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Sunday closing blamed on Christian intolerance
By William Walker Toronto Star
LONDON, Ont. - Christian intolerance is behind the "legislated criminality" of Ontario's Sunday closing law, an irate bookstore owner has told MPPs.
Marc Emery, who has operated downtown London's City Lights Bookstore for 13 years, said yesterday he has been charged numerous times for opening Sundays, "and I'm proud to say that I'm a lawbreaker."
In a strong attack, Emery blamed churches and the religious community for pressuring government to uphold the law requiring Sunday store closings.
Four separate church groups also made submissions yesterday to the select committee on retail store hours, urging the government to protect Sunday as a day of rest and to close loopholes that allow some businesses to open.
Current law prohibits Sunday store openings with a long list of exemptions, including a Saturday closing option to allow Sunday openings, a formula allowing municipalities to designate tourist areas where stores can open, and a general exemption for corner stores that sell convenience items.
"Show me a Christian who claims never to have enjoyed the productive work or service of others on a Sunday and I'll show you either a fool, liar or a hypocrite", Emery said.
He said "organized religions are the most ardent supporters of this legislated criminality" because they want to protect the status quo "by denying free choices to supposedly free citizens in a supposedly free nation.
"Many disciples of Christ have abandoned the task of saving souls with moral suasion and have instead opted for the tyranny of government legislation to save, or more accurately, to coerce a man's soul," he said.
"It is ironic, that while stripping businessmen of their right to their property, these same churches enjoy a tax-free status subsidized in part by the taxes of the victims of their Christian intolerance."
Some members of the small audience at yesterday's hearing gasped noticeably during Emery's testimony, while MPPs looked on impassively.
One MPP, Robert Mitchell (PC-Carleton), later said he also sees "a great hypocrisy" in the Sunday closing law.
"I saw a man come out a grocery store one Sunday with his cart loaded with groceries and he had a priest's collar on," Mitchell said. "I have a great problem with this, if this is their position."
Emery opened his bookstore the first Sunday in December after the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the law.
He gave away about $1,500 worth of books in an attempt to prove there was a demand for Sunday shopping but was still charged by police for opening his store illegally.
He argued that customers are "always right," and if there is a demand for Sunday shopping, retailers should have the right to fill that demand.
Emery's views were mirrored by a submission from the Freedom Party of Ontario, a London-based registered political party with about 200 members.
Robert Metz, party president, said Sunday shopping is a basic issue of freedom of choice, both for the retailer and the consumer.
"Retailers who choose to open their doors to the public on Sundays are not forcing their customers to shop, they are not forcing their competitors to open and they are not forcing their employees to work Sundays," Metz said.
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last updated on April 28, 2002
