Family Day will hit retailers
By Bill Rea

The new Family Day holiday, which comes Feb. 18, is expected to cost employers a lot of money in wages for no work.

And retailers in Peel are expecting to take a hit too.

Officials of various shopping malls in Peel appealed to Regional council for help recently, especially in the face of what they see as an unfair advantage enjoyed by their competitors in Toronto.

Kent Gillespie, Regional solicitor and commissioner of corporate services for the Region, told councillors Toronto has been exempt from the Retail Business Holidays Act (RBHA) since the start of last year, while the act is still in effect everywhere else in the province. He added the new City bylaws require closing on holidays, but Family Day isn't included because the holiday was enacted after the bylaw came into effect. As well, he pointed out Toronto is looking to change its bylaw, so complete closings would only be required for Christmas, with restricted hours being in effect for the other holidays.

In order to get a level playing field with the malls in Toronto, Gillespie said the Region has to pass a bylaw to opt out of RBHA, but it first has to pass a bylaw to govern store closings on holidays.

Mississauga Councillor Carolyn Parrish wasn't impressed with what Toronto's been trying to do, arguing calling for complete closing for Christmas has nothing to do with religion, but a lot to do with the fact no one shops that day. She also pointed out a lot of people won't be able to take Family Day off.

This holiday was brought in without enough long-term planning, Parrish charged. "This one was very poorly implemented," she declared.

Carol Hymans, general manager of Bramalea City Centre was among a number of people who were concerned with the economic impact of the holiday, and she also brought up the efforts of Toronto to get the whole city declared a tourism area and exempt it from holiday closings.

The retail sector is very competitive, she pointed out, adding fair competition forces everyone to put out their best.

"A level playing field is all we're asking for," she declared.

Hymans told Mississauga Councillor Maja Prentice it was hard to expect the Region to do much in time for Feb. 18. Prentice agreed. "I'm frustrated because I don't see what we can do about it," she remarked.

Hymans said she shared the frustration, pointing out this issue came up right after the holiday season, meaning a lot of people might not have realized what they were dealing with.

"Our hands are a little bit tied," Parrish added, pointing out the Minister of Municipal Affairs is the only one who can untie them. She urged retailers to inundate the minister to let him know this is serious.