Decorations Banned on Buses

 "And they're hanging their stockings!" He snarled with a sneer. "Tomorrow is Christmas. It's practically here!"

~ How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Most of you are probably aware of the decision of the Tri-Board Student Transportation Services to ban Christmas decorations inside or outside their buses. See article here. 

Belleville City Councillor Jodie Jenkins received a letter from a concerned citizen regarding the ban. He has kindly allowed me to repost it on the blog today. The author's name has been removed.

"Councillor Jenkins,

Christmas in Canada is now largely a cultural and not a religious celebration. It is true that it's origins are clearly religious in nature, but it has grown to encompass an enormous amount of cultural elements which have nothing to do with the religious origin of the holiday, but have become synonymous with Canadian culture. Christmas trees, turkey dinners, mistletoe, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus and stockings hung over the fireplace, are not religious in origin but have developed as part of our Canadian culture, and as such represent no threat to the religious beliefs and practices of the many divergent cultures that make up Canada. I can understand curtailing the practice of displaying religious symbols on public property over the holidays (I understand it, although I don't agree with it) but I believe that the move to curtail the display of cultural elements in public places is absurd and constitutes a further erosion of Canadian culture.

The cultural celebration of Christmas is as much a part of being Canadian, as BBQ's in the summer and hockey in the winter. It is in no way a threat to the faith of immigrants to Canada, it is simply part of the culture in the country to which they chose to immigrate, a part of culture for which we should not apologize, nor strive to curtail, for anyone. Christmas in Canada is enjoyed by the vast majority of its citizens, religious and non-religious alike, since statistics would seem to indicate that less than 5% of Canadians attend religious services through out the week, then it would seem that the majority of those celebrating Christmas do so as a Canadian cultural celebration and not a religious one.

If on the other hand the issue is one of bus driver visibility and displaying things on the inside or outside of the windows could compromise the safety of the passengers, then how is the driver dressing for the holidays or the attachment of a bow on the front of the bus compromise passenger safety? Obviously it does not.

Since this issue has not been raised over the display of the trappings surrounding Halloween or Canada day, two other cultural celebrations in Canada and since Halloween too has a religious origin dating back to the celebrations of the Druids, yet today for most Canadians is simply a time for children to play dress-up and collect candy, why is the celebration of Christmas for most in Canada any different? And whist being targeted?

Christmas is a religious holiday for many but for the majority of Canadians it is a beautiful cultural celebration of family, love, joy and peace and as such constitutes a threat to no one.

Let's not unnecessarily sacrifice another part of who we are as Canadians in an empty attempt not to offend anyone. Let's proudly continue to embrace the traditions of the majority of Canadians and stop apologizing for who we are."