Covering your bases at Christmas time

"Season's Greetings" projection on the floor at the Hudson's Bay Centre, Toronto, Ontario

"Merry Christmas" projection on the floor at the Hudson's Bay Centre, Toronto Ontario 

It was a bit surprising to see the "Merry Christmas" projection on the floor at the Hudson's Bay Centre in Toronto. Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world. Almost every ethnic and linguistic group you can imagine can be found in the Greater Toronto Area.

All of the common non-English speaking immigrant groups that we have come to expect; Chinese, Indian, Italian, Jamaican, Polish, and Ukrainian, are found here. But the Toronto immigrant community also includes sizable numbers of immigrants, and refugees, from Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Somalia, and Sri Lanka.

And while all of the people in Toronto may not celebrate the religious side of Christmas, the season is still a festive one. People have time off, even non-Christian kids seem to expect presents from Santa, and who does not like to take advantage of an after-Christmas sale?

So the Hudson's Bay Centre, in an effort to cover its bases and appeal to everyone, has installed floor projections that say both "Merry Christmas" and "Season's Greetings".