'Inclusive' name change needles N.S. tree grower

    A spruce tree grower in Nova Scotia isn't happy his 16-metre Christmas tree has become a "holiday" tree in Massachusetts.

    Every fall, the province sends a tree to Boston as a thank-you gift for the help the New England city gave Halifax after the devastating 1917 ship explosion that levelled parts of Nova Scotia's capital.


    The annual raising of Boston's offical "Holiday" tree on Boston Common, Friday, Nov. 18. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
    Officials with Boston's parks department decided it would be less offensive to some people and generally more inclusive if the word "Christmas" was dropped when they referred to the tree.

    "A lot of people celebrate various religious holidays but also enjoy the lights, and we're trying to be inclusive," said Toni Pollak, Boston's commissioner of parks.

    But Donnie Hatt, of Beech Hill, says he wouldn't have sent his 36-year-old white spruce to Boston this year if he knew it would be called a "holiday" tree. In fact, he'd rather see it run through the wood chipper in his backyard.

    "I think it's a bunch of bullcrap," Hatt said Tuesday. "The States is never happy with the way things are. They always gotta change something.

    "Ever since I was born, a tree was put up for Christmas, not for holidays, because if you're gonna do that you might as well put a tree up for Easter."

    Not everyone in Boston agrees with the name change, either.

    "A lot of us felt it wasn't right," said resident Ray Brochu. "How could they have the right to even change the name of a gift that was given to us from the people up there?"

    Despite the controversy, the "holiday" tree will be placed in the Boston Common and the lights will be powered up on Dec. 1.


This is the first time in a long while, if ever, I actually find Canada more level headed than the US on something