Court ruling on plastics ban welcome news for Canadians

From the Fraser Institute

Authors: Julio Mejía and Elmira Aliakbari

The future of the Trudeau government’s ban on single-use plastic is uncertain following the recent Federal Court ruling, which declared that Ottawa exceeded its authority by classifying all “plastic manufactured items” as toxic. As the federal government considers the possibility of appealing the decision, it’s essential to understand that Ottawa’s plastic ban is an expensive measure to a relatively minor environmental issue in Canada and likely hurts, rather than helps the environment.

The Trudeau government’s ban on six types of single-use plastics, including cutlery, checkout bags, and straws, came into effect in 2022 as part of an effort to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030.

For starters, as the government admits, Canada doesn’t have a significant plastic waste problem – 99 per cent of the country’s plastic waste is already disposed of safely through recycling, incinerating and environmentally-friendly landfills. Furthermore, Canada’s contribution to global aquatic plastic pollution is estimated to be between 0.02 per cent and 0.03 per cent of the total, with nearly 90 per cent of the pollution originating from Asia and Africa. Eliminating Canada’s plastic waste would, therefore, have an undetectable impact on ocean plastic pollution.

Far from being an environmental solution, the federal government’s own analysis acknowledges that banning single-use plastics will actually increase waste generation rather than reduce it. According to the analysis, while the regulation will remove 1.5 million tonnes of plastics from 2023 to 2032, it will almost double that tonnage in substitutes such as paper, wood and aluminum over the same period. In other words, the ban will increase, not decrease, the amount of net garbage in Canada.

However, the environmental effects of the plastic ban go beyond an increase of waste. According to the government’s Strategic Environmental Assessment, plastic substitutes “typically have higher climate change impacts” including higher greenhouse gases (GHG) and lower air quality. Indeed, some studies suggest that substitutes for single-use plastics such as paper are heavier, require more energy to transport, create higher smog formation and ozone depletion, require more water and energy to be produced, and result in higher GHG emissions. Simply put, the plastic ban harms, not helps, the environment.

And that’s not all. According to the federal government’s own estimates, the plastic ban will bring $616 million in benefits on avoided clean-up expenses over the next 10 years but will cost around $2 billion over the same period, due to the management of additional waste discussed above and enforcement costs of the ban. This cost surpasses the benefit by more than a 3-to-1 ratio.

The Trudeau government needs to carefully consider the Federal Court and reconsider its stance on this policy, which has an overall adverse impact on both the environment and the economy.

Related Topics:#ElmiraAliakbari #FraserInstitute #JulioMejía #PlasticBags #PlasticCutlery #PlasticsBan #PlasticStraws #SingleUsePlastics feature

Up Next

What Trudeau’s EV Subsidies Will Really Cost Canada – See the Parliamentary Budget Office Report Here

Don't Miss

‘Controligarchs’ lays bare a nightmare society the globalist elites have in store for humanity

Todayville

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

North America LNG project cost competitiveness

conflict / 25 mins ago

Columbia on Lockdown After pro-Palestinian Protesters Take Over Building, Hold Janitors Hostage

Addictions / 8 hours ago

Must Watch: Addiction worker estimates 90% of “safer supply” drugs resold on black market

Business

Parliamentary Budget Officer forecasts bigger deficits for years to come

Published on April 30, 2024

Todayville

From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

Author: Franco Terrazzano

“Every penny collected from the GST will now go to cover interest charges on the Trudeau government’s credit card”

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the federal government to cut spending and balance the budget following today’s Parliamentary Budget Officer report forecasting higher deficits.

“Budget 2024 was bad, but the PBO report forecasts the Trudeau government will be running even bigger deficits,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “This PBO report should be a wake-up call for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: get a hold of your spending or interest charges will keep ballooning.”

The PBO projects a $46-billion deficit this year. Budget 2024 projected a $40-billion deficit.

“PBO’s projected budgetary deficits are $5.3 billion higher annually, on average, over 2023-24 to 2028-29,” according to the report.

In Budget 2023, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government would find “savings of $15.4 billion over the next five years.”

However, “in Budget 2024, the government announced $61.2 billion in new spending,” according to the PBO. “Since Budget 2021, the government has announced a total of $251.6 billion in new spending measures.”

Interest charges on the debt are expected to cost taxpayers $54 billion this year, according to Budget 2024.

“Every penny collected from the GST will now go to cover interest charges on the Trudeau government’s credit card,” Terrazzano said. “Trudeau must balance the budget, cut spending and stop wasting more than $1 billion every week on interest charges.”

Automotive

Canadian interest in electric vehicles falls for second year in a row: survey

Published on April 29, 2024

Todayville

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Canadians’ disinterest in electric vehicles comes as the Trudeau government recently mandated that all new light-duty vehicles in Canada are zero emission by 2035.

Research has revealed that Canadians are increasingly unwilling to purchase an electric vehicle (EV).

According to an April 22 survey from AutoTrader, Canadians remain skeptical of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s electric vehicle mandate and ongoing advertisement surrounding electric vehicles, as interest in owning one dropped for a second year in a row.

“Overall, while almost half of non-EV owners are open to buying an EV for their next vehicle, interest in EVs has declined for the second year in a row,” reported Tiffany Ding, director of insights and intelligence at AutoTrader.

In 2022, at least 68 percent of Canadians were interested in buying an electric vehicle. However, by 2023, the number declined to 56 percent. So far in 2024, there is even less interest, with only 46 percent saying they were open to purchasing one.

“AutoTrader data shows a direct correlation to gas prices and EV interest, and since gas prices have normalized from their peak in 2022, EV interest has also dropped,” a summary of the survey explained.

However, Canadians did show a slight increase of interest in hybrid vehicles, with 62 percent of those looking to purchase an electric vehicle saying they would look at a gas-electric hybrid, compared with 60 percent in 2023.

The survey also questioned Canadians regarding Trudeau’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which requires all new light-duty vehicles in Canada are zero-emission by 2035, essentially banning the sale of new gasoline/diesel-only powered cars.

The mandate comes despite warnings that it would cause massive chaos by threatening to collapse the nation’s power grids.

“Over 75 percent of respondents are aware of the federal government’s ZEV mandate, which requires all new light-duty vehicles sold in Canada to be zero-emission by 2035,” the survey found.

Canadians’ concerns in buying an electric vehicle include limited travel range/distance, inadequate availability of charging stations, higher purchasing costs, and concerns that they do not perform well in cold weather.

Indeed, this winter, western Canadians experienced firsthand the unreliability of Trudeau’s “renewable” energy scheme as Alberta’s power grid nearly collapsed due to a failure of wind and solar power.

Trudeau’s plan has been roundly condemned by Canadians, including Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. In 2022, Smith denounced a federal mandate that will require all new cars sold after 2035 to be “zero emission” electric (EVs) vehicles and promised that Albertans will always have the choice to buy gasoline-powered cars.

Since taking office in 2015, Trudeau has continued to push a radical environmental agenda similar to the agendas being pushed the World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset” and the United Nations’ “Sustainable Development Goals.”

The reduction and eventual elimination of the use of so-called “fossil fuels” and a transition to unreliable “green” energy has also been pushed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) – the globalist group behind the socialist “Great Reset” agenda – an organization in which Trudeau and some of his cabinet are involved.

The Trudeau government’s electric vehicle plan comes despite the fact Canada has the third largest oil reserves in the world. Electric cars cost thousands more to make and buy, are largely considered unsuitable for Canada’s climate as they offer poor range and long charging times during cold winters and have batteries that take tremendous resources to make and are difficult to recycle.