TORONTO, Ontario—The Canadian Civil Liberties Association of Canada (CCLA) announced on Monday that it will be seeking legislative changes to have the term “Black Friday” banned, and replaced by the term “The-day-when-retailers-begin-to-turn-a-profit Friday”.
Black Friday is typically the point at which retailers start operating at a profit , or “in the black”, after having done so at a financial loss for most of the year. Consumers are often presented with extraordinary bargains comparable to those that were traditionally exclusive to Boxing Day.
“In this day and age, it’s appalling that some choose to qualify an event with racial undertones,” said Sukanya Pillay, the Executive Director and General Counsel of the CCLA. “We believe that in addition to removing the double entendre, our proposed name change clarifies the day’s significance.”
Pillay says her office has a meeting scheduled for Thursday with Thomas Mulcair, leader of the New Democratic Party and the Official Opposition, to discuss the matter. However, Mulcair’s office would not confirm the meeting when questioned by Mooseclean’s.
According to Pillay, “We’re aware that if all goes well, new legislation would only take effect for The-day-when-retailers-begin-to-turn-a-profit Friday in 2015 at the earliest, but we ask the public to be sensitive to our African-Canadian friends by voluntarily using the more acceptable term, immediately.
Black Friday, or rather The-day-when-retailers-begin-to-turn-a-profit Friday, is this Friday.