Category: Recipes and Tips

With the Christmas season just behind us it is likely that some of the magic that Christmas brings still remains…. with this in mind it may be a good time to review the following survey being conducted by the city of Toronto. The survey is view public input into allowing retailers to be open on the days we have to this date considered to be holidays. 

**The City of Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 510, Holiday Shopping [link to:http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/1184_510.pdf] and the Ontario Retail Business Holidays Act [link to: http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/Pages/Business_Retail_Holidays.aspx] generally require retail stores to be closed on Public or Retail Holidays (i.e. New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day). Both the Municipal Code and provincial statute provide for exemptions by type and size of retail store that enable some stores to open while others must remain closed. The provincial statute also provides for tourist area exemptions. The City of Toronto Municipal Code does not.**

My husband was the one who brought this to my attention, as hubby’s work takes him to the city (Toronto) availing him to some of the cities news. And to be honest I thought he was kidding at first… I mean who would have ever have thought anyone would have even considered opening up stores on Christmas Day…

Perhaps I am getting old, or my ideas are old fashioned… but somehow it just doesn’t seem fair to take away our Christmas holidays, or any other holiday for that matter and I truly am concerned that if holiday shopping is allowed to happen, we will do just that lose our holidays…. I still don’t like the idea of Sunday shopping, but hey I got used to it and now Sundays don’t mean the same anymore. They used to equal quiet time, a time to recoup from the craziness of the week, a time to spend with family or to enjoy working on a hobby, but now they are kind of like any other day… :(

And what about the people who will have to work those shifts??… 

Do we really have to have stores open 365 days of the year??? 

Won’t we lose that lovely feeling of magic that happens at Christmas time???

Won’t we lose the feeling of “togetherness” that comes from sharing holidays with the whole province or nation, no matter what religious background??

Any way, like I said I thought my husband was kidding, until I looked it up on the internet and sure as honey is sweet, there is a survey going around and it will be looked into this coming Spring…. I have filled it out and sent it in and if you would like to keep your holidays as holidays, please put in your two cents worth too….. 

Please Click Here to view the survey and to participate …. Please note you don’t have to live in Toronto to participate