Canada's single-use plastics ban unconstitutional

A Federal court has ruled the Trudeau government's ban on single-use plastics to be both unreasonable and unconstitutional. The government is appealing the decision. 

Judge's ruling on plastics ban exposes some toxic Liberal thinking | National Post | Colby Cosh: 

November 18, 2023 - "On Thursday a Federal Court judge, the Hon. Angela Furlanetto, startled the Dominion by essentially sweeping aside the Liberal government’s ban on a short list of single-use plastic items, including grocery bags, cutlery, takeout containers and drinking straws.... Justice Furlanetto, asked for judicial review by Alberta and Saskatchewan and a coalition of petrochemical processors, concluded that the actual rule was 'both unreasonable and unconstitutional.' Her judgment is a thorny 200-paragraph monster, but the innermost logic of it is simple. 

"The federal Environmental Protection Act allows Ottawa to ban or restrict 'toxic' substances that might enter the environment. In 2021 the Liberals made a cabinet order essentially saying 'These here single-use plastic items are hereunto declared to be toxic'. Abracadabra!'” No one can show that these items are actually poisonous in the ordinary sense, and the listed items weren’t condemned as substances, i.e., for their chemical content or composition. The reasoning of the government was that if an Arctic lynx might choke on the ring from a six-pack of Labatt Blue, that kinda sorta makes the plastic in the ring 'toxic,' and justifies the federal government in the use of its criminal-law power.

"I don’t know if anyone at the cabinet table anticipated how this argument would fare under a 'reasonableness' analysis with lawyers for two provinces, plus Dow Chemical and Imperial Oil, among others, on the opposite side. But the government almost certainly faced a piece of extra bad luck in having the case go before Justice Furlanetto, a jurist with hard-science credentials that include a master’s degree in biochemistry....

In her judgment she observes that the explicitly stated rationale for the plastics ban was that 'all plastic manufactured items have the potential to become plastic pollution.' Justice Furlanetto found this reasoning to be puzzling.... 'The basic principle of toxicity for chemicals is that all chemical substances have the potential to be toxic,' she writes. 'However, for a chemical substance to be toxic it must be administered to an organism or enter the environment at a rate (or dose) that causes a high enough concentration to trigger a harmful effect. In this instance, the reverse logic appears to be applied: all PMI are identified as toxic because they are made of plastic and because all plastic is deemed to have the potential to become plastic pollution.'

"The judge goes on to accept arguments from the provinces that the order implementing the ban was overbroad, potentially capturing some categories of plastic items for which there is no evidence, or none with any scientific standing, of significant environmental harm. Past caselaw is clear that the federal power to make criminal law must be very closely connected to actual, demonstrable harm: the federal government isn’t supposed to invoke criminal-law power to sneakily engage in economic regulation. Unfortunately for the Liberals, their own documents discussing the ban contain some gasbag talk about creating a 'circular plastics economy,' even though all provinces have plastics regulations of their own (and less than one per cent of Canadian plastics escape the 'managed waste stream' that ends in the landfill).

"Furlanetto concludes: 'The broad and all-encompassing nature of the (banned) category of (plastic manufactured items) poses a threat to the balance of federalism, as it does not restrict regulation to only those PMI that truly have the potential to cause harm to the environment.' 

"So if the Liberals choose to appeal her ruling, they have two (admittedly connected) hurdles to clear. They have to show that their defining of some non-poisonous forms of manufactured plastic as 'toxic' was reasonable.... And they have to show that the whole thing wasn’t a mere abuse of criminal-law power to obtrude into provincial economic jurisdiction. It’s impossible to trust the Supreme Court to uphold Furlanetto wholesale, but she has certainly shed light on the sheer logical shadiness of the plastics ban."

Read more: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/judges-ruling-on-plastics-ban-exposes-some-toxic-liberal-thinking

Feds will appeal single-use plastics ban ruling as pollution impacts are "undebatable": Guilbeault | Global News | November 21, 2023: 

Canadian plastics ban not good for environment

The Trudeau government's ban on single-use plastics is an expensive measure that will actually create more garbage and impose higher costs on Canadians.

Ottawa’s plastics ban is bad for the environment | Fraser Forum | Elmira Aliakbari & Julio Mejía:

 (Appeared in the National Post, March 23, 2023) - "The Alberta and Saskatchewan governments recently appeared before the Federal Court of Canada to essentially challenge the Trudeau government’s ban on six types of single-use plastics, which went into effect late last year. Citing an ocean pollution crisis, the Trudeau government also plans to gradually ban the manufacturing, importation and sale of checkout bags, cutlery, food service ware, stir sticks and straws by 2025, purportedly to improve the environment and deliver economic benefits to Canadians. But in reality, the plastic ban is an expensive measure that will actually create more garbage and impose higher costs on Canadians....

"Canada contributes an estimated 0.02 per cent of all plastic in the world’s oceans. Meanwhile, nearly 90 per cent of ocean plastic comes from Asia and Africa, with five countries—Philippines, India, Malaysia, China and Indonesia—accounting for the majority the world’s ocean plastic pollution. Therefore, eliminating Canada’s plastic waste will have an undetectable impact on global ocean plastic pollution.

"More importantly, despite claims from Ottawa, Canada doesn’t have a plastic waste crisis. According to the federal government’s own report, 99 per cent of the country’s plastic waste is already disposed of safely through recycling, incinerating and environmentally-friendly landfills. If you’re concerned about the remaining 1 per cent, it’s worth noting that according to the government’s own sources, none of the six types of now-banned single-use plastics are among the top five items found on shorelines....

"In fact, as acknowledged by the federal government’s own analysis, banning single-use plastics will actually increase waste generation rather than reduce it. According to the analysis, while the ban 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.

"To make matters worse, 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, according to multiple studies, single-use plastic substitutes such as paper require more energy to transport, feature higher smog formation and ozone depletion potential, demand more water and energy to be produced, and result in higher GHG emissions. Simply put, the plastic ban harms, not helps, the environment....

"According to the federal government’s own estimates, the plastic ban will save $616 million in 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, ban enforcement and the forgone profit opportunity for manufacturers. The cost of the ban surpasses the benefit by a 3-to-1 ratio.  

"Overall, the plastic ban is a costly measure that turns a small environmental problem into a bigger one. If the Trudeau government wants to do something about the small percentage of plastic that escapes into the environment, it should improve coordination with municipal waste-handling systems rather than impose and enforce a costly nationwide ban, which literally hurts more than it helps."

Read more: https://www.fraserinstitute.org/article/ottawas-plastics-ban-is-bad-for-the-environment

Is Canada's single-use plastic ban truly environmentally friendly? | Global News | December 21, 2022:

Trudeau gov't plastics ban will mean more waste

The last straw -- Canada's single use plastics ban means more garbage | Toronto Sun - Lorrie Goldstein: 

Dec 10, 2022  - "The Trudeau government’s plan to eliminate plastic waste in Canada by 2030 [ZPW2030] is underway in earnest with the gradual elimination of single use plastics. As of Dec. 20, the manufacture and import for sale in Canada of plastic checkout bags, cutlery, takeout containers, stir sticks and most plastic straws (with some exemptions for flexible ones) will be prohibited. The sale of these items in Canada will end a year later. For six-pack ring carriers, the respective deadlines are six months later. By December 2025, all designated single use plastics will be prohibited, including manufacturing, importing and sales for export.

"The most visible change at first will be grocery stores ending the use of plastic bags — already underway in some chains and poised to happen in 2023 for others. Many fast-food outlets have already eliminated or are phasing out plastic straws, cutlery and stir sticks.... (Single use plastic water bottles are not included in the current prohibitions.)

"Meanwhile, the government’s own impact analysis says that while banning single use plastics will remove 1.5 million tonnes of plastics from the waste stream from 2023 to 2032, it will add almost double that amount of waste — 2.9 million tonnes — from the use of substitutes for plastic such as paper, wood, moulded fibre, aluminum and alternative plastics.

"Because the production costs of these alternatives are typically more expensive than plastic, the government estimates the increased costs to consumers at $2 billion from 2023 to 2032, or $50 per capita. Even with estimated savings of $616 million from eliminating single use plastics, the net cost is estimated at $1.4 billion. While the impact analysis says here will be a net environmental benefit from eliminating single use plastics, including the reduction of 1.8 million megatonnes of greenhouse gases annually, it also says some substitutes will have a higher climate change impact, as well as negative effects on air and water quality....

The six categories of single use plastics subject to the ban account for an estimated 160,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually, just 5% of the overall amount of 3.3 million tonnes of plastic waste. Of that, 86% ends up in landfills, 4% is burned, a dismal 9% is recycled — so much for all those years of faithful blue box recycling — and about 1%, or 29,000 tonnes, is discharged into the environment as litter, with 2,500 tonnes ending up in oceans, lakes and rivers....

"Canada is not a major contributor to the global problem of plastics pollution in the world’s oceans, rivers and other waterways. Canada’s contribution to global aquatic plastic pollution, when assessed in 2016, was between 0.02% and 0.03% of the global total. If observed market trends were to continue in the absence of ZPW2030 (zero plastic waste by 2030) the government’s regulatory impact assessment estimates plastic waste and plastic pollution could increase (from 2016 levels) by roughly one third by 2030. Thus, if ZPW2030 eliminated all the predicted increase, it would prevent an increase from 0.02%-0.03% to 0.023%-0.033% of the global total, an undetectable reduction of three-thousandths of one percent....

"Canada’s plastic manufacturers are challenging the Trudeau government’s ban on single use plastics in court, as well as its legal definition of plastics as “toxic,” plus warning the policy will lead to job losses. The government says more jobs will be created. As for replacing single use plastics in practical terms, the government has helpfully suggested, among other things, that the food industry provide customers with more options people can eat with their hands."

Read more: https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/goldstein-the-last-straw-canadas-single-use-plastics-ban-means-more-garbage

Hundreds of Americans cleaning National Parks

Private citizens volunteer to clean up national parks as shutdown drags on – ThinkProgress:

January 14, 2019 - "Local groups and concerned organizations are stepping up to help maintain national parks amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.... [R]eligious groups, non-profits, and bands of concerned private citizens are ... pitching in ... amid reports of mounting trash and unmonitored restrooms....

"Hundreds of people across the country have stepped up so far. ThinkProgress identified at least five efforts led by organizations including Friends of Joshua Tree, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association, and several local Libertarian Facebook pages... These efforts alone have seen hundreds of volunteers helping out in public areas over the past three weeks. But there are likely dozens of other instances as well, with non-profits and local political groups among those who have pitched in.

"Garnering the most headlines recently is Joshua Tree National Park.... John Lauretig, executive director of the non-profit group Friends of Joshua Tree... told ThinkProgress that from the second day of the shutdown onwards, volunteers gathered every morning to go and check toilets, haul away trash, and generally ensure the area’s well-being ... in groups that ranged from a handful of people to 40, and, on one occasion, over 100. Donations also came pouring in, allowing for the purchase of an essential item: toilet paper....

"During previous extended shutdowns, the government chose to close the parks. But the Trump administration has opted to keep around two-thirds of National Park Service (NPS) sites open [although] only 3,298 NPS employees have been deemed essential personnel out of 24,681 nationally....

"The Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association, a community service group for young men, has launched a widely-covered ongoing effort to aid parks around the country.... Salaam Bhatti, a spokesperson for the organization, told ThinkProgress that regional offices across the country have looked into the parks nearest to them and ... volunteers have gone to Cuyahoga in Ohio, the Everglades in Florida, Olympic in Washington State, and both Independence Hall in Philadelphia and the National Mall in Washington, D.C....

"In some parks, efforts by good Samaritans are paying off. A volunteer group in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, united by a Libertarian Party Facebook outreach, told the Denver Post that their efforts to go and clean in the area were largely unnecessary, as the park was much cleaner than expected and largely undisturbed by visitors. They noted that the park’s good condition was likely due to clean-up efforts by other groups....

"Last week, the government indicated that it would use earmarked funds made through entrance and camping fees, among others, to keep high-traffic parks open and supervised, including Joshua Tree. For some, that move has been a relief.

“'The park is the economic engine that keeps the desert rolling,' said Lauretig. '[When] the park closes, [it’s] not good for the economy.'”

Read more: https://thinkprogress.org/shutdown-volunteers-national-parks-trump-d827f7f15a30/
'via Blog this'

NC, Nevada Libertarians join park cleanup effort

Volunteers clean up Lake Mead in wake of government shutdown - Cristen Drummond, Las Vegas Now.com:

January 12, 2019 - "The partial federal government shut down continues to impact national parks, including Lake Mead.... The Libertarian Party of Nevada organized a cleanup earlier today. About 40 people visited Boulder Beach on Jan. 12....

"The Libertarian Party of Nevada organized this call to action, but that didn't stop those with other political affiliations from helping out.

"This is one of many cleanups at national parks scheduled by libertarians around the country today. The libertarian party plans to organize another beach clean up next month, and may also go up to Mt. Charleston."
Read more: https://www.lasvegasnow.com/news/volunteers-clean-up-lake-mead-in-wake-of-government-shutdown/1699685949

NC Libertarians Clean Up National Parks During Shutdown - Ashley Claster, Spectrum News:

January 12, 2019 - "Trash is piling up in national parks across the country. The workers who usually clean it up are not on the clock because of the government shutdown....

"The Libertarian Party of North Carolina is helping fill the void. The party chair, Susan Hogarth, said it is up to the people who love the land to do what the government cannot.

"'A big thing for Libertarians is that people will take care of the things that are important to them,' Hogarth explained. 'So we want to be a part of that. In fact, we don't think the federal government should be owning park lands or any lands. So, as part of that, we'd like to show that it's possible for it to be taken care of without the government doing that job....

"'That's a really clean park anyway because the people, they really take care of it.... They care about it. They go running here and bicycling. So they do tend to throw their stuff away. But that means the trash cans are full,' Hogarth said.

"Libertarians coming from all parts of the state say they're here to show their commitment to the community..... Hogarth says the cleanup is a demonstration that the people who use these resources care about the land and will take care of it, even when state and federal agencies do not."
Read more: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/triad/news/2019/01/12/north-carolina-libertarians-clean-up-national-parks-during-government-shutdown

'via Blog this'

Hot Air covers Libertarian park cleanup efforts

Libertarian Party organizes national park cleanups - Taylor Millard, Hot Air:

January 13, 2019 - "Republicans and Democrats may be sniping at each other over the partial government shutdown, but it’s the Libertarian Party which is putting words to action. Libertarians have organized multiple national park cleanups over the last week to show maybe the government isn’t needed to provide services.

"Libertarian Party National Committee Chair Nicholas Sarwark....'As Libertarians, we advocate replacing federal taxpayer funding for many services with private charity or privatization. We wanted to show how this could be accomplished by volunteering in our local communities. We know that people are inherently generous with their time and energy. We want to set an example by calling on the public to join us in maintaining our beautiful parks and landmarks this weekend and throughout the government shutdown.'

"The first cleanup was organized last Sunday with LP members, libertarians, anarchists, agorists, voluntarists, and more gathering at the National Mall in Washington D.C..... Libertarian Party members are also organizing national park cleanups in Ohio....

"This is probably one of the best ideas the Libertarian Party has ever had... It sends a clear message to others – and hopefully politicians – on how it’s a-OK to loosen the stranglehold the government has on our lives. There’s something to be said about this and for the ambitiousness of the LP to go, 'there’s a problem, we’ll organize, and solve the problem.'

"What’s going to be curious to see is how the Libertarian Party uses this momentum to advance its agenda in the future. The biggest critique I’ve had of the LP – as a small-l libertarian who isn’t a member of the party – is its seeming disorganization. The park cleanup shows the party is more organized than people realized and it also goes a long way to show people who may not hold to the ideology how free markets can easily replace what the government has seized.

"It will also be curious to see what happens once the rest of the government re-opens. Will there be a push to privatize the National Park System or, at least, part of it ... ? Will more people start voting for Libertarian Party candidates in local, state, and federal elections? I don’t expect the government to suddenly give up power, but if there’s enough of a push it might happen in the future.

"This is the long-term strategy by the Libertarians. Kudos to them for showing it works."

Read more: https://hotair.com/archives/2019/01/13/libertarian-party-organizes-national-park-cleanups/
'via Blog this'

Libertarians cleaning Ohio & California parks

Libertarians plan to clean-up Hopewell National Park as government shutdown continues | WSYX TV6 Columbus - Geoffrey Redick:

January 8, 2019 - "Kryssi Wichers' car is covered with Libertarian Party stickers, and she ran as a Libertarian candidate.... On Saturday, her political party will host a 'National Park Clean Up' event, ... part of a larger statewide effort being sponsored by the Libertarian Party.... Libertarians are cleaning up the parks, since national park rangers are on furlough during the 17 day-long government shutdown....

"Wichers says trash bags, bottled water and potentially snacks will be provided during the clean-up. The 'National Park Clean Up' event will be held from 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Saturday at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park on Route 104 just north of Chillicothe. Anyone is welcome to attend, and participants do not have to be a member or supporter of the Libertarian Party to pitch in."
Read more: https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/libertarians-plan-to-clean-up-hopewell-national-park-as-government-shutdown-continues

Libertarian Party organizes Yosemite cleanup | Local | hanfordsentinel.com - Julissa Savala, Hanford Sentinel:

January 9, 2019 - "Reports of trash piling up and human feces littering the state’s most beautiful national parkland [are] why the Libertarian Party of Kings County is taking measures into its own hands.... [M]embers are organizing trash pick-up days at national parks in Central California and are asking for help from every community member willing to do what the government can’t during a shutdown....

"Kalish Morrow, chair of Libertarian Party of Kings County, said [that] since the government shutdown began on Dec. 22, some Libertarian groups around the nation ... have volunteered to help pitch in with cleaning up, such as around the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and Lake Mead in Nevada.... Due to the shutdown, funding for national parks ... has been slashed, leaving them with little to no restroom facilities and essential custodial services. Visitors have flooded the parks, taking advantage of free entry...

"The Libertarian Party of Kings County will be at Yosemite National Park on Sunday, Jan. 13, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. for a cleanup effort. Members and others who are interested will meet in Hanford that morning and caravan up to the park."
Read more: https://hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/libertarian-party-organizes-yosemite-cleanup/article_82ae735e-e77d-5904-9760-ec6d098a301b.html

'via Blog this'

Libertarians clean up Washington D.C.

Libertarians step in to clean up Washington during government shutdown - Steve Goodale, Newsgrowl:

January 7, 2019 - "Dozens of Libertarian Party members met on the National Mall in Washington, DC yesterday to pick up the litter and garbage piling up around some of America’s most famous monuments. With no regular litter collection happening on federally-owned land during the government shutdown, the burden of keeping much of the city clean has fallen to private citizens.

"Officially sponsored by the Libertarian Party of DC and the Libertarian Party of Northern Virginia, the event drew patriotic LP members from as far away as Pennsylvania. A total of seven teams, each equipped with a roll of garbage bags, fanned out across the Mall on different pre-assigned routes.

"Effort was concentrated on areas most likely to be visited by tourists, which included the Mall itself, the Capitol building, the Lincoln Memorial, and the various war monuments in the area.

"Besides general litter, the Libertarians found debris left over from protesters, and even a bottle of human urine....

“'It’s an example of us practicing what we preach. We want the private sector to step up when government can’t, so that’s what we’re doing here,' said LP of DC chairman and Libertarian National Committee member Joe Bishop-Henchman.

"Libertarian Party national membership manager Jess Mears ... explained. 'Obviously, the federal government does maintain the parks. While it is shut down right now, we’re trying to exemplify other ways that we could have these services without federal dollars contributing to them. Also,' she added, 'it’s getting your hands dirty in politics. Literally'....

"After completely filling a van with full garbage bags a pickup truck was brought in to take away the remainder.

"With no end [to] the government shutdown in sight, provisional plans for the Libertarians to return to the same area next week are in discussion.

"'I think we all have a mutual responsibility to take care of our public spaces, and government doesn’t necessarily need to pay for that,' said participant Ethan Bishop-Henchman. 'It’s definitely not paying for it right now.'”

Read more: https://newsgrowl.com/libertarians-clean-government-shutdown/
'via Blog this'

Seattle suit against warrantless rental inspections

Mandatory Warrantless Rental Inspections Inspire Seattle Lawsuit - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Scott Shackford:

December 5, 2018 - "In an alleged effort to root out slumlords, some cities treat renters as though they don't have any rights, forcing residents to allow government officials in for mandatory warrantless 'inspections' to make sure homes are up to code. The lawyers at the Institute for Justice, a national public interest law firm, have ... filed a class-action complaint against the city of Seattle that attempts to put a stop to its inspection program.

"According to their lawsuit, Seattle launched an inspection program in 2015 that requires landlords to register rental properties with the city. The city then randomly chooses 10 percent of the rental properties to inspect each year. This includes inhabited apartments and houses.....

"In July, according to the lawsuit, a group of renters sharing a home wrote city officials telling them that they do not consent to a search of their property. The owner of the home also wrote to let the city know that she was respecting her tenants' wishes. The city responded that if the landlord refused to let the inspectors in, she faced penalties of $150 a day for the first 10 days, and then $500 a day afterward. Seattle did not even respond to the letter from the tenants.

"The Institute for Justice is now representing both tenants and landlords in these cases to try to stop unwarranted inspections under the city's law, arguing that it violates the privacy provisions of the Washington Constitution....

"The Institute for Justice wants the city to have to show probable cause that there are code violations within somebody's home before it can demand access. The group is asking for Seattle's inspection system to be declared unconstitutional and for an injunction to be put in place stopping warrantless searches without a tenant's consent.

"This suit has been filed under Washington's Constitution rather than under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because the state has additional privacy protections that are a little broader.... It was actually under Washington's Constitution in 2016 that another group of property-rights-protecting lawyers, the Pacific Legal Foundation, stopped Seattle from snooping through people's trash to make sure they were separating out their food waste."

Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/12/05/mandatory-warrantless-rental-inspections
'via Blog this'

Highway litter bugs Mississippi Libertarians

All About that Trash: Lafayette Country Libertarian Party Regularly Picks up Litter on Hwy. 6 | HottyToddy.com:

April 15, 2015 - "Picking up highway trash may not seem like a political statement, but for the Lafayette County Libertarians, it is a way to demonstrate the principles of their party.

"The local group regularly cleans up their adopted section of the Highway Six bypass. Their most recent pick-up day was April 11.

Group members were appalled at the huge amount of trash they picked up along just one mile that day. The Mississippi Department of Transportation spends a reported $ 3.2 million yearly on litter.

"'Highway litter is a huge problem in our state and our local areas that costs a great deal of money to clean up,' said Richard Gaines, Lafayette County Libertarian chair. 'But our volunteers collect not a penny of taxpayer money'....

"In his blog about the reasons for the trash pick-up, Gaines wrote, 'By voluntarily cleaning up a part of Oxford, we’re showing that such things can be done without the government demanding that they be done or penalizing those who don’t take part. It’s a small gesture on our part, but a small group of volunteers can make a lot of progress.'"

Read more: http://hottytoddy.com/2015/04/15/all-about-that-trash-lafayette-country-libertarian-party-regularly-picks-up-trash-on-hwy-6/
'via Blog this'