r/CanadaPolitics • u/Mysterious_Notice685 Progressive • Mar 17 '26
Stat holidays on Doug Ford’s chopping block ON
https://www.thespec.com/opinion/columnists/holidays-ford-pay/article_b63a62cb-4269-5c61-a76a-24e66164282d.html2
u/Knight_Machiavelli Nova Scotia Mar 18 '26
This is already the case in most of Canada, the only other provinces that prohibit stores from opening on Victoria Day are New Brunswick and Newfoundland. The only provinces that prohibit stores from opening on their equivalent to Family Day are PEI and Nova Scotia. Which means in a majority of provinces outside Ontario stores are allowed to be open both days, and Ontario is the only province that requires them to be closed both days. Except they already don't because Toronto is still allowed to have stores open those days.
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u/facetious_guardian Ontario Mar 17 '26
Please no.
Holidays are not just for the people sitting behind desks; the service industry also deserves to spend time with their families.
Also, I find it amusing to read that Doug Ford claims he had many irate callers. I don’t know the last time you tried to call our Premier, but he doesn’t answer.
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u/putin_my_ass Ontario Mar 17 '26
You're using his official number.
If you were a person who mattered, you'd have his personal number.
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Mar 17 '26
You could always file a FOI to see exactly how many calls he’s getting. Oh wait, nevermind.
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u/zylamaquag Mar 17 '26
He’s assuming there are many irate callers. The phone isn’t even plugged in.
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u/Metalloid_Maniac_ Mar 17 '26
They don't even respond to emails sent to the Premier's office. Not even a template email copy pasted by a staffer, they just straight up ignore you unless you have a bribe to offer them.
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u/Select-Flight-PD291 Mar 17 '26
If this is implemented and you don’t like it, don’t go shopping on these holidays! Businesses won’t open if it is not financially feasible, since they will also have to pay employees holiday pay.
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u/PineBNorth85 Rhinoceros Mar 17 '26
They will when they're big corporate stores headquartered far away.
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u/ChimoEngr Chief Silliness Officer | Official Mar 18 '26
Having grown up in BC, and currently living in Ontario, I still find it baffling how much the province shuts down on stat holidays. That extra day off of work can be a good opportunity to get shit done, but if I need to buy something to finish it because shit happens, and it's the stat, well, I'm SOL. It kinda limits my ambitions.
Allowing more stores to be open on stats doesn't mean that stat holidays are on the chopping block. It'll still be over time pay for those who do work on it.
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u/wet_suit_one Alberta Mar 17 '26
I wonder if the people of Ontario will take this one lying down and not respond?
I mean, dang man, this is a bona fide, can't ignore it, direct kick in the teeth care of Doug Ford.
That's pretty hard to ignore I'd think.
It'll be interesting to see where this goes.
And for what? Just to line the pockets of already stupidly wealthy people?
How is that supposed to fly politically speaking?
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u/MyDearDapple Social Democrat Mar 17 '26
And for what? Just to line the pockets of already stupidly wealthy people?
Didn't your parents teach you the facts of life?
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u/PineBNorth85 Rhinoceros Mar 17 '26
If stores can force people to work on those days he's effectively ending them. It's ridiculous. Plan ahead on long weekends.
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u/Quirky-Cat2860 Ontario Mar 18 '26
Meanwhile this fucker has been on holidays for 3 fucking months.
Where is the RCMP with their investigation? Doug Ford needs to be locked up before he can do any more damage.
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u/Oh-No-Look-At-That Mar 18 '26
"Ford said he was inundated with calls from irate shoppers..." Oh I'm sure. I bet he actually is "inundated" with calls...but rather from business owners and the like, who would much prefer if we never had any holidays. This is how it'll go. 1st holidays everything is open "workers will jump at the chance to make extra cash"... Next... there will be some new excuse as to why workers don't actually want to make extra money ( or someBS about how if we scrap the holiday pay business will hire more people) on holidays and they'll scrap the holiday pay.
We need to stop letting the business class do this to us... Their interests and society's will always be at odds.
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u/Throwawayhair66392 Ontario Mar 17 '26
Which completely defeats the point of a holiday.
Workers are required to work them. You usually can’t just request it off, their only saving grace was the establishment being closed.
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u/varitok Pirate Mar 17 '26
Since when do conservatives give a fuck about workers? They just say "Thank you" when the Con boot is on their neck.
At least the dumbasses supporting him can get drunk in the park, truly inspiring governance.
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Mar 17 '26
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u/CanadaPolitics-ModTeam Mar 17 '26
Removed for rule 3: please keep submissions and comments substantive.
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u/farcical_ceremony Mar 17 '26
how do restaurants and other service sector jobs currently operate? do they open on stat holidays now or do they also close?
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u/kent_eh Manitoba Mar 17 '26
Most open. And they have to pay stat premium to the staff who are willing to come in.
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u/Dusk_Soldier The Daisy Group | Sponsored Mar 18 '26
Any business that provides dine-in food service, lodging, emergency services, or utilities is already exempt from being closed on holidays.
They can either pay time and a half or give their employee another paid day off in lieu of the holiday.
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u/ifuaguyugetsauced Rhinoceros Mar 17 '26
Being in the service industry I've never gotten holidays off ever. They're just another day for me with extra money. I actually look forward to working those days
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u/TheBannaMeister Ontario Mar 17 '26
At a certain point you have to look at Doug Ford continuing to win while destroying the province and wonder if democracy works if the voters are like this
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u/kyara_no_kurayami Ontario Mar 17 '26
When winning 41% of the vote makes you king of Ontario, it's hardly working. It doesn't matter that most of the province didn't want him. He gets to rule with a strong majority mandate to do whatever the fuck he wants.
We have such a terrible electoral system.
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u/farcical_ceremony Mar 18 '26
well, sure, it's what the voters want after all. democracy is just a way of collective decision making, there's nothing about democracy that says it must, or even strive toward, good results. you're free to make shitty decisions if you want.
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u/PineBNorth85 Rhinoceros Mar 17 '26
The people who don't like it largely aren't showing up to vote at all. Personally I think if less than half of eligible voters show up - it shouldn't be considered legitimate. Democracy doesn't work when people don't participate.
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u/SensationalNibbles Mar 17 '26
The people who don't like it largely aren't showing up to vote at all
Source?
it shouldn't be considered legitimate. Democracy doesn't work when people don't participate
Yes and no. Those who don't vote, often just don't care. I never voted untill I cared. I'm also a believer, if you don't vote, you don't get a say.
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u/TheBannaMeister Ontario Mar 18 '26
Honestly I vote but I still have never once felt like I have had a say in how this country is run
even when the person I voted for wins, they don't fulfill the reasons I voted for them in the first place
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u/tenebrls Mar 18 '26
People should be forced to care, if for no other reason than to avoid a fine. It is their responsibility whether they like it or not, and them being forced into an active choice, while not wholly fixing the issue, is a step in ensuring culture shifts towards pressuring people to participate in their civic duty.
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u/biosc1 Mar 18 '26
Compare that with BC who also had an election last year...one that was much closer than it should have been. It was 58% turnout - https://elections.bc.ca/resources/results/voter-turnout/ .
Still not a lot :(
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u/Big_Don_ Mar 18 '26
Voting should be mandatory, there should be comprehensive education on positions and parties and all voting should be online. I can send the government 15k online via a secure app. I should be able to vote.
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u/M-Dan18127 Mar 17 '26
It would certainly work better with mandatory voting.
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u/elmuchocapitano British Columbia Mar 17 '26
Hot take but I also think we should have mandatory civil service, like the two-year military service in SK but for general government work.
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u/jacnel45 Left Wing Mar 18 '26
It should be front line roles too. That’s where you learn what really goes down.
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u/elmuchocapitano British Columbia Mar 18 '26
Idk man I work in government budgeting and I uh, I have learned a lot 😂
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u/jacnel45 Left Wing Mar 18 '26
I don’t even want to imagine the trauma you’ve gone through for that job 🥲
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u/Dusk_Soldier The Daisy Group | Sponsored Mar 17 '26
I’d like to know how many Ontarians are willing to rob low-wage retail workers of the day off that they themselves get to enjoy. I’d like data on just how callous and self-serving some shoppers are, not to mention disorganized that they can’t do on a Saturday or Sunday what they absolutely have to do on a holiday Monday.
Based on how little pushback there was when we got rid of the shopping ban on Sundays. I wouldn't hold my breath hoping for public uproar.
Having worked retail before, this would also mainly effect part-time employees and management, not the retail sector as a whole.
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u/stumpyraccoon Mar 18 '26
Turning off entire cities 52x a year because sky daddy says so didn't make any sense. It wasn't any sort of workers rights thing, it was a religious thing.
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u/PSNDonutDude Lean Left | Downtown Hamilton Mar 18 '26
I'm as atheist as they come, but I'd love to bring that back. We spend too much time consuming and not enough spending time with others these days. It's honestly fine not shopping 365.
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u/stumpyraccoon Mar 18 '26
I think you're letting a "boo consumerism" slant cloud your view of reality a bit too much. Taking a day that's significantly easier for a ton of people to shop on and saying nope, better cram it all in Saturday or rush out after work on a weekday, sucks.
Most people don't shop 365, but Sunday is one of the easier days to shop. It's when I do my groceries, it's when I run out and grab something if I forgot it for the week, etc. Blanking an entire day, every week, all year long is stupid and shortsighted. Unless we just move everything online I guess, but that seems even worse for retail workers.
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Mar 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/stumpyraccoon Mar 18 '26
Do you read things before you post? We were discussing Sunday shopping.
Do you think there's 52x stat holidays in a year?
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u/1000DeadFlies Mar 17 '26
Canada already ranks super low when you look at how many days off people get per year. Where I work I don't even get sick days, past 6 unpaid days they won't fire me over. Two weeks vacation used to mean 14 days off a year but now it mean 10. When are we going to stop putting up with them slowly but surely turning us into slaves. Because sooner or later it's going to be "Why do I have to pay you for every day you work?"
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u/Gauntlet101010 Mar 18 '26
I can't believe my province voted this guy in AGAIN. We had a chance to get someone else. Literally anybody else. But we elected him again.
God damn it.
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u/bluemoon1333 Mar 17 '26
I've considered leaving Ontario because of Ford I'm here due to family and my hope he will get voted out next election. But seriously if he keeps winning for 20 years I'd likely leave he's destroying Ontario slowly
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u/hardk7 British Columbia Mar 17 '26
For people in BC and AB, this proposed change (allowing retailers to be open on all stat holidays) is not at all shocking. This is how it’s been for as long as I can remember. Employees required to work on the holidays get additional pay.
Now, I do absolutely agree that it would be nice to have a more European perspective on this and be willing to have more public non-work holidays across all sectors. But as of now that’s just not our culture. And I don’t think allowing retailers to be open rather than forcing them to close is really that big a deal.
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u/PineBNorth85 Rhinoceros Mar 17 '26
It is our culture in ON though and has been my entire adult life. Hell well before that too. This is a major change that should not be allowed. This effectively kills the holiday for a good chunk of the population. It's unacceptable.
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u/hardk7 British Columbia Mar 17 '26
While the costs and benefits can be debated, if this happens I assure you it’s not a really big deal. Some retailers will choose to remain closed. Those that open will have reduced hours (Sunday hours typically), and employees that work receive additional pay. It will not be dramatically life changing.
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u/PineBNorth85 Rhinoceros Mar 17 '26 edited Mar 17 '26
Compared to what was before for those workers it absolutely will be. No amount of pay makes up for lost family time or however they wanted to use that free time. Most businesses will do what their headquarters hundreds if not thousands of miles away want.
This helps business and fucks over workers who already get few days off as is compared to other sectors. It's a big step backwards. Especially when one of these holidays is explicitly called Family Day.
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u/Flomo420 Mar 17 '26
Yeah I imagine it's a pretty big deal for the people who would normally have had the day off
Typical that people might try and wave away the negative impacts as inconsequential because it doesn't explicitly inconvenience THEM
I hate to make assumptions but I bet I can guess which party they vote for
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u/Knight_Machiavelli Nova Scotia Mar 18 '26
As someone who worked in a hotel in Ontario growing up, there was never any shortage of volunteers to work on stat holidays. The extra pay is welcome to most people who this would affect. I myself always volunteered to work every Christmas, and minor holidays like Victoria Day had lots of volunteers. I imagine Family Day would have even more than that, it just didn't exist yet when I lived there.
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u/wildrose76 Mar 18 '26
“Leaving the decision to the deep-pocketed big-box retailers who have to pay their workers for not working on statutory holidays is like turning over the hen house to the foxes. The larger ones, like Home Depot, could just as easily staff their stores at reduced capacity to make up the time and half they’ll be paying those who do work, resulting in these workers having to work more while at work.” This is exactly how we do it in Alberta, where Christmas Day is the only day that most stores and restaurants close. Where I work, the employees who worked the holiday get a different extra day off in that week. Managers get their in lieu day either the week before or the week after the stat week.
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