Fp Action Director Marc Emery will have his final day in court on August 20, when his lawyer will speak to the arguments of the current law before a judge. Emery has gone to court only to have procedings delayed for results of Court of Appeal decisions regarding section 15 of the Charter of Rights, a section Emery is using in his defence.

Although a decision in Emery's case may take up to 6 weeks after trial, Emery has vowed to refrain from paying any fine if found guilty, and instead plans to defer payment until the 30th day after sentencing, when, according to law, a warrant will be issued for his arrest.

Anticipating this, Emery will hold a media conference before turning himself in to police for imprisonment. Emery expects to stay in jail for 72 hours or so, at which time he will make payment of the fine and secure his release.

Ironically, Emery's business may well be legally allowed to open as changes to the Retail Business Holidays Act are being made to allow a small bookstore like his to open legally on Sundays. Emery was featured on CBC's Radio Morning in an interview where Emery condemned mere tinkering with the current law to exempt a few bookstores, saying "this law makes me a citizen with rights and freedoms denied to my neighbours and other citizens. This amendment is saying that because I sell books, I'm a better citizen than my neighbours who sell wicker furniture or musical instruments. This new law says my customers are a better class of people than customers of those other stores. This new law says I can work 16% more often than my colleagues, even though we all pay the same taxes. This change is wrong. The law should be abolished entirely, and that's why I broke the law in the first place, not to secure some special privilege."

The same cannot be said for other lobbying bookstores in Toronto whose efforts secured this new exemption.

Emery was also interviewed for similar comment on CFPL-TV London News, CKCO-TV Kitchener News, and all London radio stations.

As we go to press, Emery's bookstore, City Lights Bookshop, can now legally open on all Sundays and statutory holidays as a result of a private members bill passed at Queen's Park. Emery still has vowed to keep up his fight until all businesses and consumers may exercise their freedom of choice .. even on a Sunday.

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Page last updated on April 28, 2002