I was driving home the other day with the radio on.
An ad came on for Piccadilly Mall.
The ad said that “In order to pay respect to our veterans, the mall will be operating at reduced hours on Remembrance Day.”
Just as I was thinking that this was very admirable, the ad continued with “the reduced hours would be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.”
Well, as a person whose father landed on the shores of Normandy on D-Day in June 1944, I was now very disappointed.
I think most people know that the most “sacred time” on November 11th is at 11 a.m. when all ceremonies have a moment’s silence in honour of those lost in the various wars.
So if the mall is going to “operate at reduced hours to honour the veterans,” then why not operate from noon to 5 p.m. so that workers could attend whatever Remembrance Day ceremony they choose and that 11 a.m. could still be honoured without it being just the start of another day of retail sales.
I then went online and made some inquiries in other provinces.
Manitoba’s Remembrance Day business hours are 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. for malls, and many individual stores (i.e., not in malls) are not opening at all.
Saskatchewan malls and stores are operating noon to 5 p.m. on Remembrance Day.
I was not able to determine hours of operation in Alberta.
I realize that quite often any statutory holiday (which Remembrance Day is in some provinces but not in others) has business hours set provincially; however, given that 11 a.m. is such a special time on Nov. 11, I still think hours of business on that day should not commence until at least noon. Thanks for letting me vent!
Penny D. Pratt
