On Consumer Choice In New Scotland

In mid-October, voters will go to the polls throughout Nova Scotia to vote for their municipal government representatives, but, arguably more importantly, to determine whether stores generally should be open on Sundays.

You see, this province is the only one in Canada which does not permit some form of shopping each day of the week (though many stores take advantage of exemptions). A lay, out-of-province observer might conclude that the "YES" to Sunday Shopping forces will have no problem ekeing out a victory, given the trends in Canada over the past twenty years. But, alas, this is not the case.

In yet another stunning display of government by abdication instead of leadership, instead of simply asking the populace whether they supported or opposed the initiative, the provincial government created a bipartite ballot which not only asks whether electors support Sunday Shopping, but also what form they desire (the options are shopping every Sunday, or only the six Sundays before Christmas).

Appallingly, voters opposed to Sunday Shopping are still permitted to select what form they prefer. So even if YES garners a majority of votes, NO supporters will likely vote to restrict Sunday Shopping to the Christmas season.

Given the pull that Sunday Shopping opponents have (some Churches are leading the NO crusade), and the general invisibility of the YES campaign, it's unlike that the province will shake of the anachronistic shackles of a law better suited to 1804 instead of 2004.