Manitoba’s Pre­mier Bri­an Pal­lis­ter has decid­ed Christ­mas is “non-essen­tial.”

I couldn’t believe it, until I went to a local Wal­mart to check it out for myself and do a lit­tle bit of Christ­mas shopping.

Cau­tion tape cov­ered the Christ­mas cards, and tarps cov­ered the toys. Signs on stat­ues of San­ta Claus labelled him and Christ­mas trees “non-essen­tial.”