1985 - The Lord’s Day Act is overturned by the Canadian Supreme Court following several years of a shift in public opinion, public large retail corporations lobbied the government to allow Sunday shopping.
1986 - The Canadian Lord’s Day Association is founded as a non-denominational organization for the purpose of preserving the sanctity of the Lord’s Day. The founding General Council members encouraged their churches and congregations to support this worthy cause, and soon others across Canada followed.
Founding members included:
President - Mr. J. Schuit
Vice President - Mr. J.C. Fraser
Secretary - Rev. D.M. Campbell
Treasurer - Mr. R. Bouman
Rev. A. Baars
Mr. F. Jonkman
Mr. H. Koppert
Mr. K. Pikkert
Mr. G. Postmus
Mr. G. Schuit
Rev. J. Spaans
Mr. J. Stubbe
Mr. F. Vanderzwaag
Rev. C. Vogelaar
1987 - To oppose Sunday operations, the CLDA dispatched a delegation to the Ontario Parliament Study Committee to present its arguments. One of the initial activities involved advocating against Sunday store openings. This included visits to various stores and businesses to express concerns and encourage adherence to Sunday closing regulations.
1994 - The CLDA starts publishing a bi-annual periodical. The "To Keep It Holy" magazine keeps members up to date on the labours of the CLDA, and provides meaningful articles on the topic of the Lord's Day.
1996 - A small pocket diary known as "The Daily Diary" is made for distribution to local churches and soon diary distribution in Canadian prisons begins. 4,000 diaries are distributed in the first year. Shortly after, a multi-level Bible Correspondence Course is developed for use by inmates in the prisons to improve their biblical knowledge.
Today - The CLDA continues to promote and raise awareness of the need for preserving the sanctity of the Lord's Day across Canada by speaking with individuals, businesses and members of local, provincial, and federal governments about the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Our magazine now has a circulation of nearly 4,000 copies. Our daily diary ministry has steadily grown to over 160,000 diaries in three different languages being distributed to 50 prisons and 50 supporting churches!
We pray the Lord will turn the hearts of all Canadians to keep His day holy to the welfare of our soul and body, the advantage of our nation, and to the glory of God.
