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. 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 in the Forest Lawn community in Calgary. 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 ). 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.

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.

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

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Further reading