More than two billion Christians around the world will be celebrating Easter over the next two weekends. The majority of Christians are celebrating Easter this weekend. Orthodox Christians celebrate the following weekend according to the Julian calendar.
The long Easter weekend begins with Good Friday, which is the most solemn day in Christianity as it commemorates the crucifixtion and death of Jesus Christ. Good Friday is a public holiday and many workers in Ontario will have the day off work to spend with their families and attend religious services.
While some people will have to work on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Ontario’s labour laws ensure that they will be compensated properly for working on these days. But working Ontarians must be vigilant about our labour laws. And, in this current political climate, we must ensure that we don’t lose any more of the employment standards that we have fought so hard for over the years – employment standards that people around the world are fighting for.
Good Friday and Easter are a time of both reflection and rejoicing. Let us all reflect and rejoice in everything we have in Ontario, but with the knowledge that we still have a long way to go in achieving fairness and equity for all.
To everyone celebrating this weekend, we wish you a very Happy Easter. And we wish all Orthodox Christians a very Happy Easter the following weekend.
In Solidarity,
Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President
Eduardo (Eddy) Almeida, First Vice-President/Treasurer