Now, far be it for me to take all the credit for Saskatchewan's first-ever Family Day.  But I would like to point out that I made a very accurate prediction, way back in July 2006 about a holiday that was announced in late October of that same year (er, if you ignore the part where I said it would never happen because of economic concerns.)

The blogosphere is alight with tales of the new holiday - the politics of creating a new holiday, business people who oppose it and are still going to work, and of course, the inevitable spike in gas prices that precedes any long weekend (even a shiny new one!)

I'm not working (every day is a day off for me right now! ) but I still think this is an excellent idea for the same reasons I mentioned in my original post - it's a fairly non-controversial idea for a holiday unlike some other ones, it bridges the long gap of no holidays between January hangover and Easter redemption, the $140 million it will cost businesses is nearly off-set by the $100 million in tax cuts they've received recently so it doesn't hurt the business community as much as they say (also, do they factor in how many people will be out shopping or having  a meal to offset the lost productivity or extra wages that will be paid?).  It gives Saskatchewan the most stat holidays of any province in Canada (along with one of the best vacation time guarantees in the country) and once again, shows Saskatchewan leading the country in innovative socially-minded ideals (er, except for good old conservative Alberta who's had Family Day since 1990.) 

Speaking of Oil-berta, of course, the biggest, best reason for this holiday (other than the votes it might gain the NDP in the upcoming provincial election - where's my 'Calbert Cash' rebate cheque?) is that it helps Saskatchewan keep up with our richer, flashier twin to the immediate west. 

One last thing - foreseeing no economic barriers, I expect YouDay to be announced sometime this  year.