Henry Birks & Sons (Montreal) Ltd. v. the City of Montreal

"Henry Birks & Sons (Montreal) Ltd. v. the City of Montreal", [1955] S.C.R. 799 was an early constitutional decision of the Supreme Court of Canada where the Court struck down a provincial law permitting municipalities to pass by-laws for the closing of stores on certain Catholic feast days. The Court held that the law was a matter of public morals and therefore fell within the exclusive criminal law powers of the federal government and so was ultra vires the competence of the province. This case marked the first of a gradual shift in Canadian law away from non-secular laws.

ee also

* List of Supreme Court of Canada cases (Richards Court through Fauteux Court)
* "R. v. Big M Drug Mart"
* "R. v. Edwards Books and Art Ltd."

External links

* [http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/en/browseSubjects/birks.asp full text from Supreme Court decision]