Chick-fil-A is one of the fastest growing fast-food franchises in the US. So it is not surprising that the chain announced it will be opening a store in Toronto, Canada’s largest city, in 2019. It hopes to have upwards of 20 franchises set up in the Greater Toronto Area by 2024.

Chick-fil-A’s arrival in Toronto is proving controversial as those on the left unleash their outrage.

The left has a problem with Chick-fil-A because:

1. It’s privately owned by the Christians (the Cathy family). The restaurant has Bible verses printed on its cups;
2. It’s owned by Christians who believe in traditional Christian values on marriage; and are not afraid to express these views.

In a 2012 interview with the Baptist Press, Chick-fil-A Ceo Dan Cathy said:

“We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that,” Casey said. “We operate as a family business … our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that.”

As a result, left-leaning activists have protested stores across the US (literally placard wavers) and despite the negative press, the franchise continues to grow and set records. Some business analysts say the restaurant is on track to become the third-largest fast food chain in the US behind McDonald’s and Starbucks.

In 2017, it reported revenues of $9 billion with only a fraction of the outlets of other popular restaurant chains.

And it’s accomplishing this while being open only six days a week. The restaurants in the US close on Sunday, so people can spend time with family and friends or go to church if they want. The tradition was started by its founder, S. Truett Cathy (1921-2014), who taught Sunday School for 50 years.

When the franchise opened a new restaurant in New York City, a writer for the New Yorker Magazine immediately condemned its arrival referring to Chick-fil-A’s “creepy pervasive Christian traditionalism.”

Even New York city council got into the act calling for people to boycott Chick-fil-A.

Did this nasty article and calls for a boycott work in New York?

Well in his New Yorker article “Chick-fil-A’s creepy infiltration of New York City,”  writer Dan Piepenbring, ruefully acknowledged that the line-up to get into the largest, multiple-story, Chick-fil-A restaurant in the US wound around the block.

So while the elitists protest, the people line up to get in.

And it’s no different in Canada. Already activists are condemning the announcement, but are taking a more “friendly Canadian” tone to their protests:

If the past is any indication this all bodes well for Chick-fil-A. The bigger the protest, the better it does.

Toronto is not home to the first Canadian Chick-fil-A restaurant, that honor belongs to Calgary where a franchise opened at the Calgary International Airport in 2014. Shortly after its arrival, a petition was started to oppose the restaurant. According to Lifesitenews, the four-year old petition has 46,000 signers.

Sources:

• Chick-fil-A’s Canadian expansion sparks LGBTQ protests: Foxnews
• Pro-marriage fast food chain Chick-fil-A is coming to Toronto. Liberals are having a meltdown: Lifesitenews
• ‘Guilty as charged,’ Cathy says of Chick-fil-A’s stand on biblical & family values: Baptist Press