Sunday Shopping is Inevitable – So Let’s Protect Workers and Move On
THE OBSERVER: AUGUST, 2006
Every so often an issue will stir passion and anger beyond the norm. People on both sides of the issue become quite heated and an MLA will hear from a large number of constituents with regard to the issue.
Sunday shopping is one of those issues.
Everyone agrees that the plebiscite held in 2004 was a vote to not allow full, unregulated opening of all stores on Sundays. However, that is where the two sides end their agreement.
Those opposed to Sunday shopping believe the plebiscite was a vote to not allow large grocery stores to open. The vote entrenched the rules as they were at that time and Superstore and Sobey’s were not open at that time. Therefore, the large grocers should not be able to open on Sundays.
Those that want to have the choice to shop on Sundays believe the vote was a vote for the status quo – that the current legislated rules were fine and we should not expand the rules. If you follow this argument to its logical conclusion, large grocers could open on Sundays, as long as they met the current regulations. If Pete’s Frootique could find a way to open on Sundays then the same rules can be used by other grocers to do the same.
The Tories have dropped the ball with regard to Sunday shopping from the beginning. The plebiscite lost legitimacy in the eyes of many when the wording was manipulated to get the result the Tories wanted. Second, when the large grocers decided to open in June, the Tories set an arbitrary date to create one set of rules for them and another for their competition.
Finally, the Tories were forced by the NDP to pass legislation to protect the right of workers to choose if they wish to work on Sundays. Instead of ensuring all retail workers had the right to choose to work on Sundays the Tories are promising to gut their own legislation to protect only those workers who work for the grocers – no help for staff of a Tim Horton’s or the Casino or at a bookstore.
Government regulation is a fine tool that must be used appropriately. Regulation can “nudge” the public towards a direction that a large number of people support (if not a majority). But regulation only works if the public believes the rules have been set based on fairness. If the public does not respect those that make the laws or the process or motivation by which a law is made, then a regulation will be seen as unfair and there will be a growing disrespect for that law and the law generally.
That is what has happened to the Tories. By creating an unfair set of rules and trying to stop the inevitable march towards Sunday shopping, Nova Scotians have less respect for this fledgling government and the laws it creates.
No longer can the public be confident that the laws created by the Tories, whether one supports the law or not, are being created based on the public interest and not the interest of a few retrogrades in the Tory Cabinet.
Sunday shopping is inevitable –like it or not. We are the last jurisdiction in North America to place strict regulations on what can open on a Sunday. It is only a matter of time before Sunday shopping is more wide open.
We must ensure workers are protected. We require legislation that protects all workers in the retail trade who wish not to work on Sundays. Then we can walk away from this debate knowing those that choose not to work on Sundays have that right and we can wait for the inevitable to happen.
It is time to move. There are other important issues that Nova Scotians need to address.
