The Canadian Jewish Congress here has taken steps to insure that no special inconvenience is caused Jewish shoppers as a result of proposed legislation on store closing hours.
A brief from the Jewish Congress has been submitted to the special City Council committee concerning opening and early closing regulations. “Our concern is to insure that when Jewish festivals fall on certain days of the week, adequate allowance be made for preparatory shopping for provisions for these festivals by Jewish consumers,” the brief says.
In certain eventualities, the brief points out, “it may create difficulty for housewives to purchase certain kinds of fresh foods such as meat, vegetables and bakery products.” Under other circumstances it might mean “a closing period of three consecutive days during which shoppers would be unable to make their necessary purchases.”
The Congress pointed out that existing regulations permit Jewish butchers to operate on Thursday evenings as this is the normal shopping day before the Sabbath. Sunday observance is also not the subject of present consideration, as this is in the area of federal legislation and cannot be altered by civic rulings.
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