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Chaos In the North: Victoria Day Edition

28-5-2024 < Counter Currents 51 626 words
 

Photo courtesy of Flickr


1,141 words


Victoria Day long weekend, weather permitting, is traditionally for gardening, barbeques, various outdoor activities, going to the beach, relaxing, and maybe even hunting wild turkeys. It unofficially marks the beginning of summer. Oftentimes Canadians will let off fireworks; the authorities turn a blind eye, especially if those fireworks are launched skywards.


In 1845, the Legislature of the Province of Canada declared Queen Victoria’s birthday, May 24, to be a holiday. During Queen Elizabeth II’s lengthy reign (1952-2022), it became Canadian custom to mark the birthday of the Sovereign on Victoria Day; the holiday falls on the Monday that precedes May 25. Even though Queen Elizabeth’s natural birthday was April 21, her birthday was celebrated on Victoria Day from 1953 onwards. A proclamation issued in May of 2023 “fixed Victoria Day as the date on which the Sovereign’s birthday would be celebrated in Canada.” The proclamation was a formalization of what had essentially become a Canadian cultural practice.


Even though that proclamation was issued in 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his cabinet, and even the Governor General made a point of remaining silent about Victoria Day and His Majesty King Charles III this year. As an editorial in one of the few slightly right-of-center daily papers pointed out, the social media accounts of the aforementioned Liberal officials tend to mark anything but Canadian traditional events. Even the opposition conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, could’ve done better; he only mentioned the holiday in passing in relation to gas prices. (Something that should warrant the Trumpian admonishment “Sad!”) While we continue to lose the public acknowledgement of our British heritage, we are enjoying the fruit of diverse cultural displacement and dispossession.


Because of cultural enrichment, fireworks are sometimes used as weapons: They are launched at crosstown rivals and even innocent bystanders, which is unfortunate to say the least. Over the holiday weekend, some gentlemen in Toronto were arrested for doing just that. After a few salvos from their Roman candles being wielded as ad-hoc weapons, that same group of idiots decided to get into another altercation nearby where two of them were stabbed. I don’t think that’s what Queen Victoria had in mind for her eponymous holiday. According to the official press release from the Toronto Police, one man was arrested and charged with assault while three others remain on the loose.


Another incident in Toronto involving celebratory pyrotechnics took place in the Christie Pits area of the city. Video footage shows blacks firing Roman candles and other flare-type projectiles at one another in the middle of the street. It’s because of these usual suspects that white people can’t enjoy their nice holidays.



Video shows fireworks being lit on busy street in TorontoVideo shows fireworks being lit on busy street in Toronto

Another shockingly bizarre incident saw a black man, very obviously out of his mind on some sort of substance, attack multiple vehicles and a firetruck. It was caught on video. The footage shows an out-of-control male of African heritage attack almost everything in sight before hopping onto the running board of a passing firetruck and pummeling the driver. A Good Samaritan intervened before some of the firemen dismounted from their truck to confront the crazed lunatic.


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