C: What is your position on Sunday shopping?
T: In my view, the question is not Sunday shopping but rather Sunday opening. I believe store owners have the right to open on Sundays and that right should not be restricted.
C: But do people really need to shop seven days a week?
T: No, but nor do they need to shop six days a week. Or even five. If it came to need, we could probably get by with one day a week. But it isn't a question of need; it's a question of freedom.
C: I think it's good for families.
T: On what evidence?
C: Well, I don't know what evidence there could be.
T: Well, one indicator of healthy family life might be the divorce rate. If NS was the only province without Sunday shopping and had a much lower divorce rate than other provinces, that might be one bit of evidence. But it doesn't. In fact, NS, is right in the middle of the pack.
C: But still, it's good for families to be together one day of the week.
T: Maybe. Or maybe it's bad if the family is relying on income they could earn on Sundays. In any case, what about the families of people who work at drug stores or convenience stores?
C: Well, there are only a couple of exceptions.
T: Really? What about police officers, casino workers, tourist industry workers, people who work in restaurants and at movie theatres? People who work in radio and television? Taxi drivers? These people all seem to get along.
C: OK, but for those who do work in retail...
T: Yes, but many of those people work on Sundays anyway!
C: What?
T: Yes, because the law does not forbid people working, only the stores actually opening for business, so many stores actually have employees come in to clean and stock shelves even though the store is closed.
C: So what's the point of the law, then?
T: Exactly.
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Point of the Law:
Nova Scotia does not have a population large enough. My explanation? Maybe 1 to 10% of people discover a purchase they need to make that they forgot to make on Saturday but won't need on Monday. In Ontario that equals enough people to make a difference in sales and equate to more money for sales owners and employees.
In Nova Scotia it does not. In any other province in the maritimes stores have closed during the week for an equal number of hours to that which they are open on Sundays because there is no added revenue only added cost.
Why would they open then, the law doesn't REQUIRE stores to open on Sundays when it allows it. The same reason my future father in-law opens his convenience store on Sundays. Needs IS open. When no stores are open, remaining closed makes no difference, but when other stores are open you will lose buisiness. I hope I don't have to explain this. Competition means you have to follow suit or lose out.
What is the point of Sunday shopping then, it costs everyone more to stay open. Sobeys and Lablaws (Spelling?) can afford to soak the damage. The longer they soak up the damage the longer the small stores do too, and the small stores can't handle it.
I spent the last year in New Brunswick and small towns like Edmunston are littered with abandoned store fronts and boarded up IGA's. Nothing is open after 5 on the weekends anymore, and you can't find anything you want in the big grocery stores because they don't have to compete anymore, they can slack off all they want because their the only game in town and you ask fucking nicely to shop there.
That's why Sunday Shopping is a bad idea. THe law was made for outdated religous reasons but so were laws against theft and murder.
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