Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to scrap the federal government’s ban on single-use plastics and bring back plastic straws and disposable grocery bags.
“The Liberals’ plastics ban is not about the environment, it’s about cost and control,” Poilievre said during a campaign stop in Montreal Friday.
“This isn’t about science, it’s about symbolism,” he added. “They are not about saving the planet, they’re about punishing all of us to make themselves feel good.”
In 2022, the Liberal government announced it was going to ban some single-use plastic items in an effort to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030.
The six categories of single-use plastics that were banned — checkout bags, cutlery, take-out containers, stir sticks, plastic aluminum can ring carriers and plastic straws — account for about three per cent of the plastic waste Canada generates annually.
That Liberal ban was overturned in November 2023 by the Federal Court, which said listing plastic items as toxic was “unreasonable and unconstitutional.”
On appeal in 2024, the federal government got a stay from the Federal Court of Appeal on the November ruling, allowing the ban to continue while the federal government continues its appeal.
That appeal was heard in June, but a decision has not yet been handed down by the court.
The Liberal government has also proposed further changes to regulations for the plastic packaging used for grocery items that include five key objectives, including:
Poilievre says making those changes will cost Canadian households an additional $400 each year on the groceries they buy.
“The Liberals’ ideological crusade against convenience has already driven up food prices and the last thing Canadians need is Mark Carney’s new food tax added directly to your grocery bill,” said Poilievre.
The Conservative leader says that only one per cent of single-use plastics find their way into the environment every year, with the rest being recycled.
According to Statistics Canada, more than 40,000 tonnes of plastic leak into the Canada’s physical environment every year.
Poilievre’s pledge follows U.S. President Donald Trump signing of an executive order in February that banned paper straws, rolling back former president
