "Gobble-gobble!" from supposed adults.

I have nothing against Thanksgiving. I've always thought it was the lesser holiday to Christmas, but still a good one. The Americans by and large treat their November Thanksgiving as the holiday of the year. Canadians more or less see it as another one of the numerous holidays celebrated month to month.

The idea behind Canadian Thanksgiving gives me a smile. In 1578, English explorer Martin Frobisher attempted to find a route to the Orient by way of North America. It didn't work. To give thanks for surviving the long journey, he had a Thanksgiving celebration in Newfoundland.

This, we're told, is where Thanksgiving comes from. It sounds a bit too pat for my liking, but I'll take it. I like the image of a grizzled explorer sitting down by the fire and saying, "Thank God we didn't die on that damn trip." I especially like the artwork of the Thanksgiving founder. That's him at the top of this article, packing heat and a stare-down that would make Clint Eastwood proud.

Frobisher's little celebration pre-dated the American pilgrims' Thanksgiving in Massachusetts by 43 years. The American version has it that the Pilgrims were giving thanks for their first harvest in the New World. They ate some munchies, chatted with the Indians, and had a fine time dressing in funny black outfits.

Then there is the French Canadian version. Samuel de Champlain, explorer par excellence, held a feast of Thanksgiving with his buddies after crossing the Atlantic to North America. His Thanksgiving was probably a holdover from the European fall celebrations, giving thanks to a good harvest, food on the table, so forth.

Then there is the Americans-came-to-Nova-Scotia-in-the-1750's version...

And on and on. Any history buff can find their own Thanksgiving story that they like the best. I suppose that is a lesson about people in general. Throughout history, people have been giving thanks for something. The dates and the names don't really matter. What matters is that they were thankful.

The Canadian Thanksgiving to me is the more interesting of the two big-time turkey fests in North America. It tells a story behind the Canadian condition. While the Americans have celebrated Thanksgiving as a general day of thanking God and his bounty, the Canadian one was, for the longest time, about specifics. Before worrying about Butterball and cranberry sauce on special, settlers in Canada were worried. About disease, war, death, and famine. Thanksgiving was a chance to celebrate surviving all of the above, and not so much about taking a day off from the office to watch football.

Here's a few Canadian Thanksgivings, with their reasons given:

Thursday, January 10, 1799. In signal victory over our enemy and for the manifold and inestimable blessings which our Kingdoms and Provinces have received and daily continue to receive.

Thursday, April 2, 1814. For glorious victories over our enemies.

Thursday, April 6. 1815. End of the war with the United States of America and restoration of the blessings of Peace.

Tuesday, May 21, 1816. End of war between Great Britain and France.

Wednesday, February 6, 1833. Cessation of cholera.

Wednesday, November 1, 1834 . End of quarantine of ships at Grosse Isle.

Thursday, January 3, 1850. For God's mercies and cessation of grievous disease.

Wednesday, June 4, 1856. For restoration of Peace with Russia.

Monday, April 15, 1872. For restoration to health of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales.

Tuesday, June 21, 1887. 50th Anniversary of Her Majesty's accession to Throne.

Tuesday, June 22, 1896. Diamond Jubilee of H.M. Queen Victoria.

Thursday, June 26, 1902. King Edward VII's Coronation (cancelled, changed to August 9, 1902).

Monday, November 8, 1921. On Armistice Day.

That was a biggee. World War I left such a scar on the face of Western civilization that Thanksgiving and Armistice Day were celebrated simultaneously for almost a decade. WWII movies have since eclipsed WWI's memory, but we still remember it in the form of Remembrance Day, on November 11.

The last Thanksgiving by proclamation was Monday, October 14, 1957. It was a day proclaimed for general thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessings with which the people of Canada have been favoured. From that date forward, Canadian Thanksgiving was to be held for that same reason, and on the second Monday in October.

What's striking about the history of Thanksgiving is that it wasn't some hum-drum, run of the mill event. The one that pops out at me is the cessation of cholera, in 1833. Cholera? I thought that was a third-world disease. Then again, we were third-world in 1833. Cholera struck down settlers by the thousands. Good hygiene and science have sent cholera into the attic of Canadian history, but at one time it was a scourge of the people.

It's probably a good thing that modern Thanksgiving isn't celebrated for a specific reason. I'm amazed that Thanksgiving is still officially a day to thank Almighty God for His blessings. If that makes it off the government website and onto the front page, 50 different special interest groups will freak out.

Likewise, can you imagine the government or the Queen proclaiming a Thanksgiving event today? Special interest groups would argue for months about what the real reason should be. The First Nations would want it celebrated for the fact that they were here first. Different religious groups would want "Allah" or "Yahweh" or "Beelzebub" front and center. Animal rights activists would want turkey taken off the menu, and for us to give thanks that we can eat broccoli. Enviro-boobs would want it to be celebrated to give thanks for David Suzuki and the Kyoto treaty.

It would be a mess, and the Queen would be right to say, "Hell with it. I'm giving thanks I don't live in Canada."

Thanksgiving is emblematic of where we're from, but not so much where we're going. Its reason has been lost in the shuffle. On Thanksgiving Day, I prefer to look back. I give thanks for the settlers that didn't know they were doing us a grand favour by building farms, constructing railroads, erecting cities and towns, battling cholera epidemics, enemies of the Empire, and diseases of all sorts in order to give us...a day off from our hard labours.