Today is Canada's May holiday Monday, known officially  as Victoria Day. Informally called the  "May 24th long weekend" or the "May 2-4".

In Ontario, it is the opening of fishing season for walleye (pickerel) and other species. Many fishing aficionados make it a major  occasion.

Many consider it the unofficial start of summer (if we waited til June, summer would be just too short.)

People lucky or foolish enough to have cottages (called "camps" in Thunder Bay, whether worth $15,000.00 or a million) often "open" the property, putting out water lines, activating plumbing drained for the winter, refloating  docks, launching boats.

 The more optimistic gardeners plant bedding out plants and vegetables, though everybody knows we still have a risk of frost.

In Thunder Bay, it is the 100th anniversary of the Ten Mile Road Race , which has become a community celebration, run from the historic Fort William downtown, to the  Intercity area(where the former City of Port Arthur begins) and back. Since the 1970s, there ha been serious effort to open up the run not just to elite competitors (who still participate) but runners of all ages and abilities, including relay teams.

In Ontario, beer traditionally is sold by a case of 24 bottles (and more recently, cans), colloquially known as a "2-4" . The coincident of the holiday falling on this date (or the Monday before), and the many reasons to consume a cold one, leads to the popular reference to this as the "May 2-4 weekend". Because a six pack just wouldn't do it.

But why do those of us on the northerly portion of the continent celebrate summer a week earlier than our more southerly neighbours?Before the unofficial start of the movie blockbuster season (a date now creeping much earlier, anyway?)

The answer of course lies in history.

Canada's holiday is named after, and celebrates the birthday of Queen Victoria, the long serving  19th century Queen of England. Although the continuing tie to colonial history where the Queen serves as Queen of Canada  has become controversial, it was during Victoria's reign, on July 1 1867, that the infant Dominion of Canada was born, created from a merger (called "confederation") of four colonies. Although full independence was a gradual process, not fully achieved until the 1980s (and, say the anti-monarchists, still incomplete) July 1 is celebrated as Canada's birthday (no, we don't celebrate July 4 - except those who take a day off to go stateside). 

The celebration of Victoria Day actually goes back pre Confederation, to 1845, in the Province of Canada. In 1901, following Victoria's death May 24 was proclaimed a holiday throughout the British Empire, called (credit Wikipedia) "Empire Day". For some years, the sovereign's birthday was celebrated in June, but by 1957 (hey, I was born that year), the Monday before May 25 became the official birthday. Empire Day was renamed Commonwealth Day, moved to March, and forgotten. Victoria Day it is. Except in Quebec, where the predominantly francophone culture celebrates National Patriot's Day.

Since Memorial Day's earliest roots seem only to go back to 1866 (post Civil war),  and not finally standardized until 1971, our Canadian holiday came first, which is as good a reason as any that we don't share the same holiday.  Or maybe we just enjoy summer more.