Nova Scotians Vote Against Sunday Shopping

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia - Rejecting what they see as Yankee materialism, Nova Scotia voters have chosen to remain the only province in Canada to ban shopping on Sundays.

Fifty-five percent of voters in Saturday's referendum checked "No" when asked if they were in favor of allowing retail outlets to do business on Sundays, according to returns from 48 of 55 municipalities.

The results mean that large grocery stores, liquor outlets and big retailers will be required to stay closed.

The issue pitted Halifax, Nova Scotia's largest city, against smaller towns and rural municipalities where many older residents favored the ban.

Supporters of lifting the ban said it is simply a matter of consumer choice and keeping up with the times. They also argued it would provide a $19 million annual boost to the economy.

"I voted yes," Clair Williams said as he entered the Wal-Mart at the Halifax Shopping Center in the city's west end. "I don't really care one way or the other, but everyone should have a choice."

Opponents, campaigning under the slogan "Dare to be Different," said the province's laid-back character was at stake. They argued the province should take a stand against the tide of materialism they see as sweeping North America.

Churches sent out literature saying that family unity would be harmed by forcing people to work on Sundays.

Hope Chickowski, owner of a small flower shop in Kentville, said being labelled "backward" by proponents of Sunday shopping helped motivate her.

"How are we backwards? We would have been following the North American trend. But is that the best way to go?" she asked.

"If you look across the sea at the Europeans, they don't work on Sundays. It makes a better style of life."

Voters were asked two questions: whether they favored Sunday shopping, in general and, if they agreed, then whether they would prefer Sunday shopping year-round or just on the six Sundays before Christmas.

The tiny Atlantic Canada province of Prince Edward Island limits Sunday shopping to the pre-Christmas season, but Nova Scotia is the only province in Canada to have a year-round Sunday ban that affects most retail outlets.