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Canada's highest court won't hear Victoria's appeal over plastic bag ban – CBC.ca

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The country’s top court has decided not to hear the City of Victoria’s appeal in its fight to ban single-use plastic bags, in the latest blow to the municipality in a years-long battle over which governments have the power to regulate sustainability issues.

The Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear Victoria’s case in a decision Thursday morning. As is customary, the court did not give reasons for the ruling.

“While we are disappointed that the Supreme Court of Canada will not hear the case, there are other avenues for us to achieve our goals of eliminating plastic checkout bags and reducing waste in our community,” Mayor Lisa Helps wrote in a statement released after the court’s decision was posted.

The city’s ban comes in the form of a bylaw forbidding grocery stores from offering or selling plastic bags to shoppers. Stores could still offer paper bags or reusable bags for a cost, if customers asked. Councillors first approved the bylaw in December 2017.

The Canadian Plastic Bag Association filed a challenge in B.C. Supreme Court within a year, claiming the city went beyond its authority to enact the rule. The association said the city was required to have the bylaw approved at a provincial level before rolling it out.

The court rejected the association’s argument, but the B.C. Appeal Court overturned the decision on July 11, 2019. In handing the association its first victory, the appeal court found the city’s ban was based on environmental concerns — which fall under the jurisdiction of the province and the Ministry of Environment.

Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, pictured in August 2019. Helps says her city isn’t giving up its fight to enact a ban on plastic bags in the wake of Thursday’s decision by the Supreme Court of Canada. (Jill English/CBC)

Bylaw set aside

The bylaw hasn’t been in effect since the summer ruling, but the city said “most” local businesses in the provincial capital have been operating as though the ban is still active anyway — “a testament to the wide community support of the bylaw,” Helps said Thursday.

The statement said the community’s efforts have taken more than 17 million plastic bags out of landfills.

The mayor said the city hoped to appeal the “very restrictive” appeal court ruling with the Supreme Court of Canada in order to “clarify a municipal government’s power to regulate unsustainable business practices that negatively impact the community.”

A shopper puts peas into a cloth bag while grocery shopping on April 6, 2018. The City of Victoria said many local businesses have honoured a ban on plastic bags in the city, even though the bylaw was set aside in July 2019. (Vincent West/REUTERS)

Appeals to the top court are not automatic. The court only agrees to hear cases involving significant legal issues of national importance.

The city argued the precedent set by B.C.’s appeals court could potentially affect other municipal bylaws well beyond Victoria, across B.C. and in other provinces with similar municipal legislation.

The Canadian Plastic Bag Association is now known as the Canadian Plastics Industry Association. It has said the arguments for banning plastic bags don’t take into account that plastic bags are often reused and use less energy and water to make than an alternative like a cotton bag.

Craig Foster, a sustainability consultant speaking for the association, said Thursday’s ruling was welcome news after months spent in court.

“I’m glad it’s over,” Foster said. “It really is a decision that says the province is the one who should be making these kinds of decisions.”

The statement from the city did not specify its next steps. The mayor is expected to speak to reporters later Thursday.

At least 20 other B.C. municipalities moving to implement bans on plastic bags will have been following the capital’s example closely, using it as a case study while they draft their own legislation.

Many municipal governments are also looking to the province for leadership on the issue.

The provincial government is currently reviewing single-use plastics to come up with a potential provincewide ban. Ottawa has committed to banning such items across the country as early as 2021.

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RCMP end latest N.B. search regarding teenage girl who went missing in 2021

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BATHURST, N.B. – RCMP in New Brunswick say a weekend ground search for evidence related to the disappearance of a teenage girl in 2021 didn’t reveal any new information.

In an emailed statement, the RCMP said 20 people participated in the search for evidence in the case of Madison Roy-Boudreau of Bathurst.

The release said the search occurred in the Middle River area, just south of the girl’s hometown.

Police have said the 14-year-old’s disappearance is being treated as a homicide investigation.

The RCMP said the search “did not reveal any new information regarding the circumstances of her disappearance.”

There are no plans for another search until police receive a tip or a lead pointing to a new search area.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Man Tasered after trespassing in Victoria school, forcing lockdown

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VICTORIA – A middle school in Victoria was forced into a lockdown after a man entered the building without permission, and police say they had to use a stun gun to make an arrest.

Victoria police say officers received multiple calls around noon on Monday of an unknown male entering Central Middle School, leading staff to set off emergency procedures that put the building under lockdown.

Police say its emergency response team arrived within minutes and found the suspect, who “appeared to be in a drug-induced state,” in the school’s library.

A statement from police says the suspect resisted arrest, and officers had to use a Taser to subdue the man.

He’s being held by police and has been assessed by emergency medical staff.

Police say the man was not armed and there were no continuing safety concerns for students and staff following the arrest.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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B.C. Greens’ ex- leader Weaver thinks minority deal with NDP less likely than in 2017

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VANCOUVER – Former B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver knows what it’s like to form a minority government with the NDP, but says such a deal to create the province’s next administration is less likely this time than seven years ago.

Weaver struck a power-sharing agreement that resulted in John Horgan’s NDP minority government in 2017, but said in an interview Monday there is now more animosity between the two parties.

Neither the NDP nor the B.C. Conservatives secured a majority in Saturday’s election, raising the prospect of a minority NDP government if Leader David Eby can get the support of two Green legislators.

Manual recounts in two ridings could also play an important role in the outcome, which will not be known for about a week.

Weaver, who is no longer a member of the Greens, endorsed a Conservative candidate in his home riding.

He said Eby would be in a better position to negotiate if Furstenau, who lost her seat, stepped aside as party leader.

“I think Mr. Eby would be able to have fresh discussions with fresh new faces around the table, (after) four years of political sniping … between Sonia and the NDP in the B.C. legislature,” he said.

He said Furstenau’s loss put the two elected Greens in an awkward position because parties “need the leader in the legislature.”

Furstenau could resign as leader or one of the elected Greens could step down and let her run in a byelection in their riding, he said.

“They need to resolve that issue sooner rather than later,” he said.

The Green victories went to Rob Botterell in Saanich North and the Islands and Jeremy Valeriote in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky.

Neither Botterell nor Valeriote have held seats in the legislature before, Weaver noted.

“It’s not like in 2017 when, you know, I had been in the (legislature) for four years already,” Weaver said, adding that “the learning curve is steep.”

Sanjay Jeram, chair of undergraduate studies in political science at Simon Fraser University, said he doesn’t think it’ll be an “easygoing relationship between (the NDP and Greens) this time around.”

“I don’t know if Eby and Furstenau have the same relationship — or the potential to have the same relationship — as Horgan and Weaver did,” he said. “I think their demands will be a little more strict and it’ll be a little more of a cold alliance than it was in 2017 if they do form an alliance.”

Horgan and Weaver shook hands on a confidence-and-supply agreement before attending a rugby match, where they were spotted sitting together before the deal became public knowledge.

Eby said in his election-night speech that he had already reached out to Furstenau and suggested common “progressive values” between their parties.

Furstenau said in her concession speech that her party was poised to play a “pivotal role” in the legislature.

Botterell said in an election-night interview that he was “totally supportive of Sonia” and he would “do everything I can to support her and the path forward that she chooses to take because that’s her decision.”

The Green Party of Canada issued a news release Monday, congratulating the candidates on their victories, noting Valeriote’s win is the first time that a Green MLA has been elected outside of Vancouver Island.

“Now, like all British Columbians we await the final seat count to know which party will have the best chance to form government. Let’s hope that the Green caucus has a pivotal role,” the release said, echoing Furstenau’s turn of phrase.

The final results of the election won’t be known until at least next week.

Elections BC says manual recounts will be held on Oct. 26 to 28 in two ridings where NDP candidates led B.C. Conservatives by fewer than 100 votes after the initial count ended on Sunday.

The outcomes in Surrey City Centre and Juan de Fuca-Malahat could determine who forms government.

The election’s initial results have the NDP elected or leading in 46 ridings, and the B.C. Conservatives in 45, both short of the 47 majority mark in B.C.’s 93-seat legislature.

If the Conservatives win both of the recount ridings and win all other ridings where they lead, Rustad will win with a one-seat majority.

If the NDP holds onto at least one of the ridings where there are recounts, wins the other races it leads, and strikes a deal with the Greens, they would have enough numbers to form a minority government.

But another election could also be on the cards, since the winner will have to nominate a Speaker, reducing the government’s numbers in the legislature by one vote.

Elections BC says it will also be counting about 49,000 absentee and mail-in ballots from Oct. 26 to 28.

The NDP went into the election with 55 ridings, representing a comfortable majority in what was then an 87-seat legislature.

Jeram, with Simon Fraser University, said though the counts aren’t finalized, the Conservatives were the big winners in the election.

“They weren’t really a not much of a formal party until not that long ago, and to go from two per cent of the vote to winning 45 or more seats in the B.C. provincial election is just incredible,” he said in an interview Monday.

Jeram said people had expected Eby to call an election after he took over from John Horgan in 2022, and if he had, he doesn’t think there would have been the same result.

He said the B.C. Conservative’s popularity grew as a result of the decision of the BC Liberals to rebrand as BC United and later drop out.

“Had Eby called an election before that really shook out, and maybe especially before (Pierre) Poilievre, kind of really had the wind in his sails and started to grow, I think he could have won the majority for sure.”

He said he wasn’t surprised by the results of the election, saying polls were fairly accurate.

“Ultimately, it really was a result that we saw coming for a while, since the moment that BC United withdrew and put their support behind the conservatives, I think this was the outcome that was expected.”

— With files from Darryl Greer

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

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