Catholic Insight has issued a statement strongly opposing a proposal in Toronto city council to allow stores to open on Christmas and Easter. Bottom line: “The greedy, the godless, and the childless want to steal the last few holidays from the working and middle classes.” The course of action suggested by CI:
Please lobby your councillor to vote No to holiday store openings.
Boycott stores that do open if vote passes.
Mark those who vote “Yes” for defeat in the municipal elections this fall.
In 1992, we editorialized against Sunday shopping, and some of the points are germane to the current debate:
Children will need more day care,; many families will not have sufficient time together; single parents will be under even greater stress than before. And many full-time employees will be replaced by part-time workers for whom the employer will not have to pay social benefits and who can be hired or fired at will.
The dignity of workers requires the Sunday break. Canadians have both the right and the need to worship God, and they need a free Sunday for their spiritual as well as their mental health…
The key point — aside the family issues raised — is that it won’t bring more prosperity, but rather spread spending around; instead of spending the money on Boxing Day sales, people will be headed to the mall a day or so earlier. And yet stores will have to pay more in employee costs, etc…, so why bother?
