6 Terrace Review — Wednesday, November 18, 1987.

_ Sunday shopping: in favor, opposed _

Letters to the Editor on
the November 21 referendum

Support arguments rejected

To the Editor;

The - Kitimat- Terrace . and
District Labour Council rejects
the need for all retail stores and
major shopping centers to be
able to open for business on
Sundays and holidays in Kitimat
and Terrace. We believe that the
interests of those workers who
. would be drawn into Sunday
work are being pushed aside.

_ Most employees who are now
scheduled to work , between
Monday and Saturday: have. no

desire to be schedtiled to’ work:

‘on Sunday, yet hundreds of

workers would be drawn into
-- working Sundays, thus adversely

affecting many more families in
the area. Let us be under no
illusions, the objective of the
mandarins of business is to turn
each day of the week into a day
of commerce, or business as
usual. The désire to pursue a
greater share of the market, and
thus profits, is almighty. The
decision by these mandarins of
business to press for more retail
hours is made easier when they
' do not reside in the community.
The concerns that employees
may have is of secondary impor-
‘tance.

It is our belief that as few peo-

‘ple as possible should be re- | |

quired to. work on Sundays and
holidays. Sunday.is the one day
of the week when a busy family
has the opportunity to plan
family activities. . Requiring
-more of the community to work
. on Sundays surely will not be

beneficial to our quality of life.

We reject the concept of
choice because many workers
will. have few choices. They will
_ have no say if their store will
open on Sundays and holidays,
and some will not have a right to
‘refuse to work those days. We
reject the pro-shopping notion
that many people already work
on Sunday so the die is cast. We
do not share that kind of think-
ing. It is tantamount to accept-
ing the premise that because
some people and their families
have deep problems therefore we
should share in their misery, We

believe Sunday should be a day
of rest for as many people as
possible,

Yes, there are many services
now available on Sunday, many
of which we take for granted.
Some are essential, but, all are
provided by people, many of
whom have families. How often
have these same people wished
that they did not have to work
these ‘‘unsocial shifts’’. Yet we.

are witnessing a pro-shopping .

group wanting. to push more.
people into working on what has
been a day or rest to many,

We reject the supporting argu- .

ment that Sunday shopping can
be an opportunity for a family

affair. While this may be the .

case for some families, it also
creates a division for families,
those that must work; a further
division that surely our com-

munities do not need.

Before voting for or against
the ability to purchase toys,
clothing or potatoes on Sunday
there is a larger issue to con-
sider. With mom,-dad or both
scheduled to work Sundays or
holidays, how will
beneficial to our families and the
community and:thus our quality
of life? Does the consumer pur-

chase of shoes -and: carrots on. ‘ment, etc.

Sunday add to our quality of life
in the Northwest?.We think not.

‘We ask people. to Vote no to”:

Sunday shopping. We support
our brother and sister and
neighbor and their right to
maintain Sunday as a day of

rest.
Jim Lamb, President
Kitimat-Terrace & District
Labour Council

A rare opportunity

To the Editor; .

I would like to express: a few
thoughts on the i issue of Sunday
shopping. °

quality of life. Our society tends
to be emphasizing materialism.

and promoting a faster ‘pace of - ielalalieotoeleiiaetaeteiotat

The main issue, in my view, is —

There are several communities

in B.C., including Quesnel: and
Williams _Lake, that have no -
Sunday’ shopping. Let us “join
_ them ina wise decision.

_ Aveline McConnell

- Terrace:

life. Should we not take time to |

smell the roses, so‘to'speak? - ~

Sunday: has traditionally been q
the one day of the week that the’

majority of people have tiine to
enjoy friends and family or just
to take a breath before starting
the next work week. Would

-those who vote: yes on the J.
referendum be willing to.spend -

their Sundays working?

We have very few oppor-'

tunities to express so directly
(through our vote) the life style

we prefer. Be-among the many

residents of Terrace who will be

voting against Sunday shopping.

on Nov. 21.

And since we're factory-traincd
your Cat purr. wine roar.

LET US TUNE EYOUR CAT,
WE'LL MA

To keep your Cat kicking up rooster tits, ye you've got to take careofit. So ing
your Cat in for its annual tune-u up. We'll use Genuine Arclic Cat* Parts arid Accessories,
‘0

tmechanics, you know we'll do more than mole

Ken's Marine

4946 Greig Avenue, Terrace, B.C.
V8G 1N4

635-2909

‘Ante bar, POT **Tredernerts ef Antce ine.

The
STORK -

s the stork
_about to visit you?

that . be:

DEDORT

Positive vote for
a changing world

To the Editor; .

lam a parent, a Christian and
a merchant and [ want Sunday
shopping! I resent others speak-

_ ing on my behalf who oppose

this issue on the grounds of
parenthood and Christianity.

I don’t reserve my prayers and
family unity for Sunday only.
Strong. family relationships and
Christian values are built on all
days of the week. I don’t believe
children of parents who work in
‘our: essential _ services, e.g.
hospital, fire and police depart-
.turn out any dif-
ferently than those who have
Sunday off. I’m sure they too

‘pride themselves on being good,

‘conscientious parents, regardless
of their day off. It's the quality.
- Of ‘family. life that counts —

every day.

Another untruth circulating in
their literature is that this issue
went to referendum two years
ago. That is not so! This is our
first chance to be given a choice.
Do we want to be left behind
when Prince Rupert and. Kitimat

.20.to referendum? They soon
’ will be voting too..-

. , Perhaps people who are retail
. workers do not understand.the

concept of rent. It does:not go
up if you are open Sunday. Basic
rent-is basic rent no matter how

many days you.are open. Lights:
and heat.ave.. to -be. left. on ..
‘ regardless and the little extra in
‘common: area costs is nothing
compared to what we can gain.

_by being open that extra day. In

‘Let everyone know about the happy event by having it printed
in the Terrace Review, Forms. are available at the hospital. —

fact it is the difference of some
of us being able to keep ouir
doors open by having the chance
to open Sunday. I have taken the
liberty of polling businesses in

‘Terrace that were open Sunday:

last fall and they all reported an
increase in sales over the year
before — regardless of a nor-
mally slow October and early
November.

Another statement that
doesn’t make sense is that ‘‘Sun-
day openings will not increase
local revenue,”’ Where do they
think the money is going? Not
only are there more jobs but

‘payroll from our big businesses
go back into the community.

Are they forgetting all our small
businesses, the backbone of the
community that
locally owned? If we are not

‘open Sunday, how can tourists

and out-of-town people spend
money here? It will move on to

our neighboring communities. -

Our out-of-town customers
desperately want us to be open
and have access to all our in-
dustries. As it is,they are forced
to rush and then drive im-
mediately back to avoid food
spoilage. Tired people cause ac-
cidents.. Besides, we can make

life a little happier for our nor-—
‘thern neighbors, Let’s keep their,
dollars in our community.

‘As far as working Sundays,
myself and all those I’ve spoken
to don’t intend that their staff
work every Sunday. Also, this is

continued on. page 7

SEAL — Clayton and Denise are the proud parents of a
baby girl, Tiffany Fawn,. born November 13, 1987. She
weighed 8 Ibs. 6 ozs.

TURNER = ‘Dan and 1 Geraldine are pleased 1 to announce |
the birth of a baby boy, Derek Michael, born November 12, -
1987 weighing 8 Ibs.6 ozs.

RODDY DAY & ANNE NOLE — are the

Alfred Roderick Day born November 4, 1987, weighing in at

7 lbs. 11 oz.

proud parents of

| _ LOWERS
ALA CARTE |

Mamber of AFS Wire Service

24-hour Phone /;,
(604)635-4080 |ng
Skeena Mall

are mostly