Tomorrow, Oct. 12, is Canada’s Thanksgiving Day.

In 1957, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed the second Monday in October to be “A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.’’

The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an English explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Orient. He did not succeed but he did establish a settlement in Northern America. In 1578, he held a formal ceremony, in what is now called Newfoundland, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. This is considered the first Canadian Thanksgiving. Other settlers arrived and continued these ceremonies. He was later knighted and had an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada named after him – Frobisher Bay.

At the same time, French settlers, having crossed the Atlantic ocean and arrived in Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain, also held huge feasts of thanks. They formed “The Order of Good Cheer’’ and gladly shared their food with their Indian neighbors.

During the American Revolution, Americans who remained loyal to England moved to Canada where they brought the customs and practices of the American Thanksgiving to Canada. There are thus many similarities between the two Thanksgivings, such as the cornucopia and the pumpkin pie.

Eventually in 1879, the Canadian Parliament declared November 6th a day of thanksgiving and a national holiday. Over the years, many dates were used for Thanksgiving, the most popular being the 3rd Monday in October. After World War I, both Armistice Day and Thanksgiving were celebrated on the Monday of the week in which November 11th occurred. Ten years later in 1931, the two days became separate holidays and Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day. In 1957, the Canadian Parliament announced that Thanksgiving Day would be celebrated on the second Monday of October.

Unlike the American tradition of remembering pilgrims settling in the New World Canadians give thanks for a successful harvest. The harvest season falls earlier in Canada than in the United States.

We congratulate the people and government of Canada led by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, H.E., Governor General Michaelle Jean, and H.E., Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and its Embassy in the Philippines headed by H.E., Ambassador Robert Desjardin, on the occasion of their Thanksgiving Day. We wish them success in all their endeavors.