Statutory holidays
The nine statutory holidays listed above are mandated by federal legislation for federally regulated employees, as is Easter Monday. All banks apply these holidays to their schedule.

Federal
Provinces and territories generally adopt the same holidays as the federal government with some variations:
Many employers give their employees days off that may not be statutory holidays in the particular province, particularly Boxing Day. Similarly, many federally regulated employees have negotiated additional holidays, that are common holidays in the provinces such that many also take Easter Monday and the first Monday in August.

 Alberta - 9 holidays

• Heritage Day - first Monday of August is not a statutory holiday.
  Boxing Day is not a statutory holiday.
  Remembrance Day Remembrance Day - November 11
  Family Day - third Monday in February
   British Columbia - 9 holidays
  
  
  
  • Boxing Day is not a statutory holiday.
    British Columbia Day - first Monday in August
     Manitoba - 9 holidays
    
    
    
    • Manitoba's newest unnamed holiday will be celebrated on the 3rd Monday of February starting February 18th 2008. This holiday is similar to Family Day in Alberta and Saskatchewan
      Remembrance Day and Boxing Day are not statutory holidays, although only the Retail Sector is open on these days within specific regulatory guidelines for hours of service.
      Remembrance Day is not termed a statutory holiday, but rather an "Official day of Observance", and must be paid overtime if required to work on this day. Most Manitobans, with the exception of the retail sector, get the day off.
      First Monday in August.
       New Brunswick - 7 holidays
      
      
      
      • Victoria Day, Thanksgiving, and Boxing Day are not statutory holidays.
        New Brunswick Day - first Monday in August
         Newfoundland and Labrador - up to 11 holidays (most observed on closest Monday) per the Shops' Closing Act
        
        
        
        • All federal holidays as listed above. Canada Day is additionally celebrated as Memorial Day.
          Easter Sunday (in some cases, e.g. banks, observed on Monday)
          Unlike most other provinces, there is no province-wide holiday on the first Monday in August. It may be seen as redundant due to the Royal St. John's Regatta, which is observed as a civic holiday in St. John's on the first Wednesday in August (weather permitting). Harbour Grace has a similar holiday for its regatta. All other municipalities are entitled to designate one day a year as a civic holiday, however many do not take advantage of this.
          St. Patrick's Day (March 17), St. George's Day (April 23), Discovery Day (June 24) and Orangemen's Day (July 12) have not been observed as statutory holidays since 1992. They are, however, observed by the provincial government.
           Northwest Territories - 10 holidays
          
          
          
          • National Aboriginal Day - June 21
             Nova Scotia - 6 holidays (including Remembrance Day; see below)
            
            
            
            • Victoria Day, Thanksgiving, and Boxing Day are not statutory holidays.
              Remembrance Day is a special case and employers have the option of giving Remembrance Day or an alternate day off.
              Natal Day - First Monday in August is not a statutory holiday but a common day off.
               Nunavut - 9 holidays
              
              
              
              • Nunavut Day - July 9, originated as a paid holiday for Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated and regional Inuit associations. It became a ½ day holiday for Government employees in 1999 and a full day in 2001. Most employers give the day off with the notable exceptions being the Federal Government and the North West Company.
                Boxing Day is not a statutory holiday.
                First Monday in August.
                 Ontario - 8 holidays
                
                
                
                • Remembrance Day is not a statutory holiday in Ontario.
                  Although not a statutory holiday, municipalities may designate the first Monday in August as a civic holiday. This is called Simcoe Day in Toronto, and Colonel By Day in Ottawa, with other areas using other names.
                   Prince Edward Island - 6 holidays
                  
                  
                  
                  • The August Civic holiday, Easter Monday, Thanksgiving, and Boxing Day are not statutory holidays. However, Federal Government employees (and some Provincial employees) do have arrangements in their collective agreements to receive these as paid days off. Provincial employees in some cases have bargained for the Gold Cup and Saucer Day in place of the August Civic holiday.
                     Quebec - 8 holidays
                    
                    
                    
                    • Employers must give either Good Friday or Easter Monday as a statutory holiday.
                      Victoria Day coincides with National Patriotes Day.
                      Fête Nationale (St. John the Baptist's Day) - June 24
                      Construction Holiday takes place during the last two weeks of July — while it applies officially only to the construction industry, many other Quebecers arrange to take their vacations during these two weeks.
                      Many of the specific details of employment law are quite different in Quebec.
                       Saskatchewan - 9 holidays
                      
                      
                      
                      • Family Day - third Monday in February
                        Saskatchewan Day - first Monday in August
                         Yukon - 9 holidays
                        
                        
                        
                        • Discovery Day - third Monday in August Provincial and territorial
                          In Canada, there are two definitions of the term "civic holiday":
                          
                          Civic holidays
                          By law, a civic holiday is defined as any holiday which is legally recognized and for which employers are obliged to offer holiday pay.
                          
                          Legal definition
                          Another common definition of the civic holiday refers to a particular annual holiday, celebrated on the first Monday of August in most Canadian provinces. However, this definition is far from uniform nationwide. Two provinces and one territory do not recognize it at all, and five other provinces do not oblige employers to offer holiday pay on this day, thus making it a civic holiday in the legal sense. No universal name is recognized for this holiday, either — the official name varies between the provinces and even between municipalities within Ontario. In British Columbia this day is known as BC Day.
                          
                          The August holiday
                          Some cities also have statutory holidays that are celebrated only within the city limits. For instance, the morning of the Stampede Parade is a legal half-day holiday in the city of Calgary.
                          
                          Proposed holidays
                          
                          National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women on December 6
                          Canadian Multiculturalism Day on June 27
                          National Aboriginal Solidarity Day on June 21
                          Commonwealth Day on the second Monday in March. This has been observed as a holiday in some Commonwealth countries.

The Higgs boson is a hypothetical massive scalar elementary particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model of particle physics. It is the only Standard Model particle not yet observed, but plays a key role in explaining the origins of the mass of other elementary particles, in particular the difference between the massless photon and the relatively heavy W and Z bosons. Elementary particle masses, and the differences between electromagnetism (caused by the photon) and the weak force (caused by the W and Z bosons), are critical to many aspects of the structure of microscopic (and hence macroscopic) matter; thus, if it exists, the Higgs boson has an enormous effect on the world around us.
As of 2007, no experiment has directly detected the existence of the Higgs boson, but there is indirect evidence for it. The Higgs mechanism, which gives mass to vector bosons, was first theorized in 1964 by Peter Higgs, François Englert and Robert Brout, working from the ideas of Philip Anderson, and independently by G. S. Guralnik, C.R. Hagen, and T. W. B. Kibble . Steven Weinberg and Abdus Salam were the first to apply the Higgs mechanism to the electroweak symmetry breaking. The electroweak theory predicts a neutral particle whose mass is not far from the W and Z bosons.

Theoretical overview
As of 2007, the Higgs boson has not been observed experimentally, despite large efforts invested in accelerator experiments at CERN and Fermilab. The non-observation of clear signals leads to an experimental lower bound for the Higgs boson mass of 114.4 GeV at 95% confidence level. A small number of events were recorded by experiments at LEP collider at CERN that could be interpreted as resulting from Higgs bosons, but the evidence is inconclusive. but no evidence is yet compelling enough to convince the scientific community as a whole.
As of August of 2007, Tevatron results continue to hint at a Higgs mass near the low end of the allowed range, presenting a potentially awkward situation to the LHC project.

Experimental search

Main article: Higgsless model Alternatives to the Higgs mechanism for electroweak symmetry breaking

Main article: Higgs boson (fiction)

Hellenization (or Hellenisation) is a historical term most widely used to describe a growing cultural influence of Hellenistic civilization. It was most prominently achieved under Alexander III of Macedon who spread Greek language, culture and religion to the lands he conquered. The result, some elements of Greek origin combined in various forms and degrees with other elements taken from conquered civilizations, is known as Hellenism.

Historic usage
A disputed modern use is in connection with policies pursuing cultural harmonization and education of the linguistic minorities resident within the modern Greek state (the Hellenic Republic) in relation to Aromanians, Arvanites, Roma, Slavophones, and the Muslim minority of Thrace. It has been suggested in connection with a statement from Greek Helsinki Monitor, arguing "Greece, like all other Balkan countries, has traditionally followed assimilatory policies and/or has discriminated against its citizens with a minority religious, ethnonational or ethnolinguistic identity. The Balkan wars of the 1910s and the First World War, along with the resulting bilateral agreements with Bulgaria and Turkey to exchange the respective minority populations, contributed to the substantial cleansing of the current territory of the Greek state from most of its non-Greek populations... acknowledging the presence of Turks, let alone Macedonians, in the country is widely perceived as a near-treason, and may lead to castigation, persecution or even prosecution of those who make such arguments."[1].
However, others point out that a number of minority groups in greece have come to be seen as integral to the modern greek narrative while still retaining a degree of separate identity, attested to, this view highlights , by the persistence of Greek-Vlach public organisations and the avowedly greek/vlach and greek/arvanite status of several heroes of the country's popular narrative.
Alexander the great was a Greek emperor who conquered almost all the world. In his period of government he created Hellenization. Hellenization was a historical term most widely used to describe a growing cultural influence of Hellenistic civilization. Alexander invented the commercial cities and multiplied them throughout his empire and developed a transportation network to support commerce. It allowed him to receive supplies for his conquering projects anywhere in the world in an early version of globalization. Alexander practiced respect for local cultures. Conquered nations paid tributes but they absorbed only what they wanted from Hellenistic culture.

Modern usage
De-Hellenization (or De-Hellenisation) is another complex and debated term used to describe a cultural change in which something Greek becomes non-Greek (non-Hellenic). The process can either be voluntary, or, commonly, applied with varying degrees of force.
Through history, the term has been used in connection with the Islamization and eventual Turkification of some Greek populations in the Ottoman Empire, beginning with inhabitants of eastern thrace, and also of the slavicised Greek inhabitants in the Balkans (see Slavophone Greeks) , while the Aromanians of greece stress links with the country , numbering at least 84 Vlach associations around its localities. (the membership of the Panhellenic Federation of Cultural Associations of Vlachs) [2], [3].
In recent times, it has sometimes been used in connection with the Second World War and the triple occupation of Greece [4], Enver Hoxha's regime in Albania [5] (a country with a large Greek minority in the southern part of the country) [6] and with the Greek Muslims.

De-Hellenization
Re-Hellenization (or Re-Hellenisation) is a further debated term used to describe a cultural change in which something which had been originally Greek, becomes Greek again, after a period of time in which it was not Greek (De-Hellenization). The process can either be voluntary, or applied with varying degrees of force.
The term is used in a number of contexts, regarding the re-hellenization of the southern Slavic population in the Balkans. Arguably, the term can be used for the Kalasha tribe in Pakistan, that claims descent from the Greeks of Alexander the Great, and where Greek volunteers (with the help of the Greek government) have built 5 schools.[7]. The Vlachs of Greece (Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians) are another group associated with disputed origins. The Panhellenic Federation of Cultural Associations of Vlachs (Πανελλήνια Ομοσπονδία Πολιτιστικών Συλλόγων Βλάχων), a federation of at least 84 Vlach associations located throughout Greece, staed on the 28th February 2001 : we, the Vlach-speaking Greeks ,do not request recognition from outside as a minority because both historically and culturally we were and are an integral part of the Greek nation [8]. Other Vlach associations (from Romania, Albania, Republic of Macedonia, and especially those from the Diaspora) reject a Greek origin for Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians. The existence of Vlachs in Albania professing a Greek identity has been reported : they are often invited by Vlachs of Greece to festivals, and receive assistance from greek-vlachs to improve living standards, while vlachs in the republic of macedonia do not express a greek identity.

A-League 2007-08

New Zealand
For the former US soccer league of the same name see A-League (American)
The A-League is the premier Australasian domestic football (soccer) competition. Founded in 2004 and staging its inaugural season in 2005-06, the league is contested by eight teams: seven covering Australia's major cities and regional centres and one from New Zealand.

History

Main article: A-League 2005-06 2005-06 season

Main article: A-League 2006-07 2006-07 season

Main article: A-League 2007-08 2007-08 season

Format
A Pre-Season Cup is held in July and August, as a precursor to the main season. In the Pre-Season Cup, the eight teams are placed into two groups. Each team plays the others in the group once over three rounds.
Beginning in 2006, an additional bonus round is then held, with each team playing a cross-over match with a team from a different group. In addition to the standard points (3 for a win, 1 for a draw), there are special bonus points on offer for the bonus round matches:
All eight teams then enter a knock-out round, culminating in the final in late August.
The FFA has indicated that, if successful, the bonus points system may be used in the main league season from the 2007-08 season. Pre-Season Cup
The regular season runs mainly during the Australian summer, from late August to January of the following year. The competition consists of 21 home-and-away rounds, with each team playing each other team three times – twice at one team's home stadium and once at the other's. The teams which are allotted two home matches against an opponent in one season are allotted one home match against that opponent in the following season. Each match sees the winning team awarded three competition points, or in the case of a draw, the teams receive one point each. At the end of the season, the teams are ranked firstly in terms of competition points accumulated, then goal difference, total goals scored, head-to-head records between tying teams and finally the number of cards each team has received.

Regular season
The top four-ranked teams at the end of the regular season are entered into a finals series based on the Page playoff system, where the first round of matches consists of two legs (with ties decided by the away goals rule). The top two ranked teams play the Major Semi-Final, with the winner progressing straight to and hosting the Grand Final. On the same weekends, the third and fourth ranked teams contest the Minor Semi-Final, which sees the losing side eliminated whilst the winner plays off against the loser of the Major Semi-Final in the Preliminary Final the following weekend. The winner of this match also progresses to the Grand Final, the winner of which becomes A-League Champions. As of the 2006–07 season, this team will also contest the AFC Champions League, although if the team that wins the Premiership goes through to Grand Final then the runners-up in the Grand Final are awarded the second spot in the competition, win or lose.

Finals series
The A-League logo, designed by Coast Design Sydney, is a three-dimensional sphere in the shape of a football. The two-toned ochre colours represent the sun, earth and desert while the 'glow' emanating from the centre of the logo depicts the playing season's Spring and Summer time span. The eight 'A' figures that make up the ball shape represent the eight foundation clubs.

Logo
There are currently eight clubs from Australia and New Zealand playing in the A-League. Only three of these clubs, Adelaide United, Newcastle United Jets (previously known just as Newcastle United) and Perth Glory existed before the A-League was formed.
Unlike most European leagues, there is no system for promotion and relegation of teams, nor a national knockout cup competition along the lines of the FA Cup. The A-League system thus shares some franchising elements with most other professional leagues in Australia, as well as Major League Soccer and other major sports leagues in the United States.
On March 19, 2007, it was confirmed that a Wellington based franchise would be replacing the New Zealand Knights for the 2007-08 season.
For the 2007-08 season, the eight clubs will be:

Clubs
Each club can have a maximum squad of 23 players with a salary cap of AU$1.8 million for the whole squad - much less than the millions of dollars a year that individual star players (including a few Australians) earn in Europe's top football leagues. The minimum number of players on each squad is 20. The squad must include at least three under-20 players. Clubs may also only have a maximum of four internationals (from outside Australia and New Zealand) in their squad.

Marquee player
While making a relatively modest start in order to ensure future stability, the league is interested in introducing more teams to the competition. The eight foundation clubs have exclusivity clauses for their respective cities valid for five years, but there is room to add more teams. With Australia's performance in the 2006 FIFA World Cup there has been some media speculation that Football Federation Australia may expand the league after the 2007-08 season. This is looking very possible with upcoming changes to the number of Asian Champions League spots available from 2009.
Townsville and Canberra are possibilities, having large populations and modern football stadiums, respectively Dairy Farmers Stadium and Canberra Stadium. Wollongong and the Gold Coast could also be considered, with Wollongong pushing for an upgrade to WIN Stadium while the Gold Coast will have a new 25,000 seat stadium in 2008. Many people felt the twice Australian Champions Wollongong Wolves should be the team from the Illawarra, but according to media reports the Wolves are planning on staying in the NSW Premier League, and are fully supporting a new club for the region. This club will be backed by Bruce Gordon, Australia's 14th richest person.

Expansion

Captains

denotes oval-shaped stadiums Stadiums

Main article: List of A-League champions Champions and premiers
Two A-League clubs will participate in the AFC Champions League competition from the 2007 competition on. The teams for the 2007 competition were determined by finishing positions in the 2005-6 A-League season, the 2008 competition by finishing positions in the 2006-7 season, and so on.
The Champions and Premiers qualify for the cup. In the case where the same team is Champion and Premier, the losing grand finalist qualifies.

AFC Champions League

Top scorers
See Also: A-League all-time records

All-time

Michael Beauchamp
Nick Carle
David Carney
Adrian Leijer
Damian Mori
Paul Okon
Carl Veart
Dario Vidosic
Ned Zelic
Richard Kitzbichler
Geoffrey Claeys
Fred
Fernando Rech
Romario
Qu Shengqing
Milton Rodriguez
Brian Deane
Benito Carbone
Kazuyoshi Miura
Dwight Yorke
Ian Ferguson
Stewart Petrie
Mateo Corbo Notable Past players

Jorge Drovandi (Newcastle Jets)
Cássio (Adelaide United)
Cleberson (Wellington Phoenix)
Daniel (Wellington Phoenix)
Denni (Newcastle Jets)
Diego (Adelaide United)
Felipe (Wellington Phoenix)
George (Wellington Phoenix)
Mario Jardel (Newcastle Jets)
Juninho (Sydney FC)
Leandro Love (Melbourne Victory)
Patrick da Silva (Sydney FC)
Marcinho (Queensland Roar)
Reinaldo (Queensland Roar)
Carlos Hernández (Melbourne Victory)
Jonas Salley (Adelaide United)
Mate Dragičević (Perth Glory)
Joe Keenan (Melbourne Victory)
James Robinson (Perth Glory)
Michael Bridges (Sydney FC)
Andre Gumprecht (Central Coast Mariners)
Bobby Petta (Adelaide United)
Terry McFlynn (Sydney FC)
Grant Brebner (Melbourne Victory)
Simon Lynch (Queensland Roar)
Hyuk-Su Seo (Queensland Roar)
Michael Enfield (Sydney FC) Current foreign players in the league

Awards
The Johnny Warren Medal, named after the late former Socceroo and media advocate Johnny Warren, is presented to the player who is deemed to be the best player overall at the end of the season as judged by his fellow players. Each player in the A-League votes three times over the season: after Round 7, Round 14 and Round 21. Players are not allowed to vote for other players on their own team.

Johnny Warren Medal
The Rising Star Award is awarded to a youth (under 20) player judged by a panel of experts to be the best young performer throughout the season.

Rising Star Award
The Reebok Golden Boot is presented to the player who scores the most goals during the season. Only regular Hyundai A-League matches between Round 1 and Round 21 are included.

Reebok Golden Boot

Coach of the Year Award
The Fair Play Award will go to the team with the lowest points on the fair play ladder at the conclusion of the home and away season (Yellow Card = 1 point, Direct Red Card = 3 points, 2nd Caution Red Card = 2 points).
Perth Glory
Perth Glory

Fair Play Award
Mark Shield
Mark Shield

TV Coverage
Although there are no local derbies, due to the league's one-city one-team policy, many rivalries have formed between A-League sides:

Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory: Considered by some as the greatest rivalry in the league. Much like the Queensland/Sydney rivalry, the historical Australian rules football rivalry between the cities has passed into a general sporting and cultural rivalry. Contested the 2006-07 A-League Grand Final, in which Melbourne convincingly won 6-0. Again they faced off on Friday 7th of September 2007 at Hindmarsh stadium, where some Melbourne Victory supporters were escorted out of the stadium after being provoked by Adelaide United fans. A mass walkout of the away fans in protest of Adelaide's pityful antics followed. The match ended 1-1, however the crushing defeat in the final remains the pinaccle of the rivalry.
Adelaide United v Sydney FC: The clash between the two most successful teams in the A-League's inaugural year (Adelaide the Premiership and Sydney the eventual winners).The finals series between the two teams was explosive and led to the establishment of a rivalry between the clubs.
Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory: The clash between Australia's two biggest cities. which is considered the biggest rivalry in the league by both sets of fans. Sydney and Melbourne have been historical rivals for over a century, and their football teams are no exception. The rivalry between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory has become arguably the most bitter in the A League, with almost every match between the two teams characterised by spiteful confrontations, controversy and consistently record-breaking crowds. There is also an intense rivalry emerging between the supporters of the clubs.
Newcastle Jets v Central Coast Mariners: Labelled the "F3 Derby" by commentators,
Central Coast Mariners v Sydney FC: Although not the most intense rivalry in the competition, there is still a history that adds an element of importance for the fans in this fixture. Sydney FC beat the Central Coast Mariners in the inaugural A-League grand final in 2005. Due to this it is considered by the fans as the grudge match of the A-League. The Central Coast Mariners supporters (The Marinators) take great pride in beating Sydney FC, and Sydney supporters (The Cove) take great pleasure in reminding them of the score in the final.
Queensland Roar v Central Coast Mariners: Though not a very big rivalry in the A-League, these two teams have a long history of draws and drew with each other in their first five clashes in the A-League until Queensland Roar finally broke through with a 3-2 win at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium in Round 17 of the A-League 2006-07 season.
Queensland Roar v Newcastle Jets: These to have a history of beating eachother at home, with th jets yet to lose at suncorp stadium, whilst the roar yet to lose at energyaustralia stadium.