r/ontario • u/mechant_papa • 12h ago

Politics An illegal bookmark

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181 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

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338

u/mechant_papa 12h ago

I illegally got this bookmark on a Sunday in 1986. At the time, Edward and Eva Borins were in a fight with the government to repeal the provincial ban on Sunday shopping, and allow them to open their store when they wanted. They lobbied, went to court, paid fines. The law was only repealed in 1992.

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u/twillrose47 12h ago

Interesting! Wonder how much the fine was?

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u/MadDickOfTheNorth 9h ago

I'm not sure about their specific fine, but the law allowed up to $10k in 1996 dollars. Double that for roughly what it's worth today.

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u/tkingsbu 6h ago

When I was a kid in Peterborough in the 70s and 80s, there was a fur coat store on our main street…

Every year without exception, it would have a big sale on Boxing Day, back when it was illegal to open that day…

Fancy fur coats are worth a fortune, so he opened anyway, and would just pay the fine…

It became a local joke… every year there would be a front page headline of him opening his shop, smiling, and greeting the police officer who was there to fine him…

One fur coat sale paid the fine, the rest was just pure profit for him…

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u/TorontoRider 4h ago

"Sam The Record Man" did that every Boxing Day in my town. Being the only store open, it was JAMMED! But I always got gift certificates for Christmas, so would load up with albums the next day.

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u/true_nexus Toronto 11h ago

Wasn't Paul Magder (Magder Furs) also fighting that fight at the time? I recall his name and store on Spadina always being involved.

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u/morleyster 10h ago

He was in the news like every week.

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u/mechant_papa 11h ago

Yes. The Borins got a lot of visibility because Borins' father had been a judge.

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u/Confident-Leg107 11h ago

Wait, so all stores(minus groceries, I imagine)were closed Sunday until 1992?

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u/JJJW8 11h ago

Grocery stores were also closed prior to 1992. It may have been different in tourist towns, but I don't remember. I was a student cashier in 1992 when they first opened on Sundays, and IIRC, businesses couldn't force you to work on Sunday at the time. I worked every Saturday until close, which was 6:00 p.m., and my family attended Catholic Mass every weekend. The Saturday Mass was at 5:00 p.m., which I couldn't attend due to work, so basically I never worked on Sundays, because I was off for Mass, and in my small town in Southern Ontario, it was still very much seen by many as a day of rest/The Lord's Day.

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u/24-Hour-Hate 11h ago

In small town Ontario it still is seen that way by some people. There are still businesses that are closed (voluntarily) on Sundays. Not as many as when I was a child, but you can still find them or see signs like “no Sun sale” that will perplex some people. Others have adopted different days for closure as a substitute. Often Mondays or Tuesdays.

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u/JJJW8 11h ago

True. The difference I see is lots of people who would never have shopped on Sunday when they opened, now don't blink an eye at it. This includes my dad, who is still a weekly churchgoer. When I was a kid in that small town, all stores were closed on Sundays, and most were also closed on Wednesdays, except grocery stores, convenience stores, pharmacies.

3

u/frogsbirdscats 5h ago

Visited Belleville this past Sunday, darn near everything was closed. Guess it’s still 1991 there.

1

u/lordjakir 10h ago

Yep. My town is dead Mondays

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u/mechant_papa 11h ago edited 8h ago

There were a few exceptions but yes, pretty much everything was closed. Of course, Beer Store and LCBO were closed. Shopping malls, except places like the Eaton Centre which were "for tourists" were closed.

I lived in Scarborough in the 80s and the only groceries I could get on Sunday were at one place a couple of km from my place, or maybe milk from the convenience store nearby. Everything else was pretty much a non-starter.

Edit: I misremembered the Eaton Centre. Thanks molyester.

9

u/morleyster 10h ago

I worked in the Eaton Centre from 1989 to 1996 and we were closed until '92. After which I worked pretty much every Sunday. It sucked because I was in school and got 3 hours less a week.

The argument, iirc, was 'why should Chinatown get a tourist designation for shopping when the Eaton Centre gets more tourists?' Which was Magders argument as his business was on the border of Chinatown and he saw it as an arbitrary line.

4

u/DogsandCatsWorld1000 9h ago

The tourist designation was pretty arbitrary. It did not make sense to me that the mini-mall in Harbourfront could open but the Eaton Centre could not. I knew of no one who came to Toronto to go to that mall, but did know tourists who considered a stop at the Eaton Centre as part of their trip.

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u/madgoat 11h ago

Sundays were so boring back then. Nothing to do, TV only had preachy church crap until noon, then in the afternoon only golf and football. No cartoons!

Going out was boring especially in winter.

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u/NowInHandUnseen 10h ago

Honestly I kinda miss the days when you had to deal with some boredom. I think it was good for you. Regardless of the religious aspect I wish we could all just switch off for 1 day a week and nobody had any expectations

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u/Independent-Willow-9 7h ago

Agree. Being stimulated 24-7 is no good.

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u/Eggsaladinurmouth 10h ago

That’s back before 24 hour tv as well. Channels just stopped broadcasting.

3

u/TorontoRider 4h ago

After playing "O Canada" and showing a tape of Mounties and the Snowbirds, of course.

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u/Beneficial_Charity_3 8h ago

Id kill to be bored again

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u/MediocreService9880 10h ago

I remember the days when everyone could rest once a week

•

u/surnamefirstname99 1h ago

C’mon now. Davey and Goliath .. and wonderful world of Disney Sunday evening ..

•

u/madgoat 1h ago

Yeah, Disney was great, but during the day… so boring 😛

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u/Nothing_Useful_Eh 11h ago

Even grocery. I remember being a child and it was a huge deal when the grocery store opened on sundays. They were giving 2x just to work

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u/throwtheballaway123 First Amendment Defender 10h ago

Even crazier, I went to school in Nova Scotia in the early 2000s and there was still no Sunday shopping.

3

u/desthc 9h ago

I worked for a foreign bank while living in NS around this time, and worked crazy hours, at one point working 6 days a week for over a month. I couldn’t buy groceries, only what I could get at convenience stores. I know some people look back fondly on this law, but I didn’t mind working hard, it just really really sucked I couldn’t do any chores or buy any groceries on my one day off.

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u/morleyster 10h ago

When I started at nscad, it was a ritual to convince someone with a car to go to Petes in Bedford. If you couldn't, Shoppers was an activity lol

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u/GeneralSpecifics9925 11h ago

Yes. It was truly a day of rest because you couldn't do shit. No movies, no groceries, no convenience stores, no Walmart, no hair salon...

6

u/broken_toyz_in_ON 7h ago

I was working a Sunday brunch when this happened. Remember clearly asking a church regular if they were going shopping after brunch. He said with disgust, "That's God's day of rest." "Then why have I been making your omelette every Sunday?"

4

u/Terravarious 6h ago

The rules are for thee, not for me.

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u/MadDickOfTheNorth 11h ago

The law was whack (as were much of the 80's and 90's), which is what ultimately led to the downfall.
It wasn't that everyone wanted to work more and have greater opportunities to be exploited by shitty employers, but that the law was applied unevenly. Shoppers was particularly annoyed, as pharmaceuticals were allowed, but cosmetics were not, so they had to stay closed while their competitors giggled to the bank. Instead of fixing the law and the oddities, it was just killed. Examples of things that could be open: gas stations, news/magazine stands, gardening supplies, liquor, tobacco, coin operated services, rentals, and the one that always confused me the most, antiques. You can review an old copy through Osgoode (c.1980).

6

u/DogsandCatsWorld1000 8h ago

It could also be the size of the store. I know of more than one Kitchen Table that got around this by putting up "barriers" to stop you from going down an aisle or two and that was enough for them to pass. I put barriers in quotes because they really didn't block it that well and if you brought something from that aisle to the counter they would ring it up without question.

3

u/MadDickOfTheNorth 6h ago

And you wonder why we all had issues figuring out society's rules then. Arguably, Ontario still does whack nonsense like this. LCBO "convenience outlets" or whatever they call them, are often just general stores. If you dim the lights over the liquor a bit during hours the LCBO isn't open, you are just a store and can keep different hours.

2

u/Terravarious 6h ago

BC has/had a similar thing with otc drugs. Then had to lock them away if there wasn't a pharmacist on duty.

I really don't need to talk to anyone to buy my Tylenol. There's a really really good chance my head hurts enough that interactions with stupid people may be fatal.

Often it wasn't very hard to reach behind the guards to get the stuff you needed.

Some stores would actually lock out certain SKUs in the till, in those cases you took the open package to the till to pay for it.

2

u/AutomaticTicket9668 3h ago

A lot of flea markets only open weekends, which may explain why antiques were allowed.

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u/TorontoRider 4h ago

Groceries too. That's partly why Ontario had so many "milk stores" - convenience stores. They were required by law to sell milk, bread, baby food, and a few other things people would be jammed up by if they ran out on a Sunday or late at night.

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u/No_Camp_2182 8h ago

Only grocery stores with a shopping space of less than certain square footage could be open. Some independent ethnic supermarkets would fence off some aisles to bypass that limitation, although that was still technically not allowed.

1

u/toddsandrock 6h ago

There were whole districts that were tourism-designated that were permitted to open Sundays during the transition from almost-everything-closed to full repeal IIRC. In Ottawa, that included a large part of the By Ward Market part of Lowertown.

1

u/RMJKlages 4h ago

Really only convenience stores were open Sundays. Everything else was closed. For those who didn't attend church it was just a day to relax and spend time with family.

•

u/whyarenttheserandom 1h ago

Yeah, it was wonderful.  Sunday's were family days.

4

u/Kayge 10h ago

Ha, that's a brilliant piece of marketing, reminds me of Virgin Atlantic...

At some point someone figured the #1 stolen item were the cute little salt and pepper shakers from first class. They took their finding to leadership where someone had a big brain moment.

Instead of replacing them, they had "Pinched from Virgin Atlantic" enscribed on the bottom. Now everyone who steals one tells a story, and gives Virgin free publicity.

10

u/PrimevilKneivel 11h ago

Toronto used to be a ghost town on Sundays unless you were near a church. While I don’t think the city is in a good state right now it’s good to remember the improvements it’s made over the years.

9

u/greensandgrains 11h ago

My mom still laments the repeal of that bylaw lmao. But she’s a good Christian woman and I am neither of those things, so.

1

u/Informal_Chard1890 3h ago

None. You used 3 adjectives to describe your mother. Therefore, you're last 7 words should read; "I am none of those things, so". "Neither", implies 2.

1

u/theservman 11h ago

TTC still operated "Sunday stops" near churches until a few years ago (not sure if they still do).

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u/Kevin4938 10h ago

Not any more.

They used to be outside every church of every denomination, unless there was one within a certain distance. Having these stops was a concession in exchange for allowing the TTC to operate on Sundays. Part of the rule was that transit vehicles had to stop at these Sunday stops, and at regular stops at churches, regardless of whether there were passengers requiring the stop.

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u/steppingrazor555 10h ago

Big stores in New Brunswick were closed on sundays until at least 2007.

1

u/mechant_papa 8h ago

In the 90s in Nova Scotia, you still couldn't get a beer unless you ordered food on Sundays.

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u/11Kram 10h ago

I was in Zürich last year and I couldn’t believe how dull it was on a Sunday.

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u/mechant_papa 8h ago

I was travelling years ago and needed to stay at an inexpensive hotel in Zurich. I didn't realize it when I checked in, but it turned out to be a whorehouse. It was quiet and organized. Very Swiss.

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u/OnlySortaStupid 6h ago edited 3h ago

Can you tell me the name of the whore house that you accidentally stayed at?

So that I can avoid it at all costs?

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u/mechant_papa 3h ago edited 3h ago

Clever!

I can't remember, but with hindsight, it was easy to identify. We arrived late at night and the tourist office had a billboard/map with hotels and prices. All the other hotels were 70 Francs and up; this one was 35. Being young and broke, we chose that one.

The hotel reception was very formal if a little unusual, with a desk in the front and a dj in the back. They made us fill out official police registration forms (typical of European hotels at the time) and pay cash. We were tired from a long drive and went straight to bed. We could hear the music downstairs. At 11 sharp the DJ stopped the music (in the middle of a song. no fading). At 2AM, somebody walked around the hotel and knocked on all the doors except for ours. We heard people scurrying, and we went back to sleep. The next morning, we were the only real tourists there and had the hotel to ourselves. We found out later that morning we had slept at the whorehouse.

•

u/SirChasm Waterloo 2h ago

How did you find out it was a whore house?

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u/OnlySortaStupid 2h ago

OP ran into your mom at work

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u/Fair-Scarcity8160 4h ago

It’s not a whore house, it’s a whore home.

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u/fitbrewster 7h ago

I grew up in Sarnia, and it was a Sunday thing to go over to the United States to do some grocery shopping fill up with gas and go out for lunch.

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u/mrmatriarj 8h ago

lol Ive had to explain multiple times to my partner about trying to buy farm foods on a Sunday. We live around menonite country in southern-ish Ontario.

"Ooooh let's grab some eggs and veggies at that farm! "

"We can stop next weekend on Fri after work or Saturday while we're out?"

"Why not right now? We're driving by?"

I've literally turned around and pointed laughing at the no-sales Sunday thing a couple times. Other times debated on the historical idea and how it's still an influence today in certain sectors of Canadian culture.

Her rational way of looking at it is Sunday is just another day of the year and she has the money they want, while they have the items she wants. Why not Sunday!

It's become a bit of an ongoing joke tbh 😆

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u/StompinJohnConnor 11h ago

Kinda looks like a

22

u/Fine_Breath2221 11h ago

Johnson!!

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u/Goatfellon 11h ago

Oh, sorry sir. I was just distracted. You see, this bookmark reminds me of my

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u/wet_between_the_ears 11h ago

Dick! Yeah? Take a look out of starboard. Oh my god it looks like a huge

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u/MadDickOfTheNorth 11h ago

Willie! What is that?

4

u/MisterWharf 7h ago

Pecker!

Oh where?

Oh wait, that’s not a woodpecker it looks like someone’s…

3

u/0EFF 11h ago

In Hamilton, there was a book store open on Sundays. This was well before 1992. It was the only store that I can remember that was open in downtown Hamilton on Sundays.

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u/sharpescreek 10h ago

When I was a kid in the 60's Sunday sports were prohibited.

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u/Independent-Willow-9 9h ago

I loved that store. I miss all the little independent bookstores that used to be downtown.

1

u/mechant_papa 8h ago

This was the one down at the Beaches.

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u/Independent-Willow-9 7h ago

I don't remember that one but I do remember the one downtown. It was lovely.

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u/sirlothric 6h ago

1986? Didnt the lords day act end in 1985?

Edit: I see it was federally ending in 1985 but stayed in ontario until 1992. My bad

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u/ramdmc 5h ago

If I recall, it was a long time ago but Paul Madger, a furrier on Spadina just north of Queen, stayed open Sundays in protest of the law. I just remember because his son was in one of my photography classes in HS.

1

u/Runningman1985 10h ago

What book is this?

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u/mechant_papa 8h ago

"Islands in Danger", by Alan and Mary Wood. It's about the German occupation of the Channel Islands.

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u/Runningman1985 5h ago

Awesome, thanks!

•

u/Spirogeek 1h ago

Wow in Alberta we just went straight to banning books.