Freedom Flyer Summer 1987 Cover

Freedom Flyer 10

the official newsletter of the
Freedom Party of Ontario

Summer 1987




"WARNING! TOURIST ZONE AHEAD!"

FREEDOM PARTY BLASTS TORONTO CITY HALL INQUIRY INTO SUNDAY OPENING LAWS

In response to a newspaper advertisement requesting public submissions on the subject of the City of Toronto's official position on Sunday Closing legislation, Freedom Party prepared a brief advocating that all of Toronto be designated a tourist area, since the provincial government was obviously unwilling to do the right thing and relinquish its control over Ontario retailers.

Presented at Toronto's City Hall on the evening of March 24, 1987, it was the first time that Freedom Party's point of view was heard by Toronto politicians. Titled Warning! Tourist Zone Ahead!, Freedom Party's brief was presented by Ontario president Robert Metz in a firm and forceful manner, compelling attention from both the audience and councillors. The entire text of the brief was a direct critique of Toronto Council's own official report on the subject of Sunday openings, and it was the only brief presented that evening to do so.

Freedom Party has addressed the inherent hypocrisy of government committees virtually each time it has made a presentation before them, and Council's Economic Development Committee received the same tough treatment. Government committees of "consensus" invariably operate on the principle once expressed so clearly (and humourously) in an episode of Yes Minister: "The government does not go about seeking public input and consensus until it has already made up its mind!"

"...and that's why," said Metz, "we have committee after committee purportedly set up to 'study' an issue or seek a 'public consensus' on it. In my brief experience with government committees, there is one clear lesson that I have learned: they exist to deflect the assumption of responsibility for restrictive government controls from the politicians who pass the laws in the first place, to that undefinable, nebulous entity called the 'public', in whose interest it is claimed the restrictions must exist.

"It is incredible how little concern with their constituents' rights is being displayed by municipal councillors," Metz continued. "At one point in its discussion of tourist areas, the City of Toronto report says that 'it is not practical to prevent the general population from visiting the stores permitted to open on Sunday to service the tourist industry.

"Consider the implications of such a statement: the city is admitting that the only reason Torontonians themselves are 'allowed' to shop in tourist areas is only because of the impracticality of restricting their freedom to do so. What kind of government is it that allows freedoms and choices to visitors, but denies those same freedoms and choices to its own citizens?"

While this exposure of Council's hypocrisy did not endear us to Mayor Art Eggleton and his fellow councillors, the questions that followed clearly indicated that they knew what philosophy we were advocating. They even went so far as to avoid using the term freedom of choice and instead referred to Freedom Party's "free minds, free markets" philosophy as "the law of the jungle."

"The 'law of the jungle' refers to animals devouring each other," countered Metz. "Though I am aware of the analogy you are attempting to make, let me remind you that no one is being devoured here, nor are any of us animals. This is an economic issue where we are simply advocating that individuals be responsible for their own life and decisions, and the consequences that follow from these decisions."

This response brought forth the inevitable questions: "Do you think there should be minimum wage laws..." and "Do you favour any government regulation protecting workers from exploitation," both which were asked, in almost the same order, by members of Ontario's Select Committee on Retail Store Hours and of the Committee On The Administration Of Justice (pay equity: see related story, reprinted elsewhere in this issue).

In any event, Council had its collective mind made up well before the hearings took place, and thus its final recommendations were every bit as predictable as those of the provincial select committee: "That City Council is generally in support of a common 'pause-day', as provided for in the Retail Business Holidays Act."

It is clear that politics on the municipal level is driven by motivations no different from those on the provincial and federal levels: control over others seems to be the only enticement that attracts today's politician to his or her elected position, a position that is one of power, not of responsibility.




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