Sunday Shopping: Let’s get Political

Okay, I don’t often get political on this blog, preferring to keep my political discussion confined to bars where the drunk people I’m arguing against can’t counter with statistics or anything. But the fact that Nova Scotia has just voted to keep their ban on Sunday Shopping has driven me into a rage I haven’t felt since they introduced that stupid girl duck on Duck Tales.

For those of you who don’t know: Nova Scotia is the last province in Canada to have a ban on Sunday Shopping. It dates back to religious times, when everybody was, basically, fucking nuts about Jesus. The vote was to either A) Allow shopping EVERY Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m. or B) Allow shopping ONLY the six Sundays before Christmas. Neither measure passed.

Reasons this is stupid

1. Why is this a Provincial Law?
   Look, if Bridgewater or Bridgetown or whatever up in the rural part of the province wants to enforce a city- or regionwide ban on Sunday shopping, they can absolutely feel free to do so. But, get this, in Halifax proper, the measure PASSED by several thousand votes. But does HALIFAX get to have Sunday Shopping? No, of COURSE not! Because the religious farmers who only venture into town for supplies every 2 weeks on their ATVs should absolutely get a say in whether *I* can go and buy red Kool-Aid and bagels on Sunday.
2. Who voted for this?
   Okay, so, in Halifax, a city that I’d estimate holds 14 MILLION students only passes the measure by a few thousand votes? Students LOVE shopping! And it’s not like any of them have jobs! If they had actually reached out to the student populations on the campuses in the area and said “Hey, you guys can vote!” the measure would have been passed in a proverbial LANDSLIDE. Instead, the only people who heard a lot about the upcoming vote were, you guessed it, church groups.
3. What’s the rationale?
   In the article I linked to, Truro Mayor Bill Mills (Campaign Slogan: “My first name sort of rhymes with my last name!”) is quoted as saying, “People are way too busy. They’re moving at 100 miles per hour and should be in a 30-mile zone.” Wait, what does that MEAN, exactly? And, wait, this guy’s the mayor of TRURO? Since when does TRURO move at 100 miles per hour? (And why the fuck isn’t he using the METRIC SYSTEM?) It’s TRURO! It’s known for its… street gangs, I think. If anything, TRURO needs to move FASTER! It’s not exactly an economic powerhouse, you know. Maybe the city could USE the extra revenue brought in by 52 extra shopping days a year.

   I don’t know. Maybe all that stuff about the Maritimes having a defeatist culture is true. Some of the arguments I’ve heard on the con side of this issue are absurd. I saw a small sporting goods store on Quinpool Rd. with “VOTE NO!” in the window. And I just wanted to say to the guy, “You run a fucking SMALL SPORTING GOODS STORE! If you don’t want to stay open on Sunday, CLOSE ON SUNDAY.” Seriously, there’s no conceivable reason why a small sporting goods store would need to open on Sunday.

   Then there are the “I don’t want to work on Sunday!” people, seemingly unaware that just because it’s possible to work (For FIVE HOURS) on Sunday doesn’t mean you’ll HAVE to work on Sunday. In fact, I believe there’s a current labour law that says no one can be FORCED to work on Sunday. Even if there isn’t, I think there’s a great many young workers who would LIKE the ability to pick up an extra weekend shift, especially if they’re attending school all week. And they should at least have that choice.

4. Is this a religious thing?
   Okay, by far the most common argument against this thing has been “Sunday should be a family day!” I have no idea what these families do on Sundays. I suspect it involves watching a lot of TV. In any case, it just underscores the fact that this law was originally a relgious law, and remains one to this day. I have nothing against religion, but I am a firm believer that it should remain separate from government. Any law with a purely religious base should not be upheld in contemporary culture. I wonder what kind of support the Jewish groups would get, were they to argue that SATURDAY — their traditional Sabbath — should also be a ‘family day’. I can answer that question right now: Not a lot.

   I’d consider taking this issue all the way to the Supreme Court if I weren’t so lazy. I’m pretty sure one could argue that it’s a faith-in-politics issue.

I know it’s sort of funny that THIS issue is the one I’d be willing to take up a sign and go protest for, especially considering I probably wouldn’t end up doing much shopping on Sunday anyway (It’s Sunday today and I’m still not dressed!) but it just drives me crazy that this province, which I’ve come to really really like, could have such a silly law backed by such a silly populace. You’re silly, all of you.