R v Big M Drug Mart Ltd
R v Big M Drug Mart Ltd | |
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Hearing: March 6–7, 1984 Judgment: April 24, 1985 | |
Full case name | Her Majesty The Queen in Right of Canada v Big M Drug Mart Ltd |
Citations | [1985] 1 SCR 295, 18 DLR (4th) 321, 3 WWR 481, 18 CCC (3d) 385, 37 Alta LR (2d) 97 |
Docket No. | 18125 [1] |
Prior history | Judgment for the defendant in the Court of Appeal of Alberta. |
Ruling | Appeal dismissed |
Holding | |
The Lord's Day Act violates section 2 of the Charter and is therefore invalid. | |
Court membership | |
Chief Justice: Bora Laskin Puisne Justices: Roland Ritchie, Brian Dickson, Jean Beetz, Willard Estey, William McIntyre, Julien Chouinard, Antonio Lamer, Bertha Wilson | |
Reasons given | |
Majority | Dickson J (paras 1–151), joined by Beetz, McIntyre, Chouinard and Lamer JJ |
Concurrence | Wilson J (paras 152–164) |
Laskin CJ and Ritchie and Estey JJ took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. |
R v Big M Drug Mart Ltd
Background
On Sunday, May 30, 1982, the
The constitutional question put before the Court was whether the Act infringed the right to
Ruling
The Supreme Court ruled that the statute was an unconstitutional violation of section 2 of the
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
Footnotes
- ^ SCC Case Information - Docket 18125 Supreme Court of Canada
- ^ R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd., 1985 CANLII 69, [1985] 1 SCR 295 (24 April 1985), Supreme Court (Canada)
- ^ Peter W. Hogg, Constitutional Law of Canada, 2003 Student Ed. (Scarborough, Ontario: Thomson Canada Limited, 2003), pp. 742-743.
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 U.S 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
External links
- Full text of Supreme Court of Canada decision at LexUM and CanLII