Boxing Night at the Civic Centre: why it's not over yet

"It's not over until it's over," Ward 4 Councillor Pat Mick told us during a break at last night's City Council meeting.

The new Boxing Day no-shopping bylaw, to be drafted by City Solicitor Lorie Bottos and his legal staff, will still require approval at Council's next slugfest on November 1.

And Mick believes that approval will be a lot harder to get with Ward 5 Councillor Debbie Amaroso and her Ward 2 counterpart Terry Sheehan present.

Both were absent from the Council chambers last night, and Mick thinks it's quite possible the bylaw will be defeated when it comes before Council.

She's not sure where Sheehan stands on the issue, but points out that "Councillor Amaroso was in favour of [Boxing Day] being open and I'm sure she hasn’t changed her mind."

Ward 4 Councillor Bryan Hayes and Ward 6 Councillor Jason Collins brought the Boxing Day no-shopping resolution forward last night in response to concerns from local retailers who want to spend more time with their families during the holidays.

50 signatures on petition

More than 50 retail owners, operators and employees signed a petition.

At last night's meeting, Mayor John Rowswell also showed a large stack of letters from retailers supporting Boxing Day closure.

"I was home all weekend waiting for my phone to ring from a person in opposition to the proposed legislation," said Hayes. "But there was not a single phone call."

"Obviously this is not a very hot topic to most of the constituents in the city," Hayes said.

"By closing Boxing Day, we respect and support the wishes of the majority of local retailers to have quality time with their families," the councillor added.

Offering a choice to stay open means forcing some businesses to stay open, Hayes said.

John Borho

"I prefer to be closed," said John Borho, owner of the Gourmet Stop in Station Mall, "But I'm a very competitive person and, if my competitor is open I don't want to lose my client to one of my competitors."

Other councillors felt that banning Boxing Day shopping would be contrary to progress, potentially damaging to business and potentially illegal.

"It was a shock that we would be bringing this up again after having had quite a debate in 2002," said Ward 4 Councillor Lou Turco, who also had concerns about the legal ramifications of the bylaw.

Mayor John Rowswell added a further wrinkle to the legal issues last night with a surprise proclamation of Boxing Day as a Civic Holiday, a move that Chief Adminsitrative Officer Joe Fratesu insisted will have the unintended consequence of closing every gas station and convenience store in town.

Court challenge

"Any of the stores required to stay closed on Boxing Day could challenge the bylaw on the basis that City Council doesn't have the authority to pass it," City Solicitor Bottos said.

Bottos also said a store might decide to stay open on Boxing Day, take the $50,000 fine and challenge that in court.

Either way, Bottos says it will likely take five to seven months to test the bylaw at the first level of the courts, possibly years to clear the resulting appeals.

Meanwhile, the bylaw would be enforced.

Sudbury bylaw

Bottos said he'll use a Sudbury bylaw as a template to draft Sault Ste. Marie's proposed Boxing Day store closure bylaw, even though it allows more exceptions than are allowed by the Municipal Act.

Councillor Mick shared Bottos' concerns about the possible legal ramifications of forced Boxing Day closures, but was more upset about the possible loss of business.

"I am very disappointed to see councillors pitting small business against large," Mick said. "We are here to provide an open-for-business atmosphere for all businesses."

She was also upset by suggestions from other councillors who believe working or shoping on Boxing Day means an erosion of family values.

"I really take exception to people saying that if this happens your family values are out the window. You learn to work around it," she said.