July 11, 1906 - Lord's Day Act - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

No business on Sundays as Canada’s Senate Passes Lord’s Day Act. Canada’s early immigrants were mostly Christians whose biblical beliefs led them to shun work on Sundays, the religion’s Sabbath. Even so, Catholic and Protestant worshippers wanted this freedom protected with legislation. Proposed legislation known as the Lord’s Day Act forbid business to be conducted on the Christian Sabbath. Following hot debates throughout the country, and after passage in the House of Commons, the Canadian Senate bowed to the wishes of the majority and passed the act on July 11, 1906. Canadian citizens of other faiths took issue with the law, but were forced to live with it for decades. Finally, in 1985, shortly after the passage of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the law, saying it violated people’s freedom of religion and conscience.

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