The municipal election is now less than one week away.

Steinbach City Council candidates have been making their positions known on a number of issues, including Sunday shopping. At a forum Monday evening, taped for Steinbachonline.com, the following question was asked, "How do you feel about Sunday shopping in Steinbach and why is it different than restaurants being open in Steinbach?"

Bill Hiebert says while knocking on doors, quite a few people are telling him they love the tradition in Steinbach where Sunday is a quiet, family day.

"I personally am totally good with that and I believe that it's up to the Chamber of Commerce to make the final decision when it comes to that," he says. "What the council has done at this point not putting it on as a referendum I think is a good choice."

Further to that, Hiebert says it is only a matter of time before Steinbach has Sunday shopping. He says as the city continues to grow, the change is inevitable.

Mitesh Kumar says he believes strongly that there should be a referendum as city council has failed to properly exercise all of its options and has also failed to properly communicate on this issue.

"Majority of people I have talked to, they like the way it is," he says. "I personally like the way it is."

But Kumar says city councillors are responsible for all people, even if that goes against their wishes as a councillor.

"We have heard from some leaders saying they don't like it, so they don't want it that way or because they love it, that's how it has to be," he says. "It can't be like that, we have to respect people what they want, even if we don't like that concept."

Kumar says once the new council is elected, it must provide closure on this topic. He notes that means reaching out to the Chamber of Commerce and doing a proper survey.

Damian Penner says it is his opinion that city council missed an opportunity to hold a non-binding referendum on this issue. But Penner says he believes this is a larger topic than just Sunday shopping. He says it comes down to when government should and should not be allowed to have a say in peoples' everyday lives.

"If a local Steinbach business comes forward and says that they feel they could benefit from Sunday shopping, I for one am not going to want to restrict them and I want to be able to then open it up," says Penner.

He notes one of the themes that keeps coming up at these candidate forums is a desire for council to be business-friendly. Yet he questions how in good conscience they can say they are being business-friendly if they do not allow businesses the hours they want to operate.

"I'm not an advocate for Sunday shopping, so I don't have intentions of going in and busting the doors down and changing the business atmosphere that is in Steinbach," he says. "I will reiterate, I'm an advocate for less government control."

Jake Hiebert says he is not in favour of Sunday shopping and is not in favour of a referendum on the topic. Hiebert says he asked the question at between 500 and 600 homes. Though the results are unofficial, Hiebert says about 35 per cent of residents told him they are in favour of Sunday shopping and about 45 per cent said they are against. The remaining 20 per cent do not have an opinion. He says about 98 per cent of people said Sunday shopping would be a convenience, not a necessity, with that same percentage saying neither they nor their children will work on Sundays.

"What I found interesting talking to people, the number of people that have moved to Steinbach from Winnipeg or Toronto or other places in Canada, and they came here purposely because Steinbach didn't have shopping," he says.

Hiebert adds one store owner told him he fears one-third of his employees could quit if a Sunday shopping bylaw passes. And he says no one working in retail, that he has spoken with, wants to work on Sunday.

Michael Zwaagstra says he is fine with keeping things the way they currently are.

"The reason is very simple," he says. "I think that when you look at the fact that the Chamber of Commerce has twice in the last number of years surveyed businesses within Steinbach and seventy-five to eighty per cent in both cases have indicated that they are not interested in being open on Sundays. You add to the fact that it's an opportunity for a lot of people to have a day off work and spend time with their families."

Zwaagstra questions, if you hold a referendum and the results come back 55 per cent against, will you continue holding public votes every five years, similar to the liquor referendum?

Susan Penner says she is opposed to a referendum on this matter.

"For one person to come to council and ask for a referendum on something doesn't really make sense because then anybody can come to council and request a referendum," she says. "Then we are going to be having referendums for multiplexes, we're going to have referendums for whatever somebody requests a referendum for."

Penner says this has not been a hot topic while knocking on doors. She says she is hearing primarily that people would prefer to keep things the way they are, and that would be her position as well.

Adam Crookes agrees that this is not an issue that is coming up in his door-to-door campaign.

"I think the reality is for people that I talk to and try to bring it up is that I think we're concerned that we might lose a little bit of our DNA in the way that Steinbach is a little bit special and a little bit quiet," says Crookes.

Crookes adds he isn't against Sunday shopping but he would vote against it if given the opportunity.

As a councillor, Jac Siemens was the one who made the motion to include this question on the October 24th election ballot. He notes it would have been non-binding and because there would be no cost associated with adding it to the ballot, it would allow council to get the necessary feedback from residents.

Siemens says in going door-to-door, there is a lot of apathy. He notes only about 20 per cent of residents are in favour, while that same percentage is against.

"My concern is if we did have Sunday shopping, how does it change our community," asks Siemens. "How does it change the focus of who we are."

Siemens says if council is supposed to make a decision, his vote will be to not allow Sunday shopping.

"Because I like it the way it is," he says. "And that is the majority of feedback I got from going door to door is the fact that they like it the way it is."

Candidate Alan Wiebe was not able to attend this week's forum. In a written statement, Wiebe says his position is that Sunday shopping should be allowed in Steinbach and that this sort of decision belongs to the people of Steinbach rather than a group of business owners.

"I think a referendum would allow the people of Steinbach to make a decision on Sunday shopping once and for all," he says. "That's because people in Steinbach expect a stronger voice on local decisions."

He says Sunday shopping is not different from restaurants being open. According to Wiebe, participating in the economy is about individuals and businesses making transactions for goods and services. He adds individuals and businesses in Steinbach should have the option of choosing how they want to participate in the economy on Sunday.

Candidate Cyndy Friesen was also unable to attend the forum. In a written statement she states city council has never formally asked community members for their opinion.

"I would support a referendum as I believe it's important that Steinbach citizens' voices be heard," she says.

Friesen adds in her opinion, the only difference between Sunday shopping and restaurants being open is that one is retail industry and the other is service industry. Regardless of the type of industry, she says the similarity is that those who work on Sundays are someone's family members.

"There has been much debate and many great points made on either side of this issue, and I believe that this issue will follow the new council into this next four-year term," she says.

Residents of Steinbach will vote in a new council October 24th.

(Left to right) Jac Siemens, Bill Hiebert, Mitesh Kumar, Damian Penner, Jake Hiebert, Michael Zwaagstra, Susan Penner and Adam Crookes