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Spurred by a private member’s bill drafted by Liberal MP Colin Fraser, the House of Commons is convening a committee on whether to update the Holidays Act to make Remembrance Day a “legal” holiday.

It would still be up to the provinces to decide, but Fraser sees his proposed amendment as a good first step.

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“Personally, I believe that it would be appropriate for Remembrance Day to be a statutory holiday in every province and territory in Canada,” he told the House.

But the measure faces stiff opposition from an organization that has been campaigning against a Remembrance Day holiday for more than 40 years; the Royal Canadian Legion.

“If it was institutionalized and made a statutory holiday, the impression would be that people in their homes would not make the effort to attend a downtown ceremony,” said Bill Maxwell, secretary of the legion’s poppy and remembrance committee.

Few Canadians, for instance, spend Labour Day reflecting on the 19th-century Toronto labour protest it was meant to commemorate. Ditto Victoria Day, which was originally enacted so Canadians could spend the day cheering the birthday of whoever happened to be the reigning monarch.