Labour Day is a lot different in Canada than in the United States, and it's not just due to the spelling. I had a busy day today, and it started off with a 2 hour parade! As an unexpected bonus, parking at the subway parking lot was free today due to the holiday, even though it is a Monday!
-- Labour Day Parade --
When I heard there was going to be a parade, I wondered what kind of floats I would see. But it ended up being a different type of parade. Keeping with the "Labour Day" theme, the parade was a solid two hours of Canadian labor union members walking and carrying flags! The photos below show a small sampling of the participants.
I told you there were a lot of unions, and that was only some of them! I saw two hours worth! One of the unions, ATU 113, was celebrating its 125th anniversary! It sounds like the Canadian workers unionized earlier workers in the United States.
While I was watching the parade and taking photos, another lady with a fancy camera was doing the same, and we got talking. She is a freelance photographer who specializes in photographing labor issues, rallies, and demonstrations. She is originally from China, but has lived in toronto for many years. She has photographs in galleries and museums. She was also interested in politics, and we discussed the U.S. presidential canddates. That's not generally what I like to discuss, but she is not the first Canadian to ask me about it. 😐
-- Canadian Air Show--
After the parade, I took public transportation to Coronation Park, on the shore of Lake Ontario, to watch the Canadian Air Show, along with other people in the park.
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-- Toronto Buskerfest for Epilepsy --
Ater the Canadian air show, I took a street car to Woodbine Park to attend the buskerfest, with admission proceeds going towards supporting Epilepsy. I liked the stickers reminding us that people with epilepsy are regular people, and to see them as people and not as a disease.
According to wikipedia, a buskerfest is "a traveling festival of buskers -- street performers". On the streetcar ride to the buskerfest, I sat next to a couple and their son who were all wearing "Stage Hand Union" shirts. I asked them if they were in the parade, and they said yes. I told you there are all kinds of unions!
The stage hands work at different theaters, helping with the performances. They were headed home from the parade. They told me they use public transportation to commute to work, wherever the venue happens to be. It was fun talking with them. They also told about the beach at the far end of the park, and the sand volleyball courts. I hadn't looked on the map, and didn't realize how close the park was to Lake Ontario.
They told me Lake Ontario never completely freezes in the middle, but the sides freeze, and if a storm breaks up the ice, it can get pushed up onto the banks. If chunks pile on top of each other then they can get pretty high and it can be dangerous. It is hard to think about frozen lakes and ice when the temperature has been so nice while I have been here. Today the highs were in the upper 60s, and it was warmer a few days ago.
Some of the acts at the buskerfest involved throwing flaming torches or using rings of fire as hula hoops. I wasn't really hungry, but I had a Philippino chicken kabob had some fresh pineapple juice while I listened to a guitar player.
Children were rolling around in plastic balls, and there were lots of booths.
My last stop for the day was the Toronto Jazzfest at Mel Lastman Square. Had I known the jazzfest was going all weekend, I would have attended some of the performances on Friday and Saturday. I had a great time! Tonight's performers were the Matthew O'Halloran Quintet, and they were really good!
Today was a full day, and I had a lot of fun. I could get used to living in Toronto. It is a nice city. It does have a lot of people, though. The good mass transit system helps, but it seemed like wherever I wanted to go was at least 50 minutes away by subway, streetcar, or bus.
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