Retailers seek change to ‘goofy’ Canada Day rule

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/05/2018 (2879 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government is facing pressure from retailers to end what they see as an archaic rule that forces stores to close on July 2 if Canada Day falls on a Sunday.

In a letter to Blaine Pedersen, minister of growth, enterprise and trade, the Retail Council of Canada said unless the rule is changed, many of the sector’s 69,000 Manitoba employees will be required to work while other Canadians are out celebrating the country’s birthday.

And, businesses will miss out on what would likely be a good shopping day — the holiday Monday that many workers get in lieu of July 1 falling on the weekend.

Retailers want July 1 to be a fixed statutory holiday in the same manner as Christmas Day. For the most part, that’s what happens — except when Canada Day falls on a Sunday, as it does this year.

“We’re open for business July 1 (this year), which is kind of goofy,” said John Graham, director of government relations with the retail council’s Prairie region. “But instead, when everyone’s coming back from the cottage or ready to resume shopping for whatever needs they have…on July 2, stores are closed.”

The anomaly occurs because Manitoba’s Retail Businesses Holiday Closing Act does not specifically cite July 1 as Canada Day. Meanwhile, the federal Holidays Act ensures employees are given a day off in lieu when Canada Day falls on a weekend.

Manitoba retailers say they are faced with a double-whammy when July 1 falls on a Sunday.

Not only does a normally good sales day become a mediocre one because would-be shoppers are attending Canada Day events, but the next day is also a bust because they can’t open up shop.

“It’s certainly an odd happenstance,” said Peter Havens, general manager of Polo Park shopping centre.

“Who would expect July 1 you’re open and July 2 you’re closed?”

And since July 1 falls on a Sunday relatively rarely — it last occurred in 2012 and before that in 2007 — consumers and even retailers are taken aback when the situation occurs.

“The challenge that we face just requires a considerable amount of communication both to our tenants and certainly to our customers,” Havens said.

Most provinces allow stores to open on July 2 when the stat falls on a Sunday. Only New Brunswick, Manitoba and Ontario prohibit it, although Ontario allows municipalities to set their own rules in that regard.

Last week, Nova Scotia became the latest province to amend its legislation to fix July 1 as the stat.

Manitoba employees are not entitled to extra pay for working on July 1 this year, although they will be for working on July 2.

Last year, when Canada Day fell on a Saturday, large grocery stores, shopping malls and home improvement outlets were closed.

Graham said his organization does not object to stores being closed on Canada Day. But having them shut down on July 2 is another matter. “It will mean a loss in business. It will mean fewer staff being employed…” he said.

He said the retail council has raised the issue repeatedly with the Manitoba government. Its latest pitch occurred late last year, when it wrote to Pedersen.

While retailers recognize that they are not required to open on July 1, “the majority are not able to risk losing any sales by closing an additional day,” the organization said in its letter.

“Further, they will lose a day of stronger sales on July 2, when most Manitobans wish to shop but are prohibited from doing so.”

A government official, in reply to the letter, said the province’s Labour Management Review Committee was asked to review the issue several years ago and concluded there was no need to recommend a legislative change, given the infrequency of July 1 falling on a Sunday. The LMRC includes equal representation from business and labour.

A spokesman for Pedersen said Monday the government is not contemplating a change in the rules for this year.

“While Canada Day occurs on a Sunday only once every seven years, we would be happy to hear from any interested group or individual who wishes to share their views on this topic,” he said.

Manitoba Federation of Labour president Kevin Rebeck, a labour rep on the LMRC, said he would be open to discussing the issue if there were a groundswell of support for change, but he said it’s his understanding that the current policy “has been working.”

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca