Almost 6,000 people have signed Kathryn Holmes' petition for a new statutory holiday in British Columbia called "Glowing Hearts Day". Holmes seized on the idea as a permanent way to honour the spirit of the Olympics as she was walking home from the gold medal hockey game at Canada Hockey Place.    

Holmes is proposing that the holiday fall on the third Monday in February. This would allow BC to harmonize with other Canadian provinces that already have a statutory holiday on this date, including Alberta (Family Day), Saskatchewan (Family Day), Manitoba (Louis Riel Day), Ontario (Family Day) and PEI (Islander Day).

The BC government is not keen on the idea, however. The Province newspaper reported on Tuesday that the Ministry of Labour has stated that there is no interest in a February statutory holiday because of the cost implications. According to the Ministry, another day off - BC currently has nine holidays - would cost the province $270 million in lost productivity.

Once the online sign-ups start to slow down, Holmes intends to mail a copy of the petition to Premier Campbell.