The Nova Scotia government is cracking down on grocers to prevent more stores from leaping onto the Sunday shopping bandwagon.

Under the Retail Business Uniform Closing Day Act, stores with more than 4,000 square feet of retail space are not allowed to open on Sundays.

Premier Rodney MacDonald wants to prevent more stores from opening Sundays.
Premier Rodney MacDonald wants to prevent more stores from opening Sundays.

But Sobeys and Atlantic Superstore are getting around the act by subdividing some of their stores into separate businesses, a move pioneered several years ago by competitor Pete's Frootique.

Premier Rodney MacDonald admitted Friday these stores are not breaking any law, but said they are violating the spirit of the Sunday shopping ban.

So under proposed new regulations, grocers would not be allowed to open Sundays unless they reconfigured their businesses before June 1.

By having cabinet change the rules, MacDonald said this will force the big grocery chains to shut down after this Sunday.

"Nova Scotians decided through the plebiscite for no Sunday shopping [and] we respect that," he told reporters.

In a plebiscite in October 2004, Nova Scotians voted to uphold the status quo on Sunday shopping and keep large retailers closed.

MacDonald said since Pete's Frootique was open at the time of the plebiscite, the grocery store will still be allowed to open on Sundays. He wouldn't say whether he believed Pete's was violating the spirit of the law.

No level playing field: critics

A spokesperson for the grocery industry called the government's new plan a step backwards.

"[It] doesn't seem that this levels the playing field, that there are further exemptions and exceptions," said Jeanne Cruikshank, with the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors.

Sobeys president Bill McEwan agreed.

"We are shocked by the regressive steps taken today by Premier MacDonald and his government, which provide other businesses favourable treatment denied to Sobeys and which disadvantages our business, our employees and our ability to serve our customers," he said in a statement.

McEwan did not say what the Stellarton-based grocery chain plans to do.

A spokesman for Superstore said company officials want to read the regulations before commenting.

MacDonald said Superstore and Sobeys can challenge the new regulations once cabinet approves them.

"If they want to challenge, they can do so. But I can tell you that we will do everything in our power to ensure the results of the plebiscite will be respected," he said.

The premier said another plebiscite on Sunday shopping will be held in the fall of 2008.

Pete's Frootique sets stage

Pete Luckett was the first grocer to subdivide his business. He won a court case in 1999, with the judge ruling Pete's Frootique in Bedford could legally open under the province's Sunday shopping legislation.

Last fall, both Superstore and Sobeys complained to the province about what they called an unfair playing field.

On May 26, Atlantic Superstore announced it was opening five sections of its store on Barrington Street in Halifax, following the example set by Pete's Frootique.

The first Sunday opening on June 11 was a "wild success," according to Superstore officials. Within days, Sobeys announced it was opening five stores across the province.

Opponents of Sunday shopping accused the grocery chains of violating the spirit of the ban for large retailers, prompting the provincial government to order a review of the stores' actions.

The Halifax Chamber of Commerce joined the debate, calling on the government to deregulate store hours. But MacDonald said he had no plans to do that.

The NDP has been calling on the Tory government to change the Labour Standards Code to ensure employees are not required to take a Sunday shift.

If Nova Scotians had voted for more Sunday shopping in 2004, amendments to the code would have kicked in so that workers could be reinstated or paid back if they were fired or penalized for refusing to work a Sunday.