Unexpected holiday for Queen’s funeral met with confusion, concern in the Maritimes

The sudden and unexpected holiday to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral is being met by some confusion and concern in the Maritimes.

Marc Rickard, the owner of a bike repair shop in Dartmouth, N.S., will close his business Monday and pay his employees, but says he initially wasn’t sure exactly what he could do.

“Is this an actual holiday, or is it this something we can write off as a holiday, or what exactly?” Rickard questioned when he first heard about the holiday.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a federal holiday and a national day of mourning will be held Sept. 19 to coincide with the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II. It will apply to federal government employees, but not necessarily to federally regulated industries, like banks and airlines.

The rules vary from province to province.

While Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta will not shut down on Monday, government offices in all four Atlantic provinces will.

Prince Edward Island has declared Monday to be a one-time statutory holiday. However, retailers have been told they are allowed to remain open.

Nova Scotia is marking a provincial holiday, but not a statutory holiday. Provincial offices, schools and regulated daycares will close, but it will be up to businesses as to whether they stay open.

“I think most businesses will stay open,” says Patrick Sullivan, the president of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. “Certainly restaurants, hotels -- there’s many businesses that need to stay open, I think they’ll stay open, I think they’ll mourn the Queen, they’ll show respect for the Queen in a different way.”

Kourosh Jahan is the site manager of a construction team building an apartment complex in Dartmouth. He expects to work, but also leave work early to pay his respects to the Queen.

“It’s not stat holiday, so it will be regular pay. There’s no confusion about it,” he said.

An unexpected power outage closed one Halifax restaurant Wednesday morning, causing the business to miss the lunch rush, and now Monday’s holiday is going to cost them too.

“All the staff that are going to be in, of course will have time-and-a-half. Financially, for the restaurant of course, it’s not, it’s not ideal,” says restaurant owner Geatan Charest.

The one-time holiday will be the third in the month of September. Truth and Reconciliation Day is a holiday in Nova Scotia and P.E.I., but not New Brunswick. The Wolastoqey First Nation is asking the Higgs government for the same consideration, and they’re getting support from the opposition.

“We certainly want to respect the passing of the Queen and all of the ceremonies that go around with it. But I think more consideration, and as a party, we feel more consideration has to be given around Sept. 30 to rebuild our reconciliation with our First Nations,” says Liberal MLA Rene Legacy.

Canada isn’t the only nation in the Commonwealth designating a day to mourn the passing of the Queen. Australia and New Zealand will have public holidays, but have chosen to push them back to later in the month -- a decision some in the P.E.I. construction industry say would have been a good idea in the Maritimes.

“To do this on such short notice, there really isn’t much of an option for much of our building community, other than paying the overtime and carrying forward with our building at that point,” says Andrew Garth, the P.E.I. president of the Canadian Home Owners Association.

The last-minute announcement has also left some parents scrambling to find child care.

“No one was planning on this. And health care and other industries will be open and working,” said Bonnie Minard, who runs the Portland Daycare Centre.

As of Wednesday morning, some workers, like Craig Gallant, still didn’t know their company's plan.

“We’re still waiting to find out,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll probably have word today or tomorrow.”

Emma Lawson is from Britain and says she will watch the funeral with friends, toasting to the Queen with a slice of cake and a cup of tea.

“I’m grateful Canada is recognizing the queen and having people day off,” Lawson said.