Can BC’s Family Day be changed? What would it take for that to happen?

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The forecast for future Family Days in British Columbia may be a little unsettled, as the government feels more pressure from the public to change the date of the February stat holiday to match up with other parts of Canada and Presidents Day in the United States.

“Other provinces have settled on a day and then changed. Nothing is ever written in stone,” Premier Christy Clark told News1130 last week, adding, “there were lots of people who voted against [making Family Day a standalone holiday in BC] and I know they are still making their voices heard. None of these things are ever written in stone. We are going to give this time to see if it works.”

But as we followed up on those comments, Clark’s press secretary emailed this response:

“[The] premier has been very clear that the province is not considering moving Family Day at this time, but government is always open to listening to feedback on its decisions.”

“As you know, government undertook an extensive consultation process around the date of Family Day, with over 30,000 people voting and the majority supporting the current day,” writes Sam Oliphant.

But that was before many people realized the inconvenience of having a statutory holiday in one province, while other parts of Canada expect to be able to do business with you.

So if keeping Family Day on the second Monday of the month is not “written in stone” as Premier Clark says, what will it take to actually get it changed?

“Plain and simple, just more public pressure,” says Omni TV political analyst Kim Emerson.

“People getting in touch with the MLAs, phoning in to talk shows, sending letters, sending emails, texts, you name it. The government will bend on this,” he tells News1130, adding the government is not stupid and will evaluate it.

“Now, there’s a larger percentage of the population that’s coming out and saying ‘Wait a minute, this would work way better for all of us if you tied it into what they do in the United States and the rest of Canada.’ It would make it easier for everybody. It would make for better travel plans. It would just work out better all around.”

The man behind a 15,000-signature petition to bump Family Day back a week is optimistic, saying the Premier said the exact same thing to him, as well.

“Her words were, almost verbatim, that they weren’t planning on making changes anytime soon, but nothing is set in stone,” says Andrew Johns.

“So I said ‘Great! Let’s shoot for 2017. That will give us plenty of time to make changes.’ If the hospitality sector sees it as being a challenge, at least they won’t have to adjust their marketing for next year.”

Johns says he has received an unbelievable amount of feedback from people who want to see the date for Family Day harmonized with the February stat in other parts of Canada and the US.

The first BC Family Day was in 2013.