Paul Gorbould’s weblog about life, the media, and everything.

Useless fact for your long weekend

Today is a civic holiday for most Canadians, with the day going by different names in different provinces - British Columbia Day, New Brunswick Day, Saskatchewan Day, etc. In the ever-practical Nunavut and Northwest Territories it’s just “Civic Holiday”. In Quebec it’s called Another Day of Work and Simmering Anger.

In Ontario, municipalities use different names for the August civic holiday, honouring historical figures Colonel By, Joseph Brant, Samuel McLaughlin, Alexander Mackenzie, John Galt and James Cockburn. Until his death in 2002 the residents of Cobourg, Ont. mistakenly believed the day to be named after James Coburn, and screened The Magnificent Seven on the side of City Hall every year. The practice has been discontinued.

Here in Toronto, it’s Simcoe Day, named after John Graves Simcoe, who founded the city, and for good measure abolished slavery and introduced trial by jury, freehold land tenure, and “European-style” lapdancing.

His wife Elizabeth Simcoe, however, the second-best name in Canadian history*:

Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim

To raid Wikipedia some more:

- Yes, the townships of North, West and East Gwillimbury that you pass through on Highway 400 on your way to cottage country are named after Ms. Gwillim. Gwillimburies may sound very tasty, but they give you the trots.

- The deliciously dark middle name Posthuma was chosen because her mother was buried the day baby Elizabeth was baptized. It is the same reason my middle name is Sprained Ankle.

The Magnificent Simcoe