Case Summary
R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd. (1986)
- May 30th, 1982, the Calgary Big M Drug Mart was accused of selling merchandise on a Sunday
Freedom of Religion and Conscience
- Went against the Lords Day Act
The Right That Was Challenged In The Charter
- The case made it way to the Supreme Court of Canada
Section 2:
(a) Freedom of conscience and religion.
- Being free from the states intimidation
- The right to believe any religion a person wants
- The right to express your religion openly without fear of oppression
- The right to teach and practice religious activity freely
- The Supreme Court of Canada agreed and pardoned the Lords Day Act
Parties Involved
Her Majesty the Queen - The Appellant
Big M Drug Mart - Respondent
Bill of Rights and Freedoms
The Lords Day Act was a law that made it an offense for anyone to engage in or carry on business on Sunday.
Video
Lords Day Act
At the time of the case, the Supreme Court only had the Bill of Right and Freedoms. The Bill of Rights and Freedoms did not create new rights, instead, it only expressed the rights that Canadians already had. This caused the judges to look more closely to the Bill of Rights and Freedoms. As they looked closer they noticed that Canada had become a very Christian Country. This resulted in the Supreme Court upholding the law.
The Impact of the Decision
Disadvantages
Advantages
- loss of business for those who observe the Sabbath day
- Loss of work for employees due to working on the Sabbath
- more time to make money
- gives students more hours
of work
- more time for people to shop/
run errands
Biblography
Kate Stericker.(2014). R v. Big M Drug Mart.
http://casebrief.me
http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca
The Decision
- The ability to shop on Sundays
- Sundays became the most popular day to shop
http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca
- It was concluded that the Lords Day Act violated 2 (a) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Therefore, the Supreme Court deducted the law