Veteran Affairs 'March holidays' social media post sparks backlash

After a flood of angry comments, Veterans Affairs Canada staff found themselves working over the Easter weekend this year, scrambling to explain why one of the department's social media posts didn't actually mention the holiday.

The post on March 29 — Good Friday — wished people a «happy March holiday season,» prompting hundreds of questions online about what exactly constitutes the March holidays.

A second post that specifically wished followers a happy Easter went live two days later, on Easter Sunday.

Aside from Good Friday and Easter Sunday, which fall on different days each year and sometimes in April, there are no federally recognized statutory holidays in March.

Internal documents released through an access-to-information request show that both posts were scheduled in advance.

But by the time the Easter wishes landed, people had flooded the Friday post on X with angry comments about the apparent exclusion of Easter.

As of Thursday, the post had been viewed 2.9 million times and there were more than 4,800 comments.

«Terrible wording here Vets Canada! Maybe say Happy Easter!» wrote one X user.

«Huh? Are we not allowed to say Easter in Canada?» wrote another.

Post called 'outrageous' and 'shameful'

Pollster Angus Reid also weighed in, commenting: «This retreat to banal secularism displays a lack of respect for the many faiths that define much of the diversity and source of identity in Canada. Yet another federal miscalculation in communications.»

Other commenters called the post outrageous, shameful and insulting.

The department's internal communications show that staff were taking note of the «dumpster fire.»

In text messages on March 30, members of the communications team discussed the online concerns, with one staffer saying,