Page "Canada Day" Paragraph 17

The holiday was officially renamed as a result of a private member's bill that was introduced in the House of Commons when only twelve Members of Parliament were present.

( This was actually eight members less than a quorum, but, according to parliamentary rules, the quorum is enforceable only at the start of a sitting or when a member calls attention to it.

) The bill passed the House in five minutes, without debate.

It met with stronger resistance in the Senate — some Senators objected to the change of name ; Ernest Manning, who argued that the rationale for the change was based on a misperception of the name, and George McIlraith, who did not agree with the manner in which the bill had been passed and urged the government to proceed in a more " dignified way "— but finally passed.

With the granting of Royal Assent, the name was officially changed to Canada Day on October 27, 1982.