The frog days of summer - Harbour Spiel Online

harbour almanac
OF SEPTEMBER
LABOUR DAY
Labour Day is an annual Canadian holiday to celebrate the economic and
social achievements of workers. Labour Day has its origins in the labour union
movement, specifi cally the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight
hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.
The origins of Canada’s Labour Day can be traced back to April 15, 1872,
when the Toronto Trades Assembly organized the nations fi rst signifi cant
demonstration for worker’s rights. The aim of the demonstration was to release
the 24 leaders of the Toronto Typographical Union who were imprisoned for
striking to campaign for a nine-hour working day. At this time, trade unions
were still illegal and striking was seen as a criminal conspiracy to disrupt trade.
In spite of this, the Toronto Trades Assembly was already a signifi cant organization
and encouraged workers to form trade unions, mediated in disputes
between employers and employees and signalled the mistreatment of workers.
There was enormous public support for the parade and the authorities
could no longer deny the important role that the trade unions had to play in the
emerging Canadian society. A few months later, a similar parade was organized
in Ottawa and passed the house of Canada’s fi rst prime minister, Sir John A.
Macdonald. Later in the
day, he appeared before the
gathering and promised to
repeal all Canadian laws
against trade unions. This
happened in the same year
and eventually led to the
founding of the Canadian
Labour Congress in 1883.
Labour Day was
originally celebrated in the
spring but it was moved to
the fall after 1894.
Public domain image, City of Toronto Archives
~Wikipedia
PAQ
Labour Day parade, Toronto circa 1900s.
SEPTEMBER WEATHER
TEMPERATURES (MERRY ISLAND)
Our average daily September high temperature is 17.6° C and our average daily
low temperature this month is 12.1° C, giving us a mean daily temperature of 14.8° C.
September averages 1.8 days with temperatures above 18.1° C. The highest September
temperature recorded is 26.6° C (Sept. 3, 1988); the lowest September temperature recorded
is 3.9° C (Sept. 27, 1972).
PRECIPITATION (MERRY ISLAND)
September averages 10 days with rainfall and a total of 63.1 mm for the month. September
has an average of 212.4 hours of bright sunshine, and the highest daily rainfall
recorded is 69.4 mm (Sept. 1, 1983).
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September 2012 Page 37