Canada’s single-use plastic regulations face their first legal test today as the plastics lobby and the federal government head to court.
A federal court judge will hear arguments from lawyers on all sides from Tuesday to Thursday in Toronto.
The federal judge, who is not expected to deliver a ruling for months, must consider whether Ottawa was justified when it listed plastic products as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
“This is one of the largest environmental court cases that we have seen in Canada,” said Anthony Merante, plastics campaigner at Oceana Canada, an intervener in the case.
“This is about tackling Canada’s second most pertinent environmental crisis, which is the global plastics pollution crisis.”
The Liberal government relied on a scientific assessment of plastic pollution published in 2020. It found that plastic pollutes rivers, lakes and other water bodies, harming wildlife and leaving microplastic fragments in the water we drink.
That report was soon followed by several federal policy and regulatory moves, culminating most recently in the federal government officially announcing dates for a ban on the manufacture, sale and import of certain plastic products.
The ban affects checkout bags, straws, stir sticks and cutlery. Some of these prohibitions have already taken effect and some won’t happen until 2025.
The federal government announced which single-use plastics will be covered by a national ban in 2022. (CBC Graphics)
As the government attempted to address the pollution problem, the plastic industry accused the government in legal briefs of introducing a plan with “fatal flaws.” It’s not the federal government’s place, the complainants argue, to regulate plastic pollution when the provinces and territories typically handle waste management.
“The government’s decision to regulate all plastic products may be motivated by laudable goals (e.g., diverting waste from municipal landfills and seizing the value of a circular plastics economy),” says a court document filed on behalf of the plastics industry. “However, those goals must be pursued in accordance with the Constitution.”
The plastics industry also alleges the federal government failed to demonstrate it had enough scientific evidence to justify the regulations. The industry argues Ottawa failed “to conduct a risk assessment” and “to characterize ecological exposure to all plastic products.”
“The test for toxicity is not satisfied by proving that a single bottle cap poses a risk to a single animal,” says a legal brief filed on behalf of the plastics industry.
The plastics companies bringing the case — Dow Chemical Canada, Imperial Oil and Nova Chemicals — declined to comment or didn’t return CBC’s requests for comment. The Responsible Plastic Use Coalition — an industry group, also an applicant in the case — did not respond.
A York University researcher who is not involved in the case said he believes the federal government’s plastics policies, although well-intentioned, are rooted more in politics than science.
“What they are doing is responding to an optics issue where we see plastic bags in our environment and oceans,” said Calvin Lakhan, a research scientist and co-investigator of the “Waste Wiki” project in the faculty of environmental studies. “That’s things that consumers really care about.”
The lifecycle analysis of individual plastic items, Lakhan said, is complex; he suggested the Liberals’ plastic pollution approach needs a rethink.
A 2019 Deloitte study found less than one-tenth of the plastic waste Canadians produce is recycled. (Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press)
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said in a media statement the Liberals are delivering on a campaign promise. He then went after the plastics industry.
“While a handful of big multinational companies try to stop our ban on harmful single-use plastics, we’re going to keep fighting for the clean, healthy environment Canadians deserve,” Guilbeault said in the statement. “We’re going to stick to the facts and science and deliver the sustainable options Canadians are asking for.”
The court will hear from several interveners, including the American Chemistry Council, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers and the governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Several environmental groups, including Environmental Defence and Oceana, will also appear to ask the court to uphold the government’s plastic regulations.
The lawyer representing the environmental groups, Ecojustice’s Lindsay Beck, said a win for the government would solidify the push against plastic pollution, while a loss would throw a wrench into those efforts.
If the court overturns the regulations, she said, it could have a domino effect that could force the government to rescind its single-use plastic ban, which is also subject to its own court challenge.
“It means that that ban would be vulnerable to being overturned,” Beck said.
Federal data show that in 2019, 15.5 billion plastic grocery bags, 4.5 billion pieces of plastic cutlery, three billion stir sticks, 5.8 billion straws, 183 million six-pack rings and 805 million takeout containers were sold in Canada.
A 2019 Deloitte study found less than one-tenth of the plastic waste Canadians produce is recycled. That meant 3.3 million tonnes of plastic was being thrown out annually, almost half of it plastic packaging.
Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia already have taken their own action against plastic bags, as have some cities, including Regina, Victoria and Montreal.
Sobeys eliminated single-use plastic bags at its checkout counters in 2020 and Walmart followed suit this past April. Loblaws announced Monday morning it will ban plastic bags by spring 2023.
Many fast food outlets have replaced plastic straws with paper versions over the last several years as well.
MONTREAL – One expert says entry-level pay under the tentative deal between Air Canada and its pilots could be a stumbling block ahead of a union vote on the agreement.
Under their current contract, pilots earn far less in their first four years at the company before enjoying a big wage increase starting in year five.
The Air Line Pilots Association had been pushing to scrap the so-called “fixed rate” provision entirely.
But according to a copy of the contract summary obtained by The Canadian Press, the proposed deal announced Sunday would merely cut the four-year period of lower pay to two years.
John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University, says as many as 2,000 of Air Canada’s roughly 5,200 active pilots may earn entry-level wages following a recent hiring surge.
After the airline averted a strike this week, Gradek says the failure to ditch the pay grade restrictions could prompt pushback from rank-and-file flight crew and jeopardize the deal, which is up for a vote next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
ROME (AP) — Salvatore “Totò” Schillaci, the Italy striker who was top scorer at its home World Cup in 1990, has died. He was 59.
Schillaci had been hospitalized in Palermo following treatment for colon cancer.
The Palermo Civico hospital said in a statement that Schillacci died on Wednesday morning after being admitted 11 days ago.
Schillaci scored six goals for Italy during the 1990 World Cup. He came on as a substitute during Italy’s opener against Austria, scored in a 1-0 victory, and went on to earn the Golden Boot awarded to the tournament’s top scorer. He only scored one other goal for Italy in his career.
Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina announced that a minute of silence would be held in memory of Schillaci before all games in the country for the rest of the week.
“The uncontrollable celebrations, in which his face was the symbol of shared joy, will remain forever part of Italian soccer (history),” Gravina said. “Totò was a great player, a symbol of tenacious desire and redemption. … His soccer was full of passion. And that fearless spirit made everyone appreciate him and will make him immortal.”
Schillaci also won the Golden Ball award at the 1990 World Cup as the tournament’s top player ahead of Lothar Matthaus and Diego Maradona.
Schillaci played for Messina, Juventus, Inter Milan and Japanese team Jubilo Iwata during his club career.
“You made an entire nation dream during the Magical Nights of Italia ’90,” Inter said on its social media channels.
West Germany won the 1990 World Cup, beating Argentina in the final, while Italy beat England for third place with a winning penalty kick from Schillaci.
Roberto Baggio, who scored Italy’s opening goal in the third-place match, wrote on Instagram, “Ciao my dear friend.”
Having been born and raised in Palermo, the Palermo soccer team announced that it would hold a public viewing of Schillaci at its Renzo Barbera stadium ahead of the funeral, the Gazzetta dello Sport reported.
French soccer player Wissam Ben Yedder will stay free ahead of his trial on charges of sexual assault while intoxicated, one of his lawyers told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Marie Roumiantseva said Ben Yedder will remain under strict judicial supervision after a woman filed a lawsuit for sexual assault earlier this month.
The 34-year-old Ben Yedder, a prolific striker in the French league, was briefly detained then released after the alleged incident in his car on the French Riviera. Ben Yedder had been stopped by police after he first refused to do so. He was then put in a jail cell.
After he was summoned to appear in court on Oct. 15 and placed under judicial supervision, the Nice prosecutor’s office appealed the decision not to remand the player in custody. The investigative chamber of the Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence did not grant this request and kept Ben Yedder under judicial supervision.
Ben Yedder attended a hearing Tuesday during which he offered to go to rehab. He has admitted he drove while under the influence of alcohol but has denied any sexual assault.
In a separate legal case last year, Ben Yedder was charged with “rape, attempted rape and sexual assault” over another alleged incident in the south of France.
Ben Yedder has been without a club since his contract with Monaco expired at the end of last season.
