As millions of South Asians around the world celebrate Diwali this year, a festival that symbolizes triumph over darkness and dates back 2,500 years, its strong presence in far-flung regions of the Indian subcontinent is also coming to light.
A five-day celebration enjoyed by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists, it is considered a national holiday in India, Fiji, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Nepal, and most recently in a city in the United States.
Diwali will be a public school holiday in New York City beginning in 2023 “to recognize the more than 200,000 New Yorkers” who celebrate the festival, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. Press conference In the past week.
The recent move in New York has raised questions about why a similar move has not been made in Canada, which is home to millions of South Asians. In 2011, about 2.4 million people, or 7.2 percent of Canada’s population, reported affiliation with the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Muslim religions, according to Canada Statistics.
Data shows that one in five people who arrived in Canada in recent years were born in India, making it the top country of birth for newcomers.
Immigrants also accounted for four out of five new workers in the workforce between 2016 and 2021
“We work hard to pay taxes … and bring more talent to this country,” Siddhart Choudhary, director of the Vancouver-based nonprofit Canadian Hindu Foundation, told CTVNews.ca on Wednesday.
“But at the same time, we want Canada to feel like home. We are not strangers in the country.”
Choudary argues that there is often little room for immigrants, newcomers and Canadians from religious and cultural minorities to hold their festivals due to limited Canada’s national legal calendarwhich focuses predominantly on Christian holidays.
Current legal holidays in Canada include New Year’s Day, Labor Day, Good Friday, Canada Day and Christmas Day. However, the number of state holidays often varies by province and whether an employee is regulated by the federal government.
For many South Asians in Canada, Diwali celebrations have often required rearranging schedules to figure out how to maintain tradition in a Western society.
But this is not always possible.
This year, the festival fell on municipal election day in Ontario, which raised concerns to the South Asian community while trying to find time to vote at one of their biggest cultural celebrations of the year.
The Canadian Indo-Caribbean Association sent a letter to the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs requesting alternative dates after the 2007 provincial election was changed for another religious celebration, but never received a reply.
A petition to “declare Diwali a public holiday in Canada” has garnered nearly 16,000 signatures on Change.org.
Organized by the International Hindu Foundation (IHF), an Alberta-based nonprofit, its senior leadership says more people in Canada needed Diwali this year than ever before.
“Diwali is a time for family gatherings and during COVID-19, people were unable to get together or return home to other countries they came from…and that feeling of loneliness was really shocking,” Sonia Joshi, President of IHF. he told CTVNews.ca on Wednesday.
“This is a festival of togetherness, everyone comes together and celebrates the values and traditions and where we come from, and I should be able to get through that day without worrying about my salary or vacation… we just needed one day to celebrate and teach our children which really means community support and a celebration of our culture.
But can it be done?
The introduction of new statutory holidays in Canada is unprecedented. National Truth and Reconciliation Day, also known as Orange Shirt Day, was introduced as a new federal statutory holiday on September 30, 2021.
It was created to honor the children who died while being forced to attend residential schools, as well as those who survived and their families and communities who are still suffering from the trauma.
According to the Designation of National Days and Observances in Canada, a federal document Describing how holidays are classified and how they can become recognized dates, “any senator or member of the House of Commons may introduce a bill proclaiming a national day.”
If the bill passes all stages of the legislative processes, it can be enacted as its own policy.
The government can also establish a national day or observance in place of Parliament through various processes, the document said.
An example of this is the National Day of Indigenous Peoples, which is celebrated on June 21. While not a national holiday, it applies to federally regulated workplaces as a day off.
religious accommodation it can be requested under the Canadian Human Rights Act through provincial codes, such as the Ontario Human Rights Code.
The person requesting a religious accommodation must be able to explain how it relates to their religion, according to the Ontario Human Rights Commission website. In addition, they must be able to describe how the accommodation will affect their ability to do their job.
According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, “Canada was the first country in the world to adopt multiculturalism as official policy.”
the Canadian Multiculturalism Act it was passed into law in Canada in 1988 to “remove any barriers to full participation in society” and was designed to attack and eliminate discrimination.
While the law does not mention religious or cultural festivals, its goal is to “promote reflection and evolving expressions of those cultures.”
According to Joshi, the existence of the law should be enough for any politician to file a motion to make Diwali a public holiday in Canada.
“This step was taken 50 years ago and we are still looking for the opportunity to celebrate one of our main holidays properly. Our children should be able to see that, right? Joshi said.