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Chamber objects to wording of store hours referendum questions

The Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce is calling for changes to the referendum questions being added to the 2014 municipal election ballot. At its meeting Dec.
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The Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce is objecting to the wording of three referendum questions related to store hours in Greater Sudbury. The questions are expected to be part of the ballot in the 2014 municipal election. File photo.

The Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce is calling for changes to the referendum questions being added to the 2014 municipal election ballot.

At its meeting Dec. 11, city councillors are expected to vote to formally add the three questions to the next election, in an attempt to end the debate over whether city rules regulating when stores in Greater Sudbury are allowed to open and close should remain in place.

At a meeting in October, city councillors approved three questions for the referendum:
- Are you in favour of allowing retail business establishments to set their opening hours?
- Are you in favour of retail business establishments opening on the Civic Holiday on the first Monday in August?
- Are you in favour of retail business establishments opening on Dec. 26?

But Debbi Nicholson, CEO of Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber has issues will all three questions, saying each is misleading.

“We feel like there should be strict clarity in the wording of the questions, so there’s no ambiguity and people know what they’re voting on,” Nicholson said Dec. 6.

For example, the first question, on whether stores should be forced to close at a certain time, talks about stores setting their “opening hours.”

“It talks about opening hours, but it doesn’t talk about closing hours,” she said. “Does that mean a business can choose when they open, but not when they close? Or that they have to be open 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year?

“It’s not clear enough for people to make an informed decision.”

She said the Boxing Day and Civic Holiday questions are also too ambiguous, and leave too much open to interpretation.

“If people who know about the issues are questioning the question, what are people who don’t know about the issues going to think about the questions?” she said.

The chamber is suggesting slightly different wording for each question:
- Are you in favour of allowing retail business establishments to choose their hours of operation?
- Are you in favour of allowing retail business establishments the choice to open on Dec. 26?
- Are you in favour of allowing retail business establishments the choice to open on the Civic Holiday on the first Monday in August?

But the chamber will likely have a tough time convincing city council to change the questions. Councillors rejected attempts to change the wording of the questions at an October debate. City Clerk Caroline Hallsworth pointed out that attempts to add extra information to the questions make it more likely than the wording will be successfully appealed by one side or the other. 


That’s what happened in Sault Ste. Marie in 2010, when it held a referendum on allowing Boxing Day shopping.

“It changes the dynamic of the question if you start putting items in there,” Hallsworth said. “The question has to be very, very simple, and very, very short.

“The legislation requires it be a simple yes or no question. It must be clear, concise and neutral. It cannot be leading. Otherwise it could be challenged and it could be overturned.”

Derik McArthur, president of the Retail Wholesale Department Store Union, which opposes deregulating store hours, said the union has no plans currently to try and change the questions. Instead, McArthur said they plan to publicize the issue closer to the actual referendum date.

“It’s still a number of years away,” McArthur said.

There’s still two years before the next municipal election, plenty of time to ensure voters know exactly what they’re voting on, he said.

“We’re going to engage in an education campaign when the elections come,” McArthur said.

Both the chamber and the union will be at council for the Dec. 11 decision. If council passes the questions as is, Nicholson said the chamber’s board of governors will meet to decide whether to launch an appeal.


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Darren MacDonald

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