''R v Big M Drug Mart Ltd'' ''(Her Majesty The Queen in Right of Canada v Big M Drug Mart Ltd)'' is a
landmark decision by
Supreme Court of Canada where the Court struck down the federal ''
Lord's Day Act'' for violating
section 2 of the ''
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the '' Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Char ...
''. This case had many firsts in constitutional law including being the first to interpret section two.
Background
In 1978, Nancy Lockhart and Michael Lasrado opened Big M Drug Mart, a
supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
in the
Forest Lawn community in
Calgary
Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
.
Big M and other stores remained open on Sundays despite the prohibition in the ''Lord's Day Act'' as revenue exceeded the small fines of between $15–$40 ($–$ in ).
On Sunday, May 30, 1982,
Calgary police officers entered Big M Drug Mart and observed the sale of groceries, plastic cups, and a bicycle lock to customers in contravention of the federal ''Lord's Day Act''.
At the
Provincial Court of Alberta, Justice Brian Stevenson
acquitted Big M Drug Mart and found the legislation unconstitutional under section 2 of the Charter, striking down section 4 of the ''Lord's Day Act''.
At the
Alberta Court of Appeal, the 3—2 majority written by Justice
James Herbert Laycraft and concurred with by Justices
Milt Harradence and
William Stevenson upheld the Provincial Court's acquittal.
The dissent by Justice R. Paul Belzil and concurred with by Chief Justice
William A. McGillivray relied on the 1963 Supreme Court of Canada judgement in ''Robertson and Rosetanni'',
finding section 4 of the ''Lord's Day Act'' did not violate the ''
Canadian Bill of Rights''.
The constitutional question put before the Court was whether the Act infringed the right to
freedom of conscience and
religion
Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
, if so, whether it is justified under
section 1 of the ''Charter'', and whether the Act was ''
intra vires'' ("within") Parliament's criminal power under section 91(27) of the ''
Constitution Act, 1867''.
Ruling
The Supreme Court ruled that the statute was an unconstitutional violation of section 2 of the ''
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the '' Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Char ...
'', deciding that there was no true
secular basis for the legislation and its only purpose was, in effect, to establish a state
religious
Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...
-based requirement, and was therefore invalid. The drug store's victory was made possible by
section 52 of the ''
Constitution Act, 1982'', which provides that unconstitutional laws can be found invalid, as opposed to
section 24 of the ''Charter'', which is for those whose rights are violated. In as much as a corporation is not a natural person, it cannot have a religion and therefore the ''corporations religious freedom was not violated.
In that case, Chief Justice Brian Dickson wrote that this freedom at least includes freedom of religious speech, including "the right to entertain such religious beliefs as a person chooses, the right to declare religious beliefs openly and without fear of hindrance or reprisal, and the right to manifest religious belief by worship and practice or by teaching and dissemination." Freedom of religion would also prohibit imposing religious requirements.
The ''Lord's Day Act'' was the first law in ''Charter'' jurisprudence to be struck down in its entirety, and some of the
section 1 analysis in the decision played a role in developing the "
Oakes test" in the later case ''
R v Oakes
''R v Oakes'' 9861 Supreme Court Reports (Canada), SCR 103 is a Supreme Court of Canada decision that established the legal test for whether a government action infringing a right under the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' is justi ...
''.
See also
*
List of Supreme Court of Canada cases (Dickson Court)
*''
R v Edwards Books and Art Ltd'' (1986) - later Sunday closing law decision
* ''
McGowan v. Maryland'' (1961) - Contrary US Supreme Court decision on blue laws, holding that laws originally passed for religious reasons may nonetheless be constitutional if they can be shown to fulfill a secular purpose
References
Further reading
*
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External links
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Big M Drug Mart Ltd.
Big M Drug Mart Ltd.
Big M Drug Mart Ltd.
Big M Drug Mart Ltd.
Sunday shopping
History of Calgary