MONTREAL --
It might feel like this year’s Groundhog Day has been ongoing for months.
Quebecers were on the edges of their seats on Tuesday, with a lot of news coming.
Not only will Premier François Legault announce today which regions' COVID-19 restrictions will ease, but Quebec's own famed groundhog was set to foretell when he believes winter will let up.
The answer? It'll be an early spring, said Fred la Marmotte, who makes his forecasts from the town of Val d'Espoir in the Gaspé.
The rodent appeared on his own livestream this year because of COVID-19 restrictions, like his counterparts in Nova Scotia and Ontario.
He was too cranky to come out of his hut at first when the event began, just after 7 a.m., but after being dangled before the camera for a while, Fred appeared to inform his handler that it would be a beautiful early spring.
According to Groundhog Day logic, if a groundhog sees its shadow on Feb. 2, it will go back into its burrow and six more weeks of winter will follow.
Shubenacadie Sam in Nova Scotia and Wiarton Willie in Ontario were also both livestreaming, though there was some confusion over whether Wiarton Willie actually made a live prediction or simply pre-recorded his video.
For many Quebecers, Groundhog Day feels more like groundhog season.
“It is true that this day feels like every other day,” said psychologist Dr. Syd Miller. “Before we had weekends that didn’t feel like weekdays, now everything feels the same.”
For those who have been living in pajamas for the past few months, he said the first step of snapping out of monotony is starting the day off right. “Get up at a traditional work time, take a shower, don’t wear sweatpants, wear your work clothes,” he said, “it was fun for awhile to not be in work clothes but now it’s another thing that seems the same every day.”
In any case, both groundhogs reportedly presented a united front with Fred and predicted an early spring. Punxsutawney Phil, however, was an American outlier, declaring Tuesday that it will be a long winter.
