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| Lord's Day Act | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parliament of Canada | |
| |
| Citation | SC 1906, c. 27 |
| Enacted by | Parliament of Canada |
| Royal assent | July 13, 1906 |
| Commenced | March 1, 1907 |
| Date of expiry | April 24, 1985 |
| Status: Repealed | |
The Lord's Day Act was a law passed by the federal Parliament of Canada in 1906, prohibiting many commercial and recreational activities on Sunday, the Christian Sabbath. It was designed to operate in coordination with complementary provincial legislation, allowing variation in permitted Sunday activities at the local level in each province.
The Act was in force for most of the 20th century. However, it was struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1985. The Court found that the Act was inconsistent with the guarantee of freedom of religion, protected by the new Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The federal government repealed the Act in the next revision of the federal statutes.
Origins of the Act edit
The impetus for the Act was a court decision in 1903 which held that mandatory Sunday observance laws were unconstitutional when enacted at the provincial level. At that time, several provinces had laws which prohibited work and some leisure activities on Sundays, specifically to respect the Christian Sabbath. observance of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, at that time the highest court of appeal in the British Empire. The province of Ontario had enacted a Sunday-observance statute.[1] The constitutionality of the statute was disputed under the constitutional division of powers between the federal and provincial governments. Although the statute was initially upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Judicial Committee ruled that the protection of Sunday observance by means of penal provisions was a matter of criminal law, and reserved to the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government.
https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1955/2/15/theyre-fighting-to-save-whats-left-of-sunday
Enactment by the federal Parliament edit
The Act was originally enacted by the government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1906.[2] It was carried forward in subsequent federal statute revisions, most recently in the Revised Statutes of 1970.[3]. Several provinces then enacted provincial legislation, to dovetail with the provisions of the federal Act regarding activities at the local level.
Content of the Act edit
Constitutional challenges edit
The Act and the related provincial legislation were challenged in the courts on various grounds over the course of the twentieth century.
Sunday Observance Federation edit
Lord's Day Alliance v. Attorney-General of British Columbia, [1959] S.C.R. 497
Canadian Bill of Rights edit
Robertson and Rosetanni
Charter of Rights edit
In 1985, in the case of R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd., the Supreme Court of Canada held that the Act was unconstitutional under the new Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Court held that the Act infringed the Charter's guarantee of freedom of religion.
Repeal edit
The Act was later repealed in the Revised Statutes of Canada 1985, which came into force in 1988.