Like it or not, we're in the retail 21st century

Whether one agrees with it or not, the other shoe has dropped on the Sunday shopping issue facing Nova Scotians. We can now go browse and shop just about everywhere on what hitherto had been the ‘Lord’s Day’ or the ‘common day of rest.’ Like it or not, we’re in the retail 21st century.

The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia decided Wednesday, Oct. 4 that the province’s ban on Sunday shopping at big-box stores, malls and other retailers had no basis in law.

As of last weekend, except for Remembrance Day, those businesses are no longer restricted from operating on Sundays. Premier Rodney MacDonald’s Progressive Conservative government chose not to appeal the decision. “The Supreme Court decision is clear,� the premier said Oct. 4.

The government will no longer be put in the ridiculous position of having to decide what was a grocery store and what parts of which were or weren’t grocery-related.

The major grocery chains – SuperStore and Sobey’s – had led the legal challenge, but it affects all retailers one way or another.

The premier pointed out that the government had fought the good fight, trying to preserve this unique part of life in Nova Scotia. But the courts – and, in fact, indirectly the province’s residents – have made their decision.

There will now be a level playing field in retailing in the province, at least as it pertains to Sunday.

And it doesn’t have to be a negative thing for those businesses that had always been allowed to open on Sundays and had received an element of protection from the old regulations. At least one local small retailer says the resulting economic traffic will actually help her business. It will bring more traffic by her door. Indeed, that’s quite likely.

The big box stores and malls are open, but are still bound by where they’re located.

Gone is the ‘caution’ tape fencing off whole store aisles, usually containing the very items a shopper seeks to top off Sunday’s supper.

The effect on those retail employees who will have to work on Sunday should be muted somewhat. Seeing how things were going, Environment and Labour Minister Mark Parent had spearheaded legislation to protect the rights of those workers.

However, the Nova Scotia Government Employees’ Union cautions that the protections may be tenuous. Possibly. But we know that Parent and others will keep a close eye on things.

The 2004 referendum was unclear at best, with many who voted for Sunday shopping the six weeks before Christmas losing their votes. A bare majority carried the day, at least delaying the decision for two years.

But it remained popular in the urban areas of the province, with rural areas being opposed on the basis of family and lifestyle.

In reality, there is no set ‘day of rest,’ even a common day of rest. Large industry, health care and law enforcement sectors, the media and others have long gone on 24/7 shift schedules.

Whether the new shopping regulations – or lack of them – brings in more tourism dollars, creates or better distributes wealth remains to be seen. But it’s the way things are, and we’ve just stepped off the start line into the retail future.

As with so much these days, if you disagree with it, just don’t do it. At least that choice remains.