Have Yourself a Merry Little Holiday?

Nov 26, 9:41 am ET

TORONTO (Reuters) - Christmas is becoming an endangered word in parts of Canada in a rash of politically correct behavior -- such as renaming a Christmas tree a "holiday tree" -- that even non-Christians dismiss as silly.

Toronto city officials began the flap last week when they called the 50-foot tree set up outside City Hall a "holiday tree." That sparked much derision and prompted the city's mayor to set the record straight.

"Our special events staff went too far with their political correctness when they called it a holiday tree," said Mayor Mel Lastman. "They were trying to be inclusive and their hearts were in the right place, but you can't be politically correct all the time."

The mayor plans to introduce a motion in city council this week that will officially put the word Christmas in front of the word tree in all future city documents.

The name change led to complaints from Christians and left many non-Christians wondering what all the fuss was about. "To take a generic term, slap it on a symbol that really only has significance to one religion...and then say we're being multicultural does not really fit," said Anita Bromberg of the Jewish group B'nai Brith Canada. "Whatever you call it, it's still a Christmas tree."

"You're not being inclusive when you try to apply one religious symbol to everybody. You call it what is."

Toronto has become the most multicultural city in Canada, with communities from around the world and residents who speak more than 100 different languages.

"I'm not sure what they're trying to achieve," Ahmed Shoker of the Canadian Islamic Congress in Saskatoon said on Monday. "Everyone has the full right to celebrate in their own way."

Toronto is not alone in its efforts to stress a holiday spirit rather than talking about Christmas.

The Royal Canadian Mint has a commercial in which it changes the old holiday standard "Twelve Days of Christmas" to "Twelve Days of Giving." But Mint spokesman Phil Taylor said the wording was merely meant to "position coins as a great gift for the holidays for whatever faith."

"It's the same kind of over the top political correctness," said Bernie Farber, Ontario executive director of the Canadian Jewish Congress. "There seems to be a fear within certain circles in Canada that people are going to react to Christmas in a negative way. But it's not the case.

"It's time to sort of get on with life, accept everybody for who they are and revel in their holidays as opposed to look for ways to deny people's holidays. It's just plain silly."

[Okay you guys. Let's figure out where the tree came from in history. Remember the yuletide log.]

-- Anonymous, November 26, 2002

Answers

There's also the michaelmas daisy, so named because it flowers around the feast of St. Michael. Then there's me, named for a saint, two if you count my middle name. We have a cat named Christmas. There's the British cuss word "bloody," which is a corruption of "By my lady!" (meaning Our Lady, Mary). By the way, in the UK you cannot buy black trash bags. . . What about the St. Lawrence River? Soult St. Marie? St. John River? Goodness, we could fill up a few pages, couldn't we? It's all very silly.

While I believe strongly in the separation of church and state, there are some things that should be left alone. A lot of poetry refers to religion, some of which is wonderful. Too much bloody oversensitivity around these days, by God!

-- Anonymous, November 26, 2002