Shopping, sales and consumer discontent

Once again, the Sunday shopping debate has risen to the forefront of discussion across P.E.I. It's become an annual issue, especially at this time of the year as the law restricting shopping on Sundays is about to take effect. The issue will be resurrected again in May when the restrictions end. Under the Retail Business Holidays Act, Sunday shopping is not permitted Dec. 25 through to Victoria Day weekend in May. Prior to this legislation, the law only allowed Sunday shopping on the three or four Sundays before Christmas. So we've come a long way in loosening the restrictions on the Sunday shopping issue, and like most compromises, the present law doesn't seem to be making anyone very happy.

In his year-end interview with The Guardian, Premier Robert Ghiz is strongly defending the government's decision to stay with the present law. If the province thinks that it is losing a lot of tax revenue because people are travelling off-Island from January to May to shop, then the government may revisit the situation. It is somewhat ironic, that for Islanders to bring pressure on the government to allow Sunday shopping year round, they must increase their weekend shopping in Moncton or Halifax during the next four months.

Such a spectre is scaring some retailers here, and it's not about January or February, it's about Sunday, Dec. 27, and the delay in Boxing Day shopping on P.E.I. This year, Christmas of course, falls on a Friday. The law requires that most retailers be closed on Boxing Day, which is Saturday, Dec. 26. And since Sunday shopping is against the law after Christmas, stores will stay closed until Monday, Dec. 28. So the question is, how many Islanders will take advantage of the opportunity to head across the Confederation Bridge on Dec. 27 to enjoy Sunday shopping Boxing Day sales in Moncton and Halifax? Some Charlottetown retailers have raised the issue and believe they are going to be badly hurt. Many Islanders are back to work on Monday, Dec. 28, and won't be able to line up for the annual Boxing Day sales shopping craze.

But if retailers were so concerned, why didn't the chamber of commerce, for example, present a petition or bring pressure to bear on government for an amendment during the fall sitting of the legislature to extend Sunday shopping to the end of the year. It remains a puzzle why the present law doesn't allow for Sunday shopping from Victoria Day weekend to the end of the calendar year, and the annual confusion and anger over Boxing Day sales wouldn't be an issue. But it is, and only serves to inflame the discontent about the whole Sunday shopping issue. As usual, when it comes to Sunday shopping, Islanders will be a day late and maybe a dollar short.